Tag Archives: community

Back to class in June

Posted on by
5

Updated, June 3

Our weekly online meetings will take place on Wednesdays in MS Teams. Before our next meeting, please read Gray Wolf’s Search with Mr Tsougrianis and explore these ideas after reading/listening. Then please leave a comment ON MR TSOUGRIANIS’S BLOG.

Please see the list of and ongoing assigned activities to work on over the rest of this week. Please also have a listen to “Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push“. I’ll be interested to know what you think of the father’s reaction to Chris’s dream, whether you think it is harder for Chris or for his dad and what you think about how they are reacting to hardship.

Canada Wc-1A (1950s)
It’s the first week of June. Where I lived when I was in elementary school long ago, the first week of June would have been our last week of the school year, so it seems more than a little odd to be writing about heading back to school right now, but I suppose that’s not all that’s a litttle out of the ordinary at the moment.

We welcome many of our students back to classrooms today while the rest will continue working from home. With this mix of working partially in person and partially from home, our schedules will change. We will move our weekly online meetings for the whole class to Wednesday mornings. I will continue to support students with their work and their questions, but I will not be able to be available for as many open drop-in sessions online. As ever, scheduled meetings will be found in our Teams calendar.

There will be a few new tasks to tackle this week, but for the moment, for those wtill working from home, taking some time to revisit unfinished comments, writing, problems and music tasks from the last week or two would be time wisely spent.

I hope to see all of you, via one means or another, very soon indeed!

Creativity for the community

Posted on by
Reply

Update for May 21

Some ideas are coming in, but it seems worthwhile to spend some more time thinking about ways we might help spread the #CovidKindness message. And more time should allow us to explore more creativity in our game-creating, poetry-writing activities. So spend some more time on the story , related questions and activities linked to this post, and keep sending me your thoughts, drafts, designs, questions and work in-progress.

Among our activities this week are several that invite kids to explore something creatively: whether that’s using a growing understanding of the basics of probability to help with designing a game; experimenting with rhythm & word-play to create poetic lines; using an app to create a line of music; or practising good old-fashioned pencil drawings. It is nice to get to create something new (even while learning a few lessons or refining a familiar skill along the way).

I think that was what held my attention as I opened and read through this article from CBC Kids News about some interesting creative outlets some kids have come up with. (I’ve seen lemonade stands, before but a JOKE stand‽ Count me in!)Chalk Art by Kayla Wildschut, 15, in Calgary to honour front-line workers. (from CBC KidsNews)

Through their own ideas and with their own skills (and a little supportive encouragement from those nearby), they’ve created their own ways to give back to people in their families and communities, filling a fair few buckets along the way (and no doubt doing some powerful and practical learning in the process).

I hope you enjoy reading their stories and carrying on with some of your own creations. (See this week’s activities for some follow-up on the story.) Maybe we can put together some of what we’re working on to share with our school community (or even just with each other). What do you think?

Moving ahead together

Posted on by
Reply

As we discover a different way of continuing to learn together while we remain apart, it seems to me that Ndidi Onukwulu’s song, “Move Together”, expresses a theme of ever-increasing importance. The first time I heard it, I liked the music and especially the message that captures a mood, purpose and attitude I wish upon my class, myself and the world beyond our walls.

We will remain physically distant for some time yet, and that will reveal some new challenges day to day and in getting back to the work of elementary school. I will be in touch with students and families as we sort out details over the next couple of weeks. In the mean time, I can point families of my students toward a couple of resources that may be helpful in the short term.

You will have seen Superintendent Niccoli-Moen’s letter to families, which refers to a Continuing Learning Site which is expected to be available via the district website this week with some helpful resources kids will be able to dive into. The province has also created a site with some free, everyday educational activities for kids of every age. Do remember the value of the learning children are doing in all the activities and family interactions throughout each day. But I know you may be eager to add something new to the daily routine as we head back to school (after a fashion). While other activities and routines are still being worked out, kids can reacquaint themselves with the links on our class website, even explore some they haven’t looked at yet or in a while. Tyring a game like Factris from Mathigon.org, revisiting some poetry from Kenn Nesbit or experimenting with the poetry writing machine from Scholastic are among activities kids might choose to explore.

With moving together still very much in mind, and especially movement at a time when we might be feeling a little couped up, I do suggest you check out P.E. with Joe. This trainer in the UK leads a daily workout for kids that is available via YouTube and can be done in the home. Try it out for a boost to everyone’s physical and mental health.


We will connect soon. In the mean time, stay well, and let’s keep moving together.