The Queen makes an appearance

Over the past couple of days, Queen Y has been showing up to judge the explorer competition (not sure why the King hasn't made an appearance as of yet!). From what I hear, the explorers have been wowing her with their knowledge and talent (baking skills and something about a song and dance?). I have no idea how she is going to choose which explorers to send to the new island! Thank goodness I am not in her shoes!

Yesterday's awesome

Epiphanies

That ah-ha moment when you come to an oh so important realization. AWESOME!

Today's awesome

Super-duper, nothing can go wrong kinda days

Gottta love em! Awesome!

NRC Engineering Challenge!

So today we had our in-school Engineering Challenge. For the past 6 weeks, the grade 6s have been working hard to perfect their designs and presentations for their egg drop. Their egg had to survive a 6 foot drop, roll down a ramp and get as close to the target as possible. It was a very intense competition and every team did amazingly well! I a so proud of all your efforts, especially since you gave up many of your lunches to participate in the challenge. I hope you all found it to be a very valuable experience! I am sure we have some future engineers in our midst! A HUGE thank you to Mr. Dobson, the super engineer who has been coaching us along the way! Also, a HUGE congratulations to the Blazers who won the competition!!! Best of luck at the regional competition on Thursday - to be held at the Science and Tech Museum!!!

Beginning of the week awesome

Sudden death overtime

So intense. Forget what's happened. Winner takes all. AWESOME!

Exciting Project!

Today, with the help of 3 Ottawa U students; Olivia, Natasha and Megan, we unveiled a new and exciting project! Through a fun activity, a beautiful picture book and a captivating video, the students learned all about children's' rights around the world. Every student has been put into a group, and every group will be researching and presenting an organization that helps promote and protect a different right of the child. The group will be preparing a poster as well as an accompanying piece of their choice (Photostory, video, poem, skit, song, etc.) to help promote their chosen right and organization. This info will all be shared during our first ever, Social Justice Fair on March 23! This is a very exciting project and I can't wait to see all the creativity that each group brings to the fair!

Thursday's Awesome

Getting to thank teacher who helped you along the way

So today I got to see a teacher who truly inspired me and helped me become the educator I am today. It's amazing how someone can have such an impact on you even though you are with them for a short period of time. I am thankful for all the amazing teachers Ive had along the way, but I'm even more thankful that I got to let one of them know, years later, how much I appreciated all they did. Truly and totally AWESOME!

Friday's Awesome

Children's Rights

I think that children's rights are by far the most important rights there are. Children need special protection and care and they must be able depend on adults to protect their rights, look after them and help them reach their full potential. The United Nations have ensured this by creating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Together, St. James students will help spread the word about these rights and organizations that protect them. Children spreading the word about this convention? Awesome!

Ash Wednesday

Since today is the first day of Lent, we had our Ash Wednesday Liturgy. As we prepare our hearts for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we should set out specific spiritual goals we would like to reach before Easter and decide how we will pursue them. In their faith journals, each student has thought of a specific goal that they would like to achieve over the next 40 days that will help bring them closer to God (ex: pray every day, give up a favourite luxury, etc.).

We also had our "grad/leaving" photos today. You all looked fantastic! I'm sure those pictures will turn out beautiful and will be a great reminder of the wonderful times you shared at St. James.

Yesterday's awesome

Breakfast for dinner

Cheese pancakes with maple syrup for dinner? Mmmmmmmmmmmm. AWESOME!

Todays' awesome

Divisibilty rules!

So we all know a number is divisible if it can be divided evenly with no remainder, but did you know all about the divisibility rules that can help you figure out if a a number is divisible? Once you learn them, division becomes much easier! Becoming a Math Magician? AWESOME!

Free the Children

Wow! What a busy week we had! I am sure we will be resting this long weekend! On Wednesday, a representative from Free the Children came to explain the organization. We learned how it was started by a 12 year old boy, Craig Kielburger, after he heard the tragic story of Iqbal Masih (yes, our Iqbal!). We learned all about his journey to help children around the world receive an education, have access to clean water, get needed medical care and create a sustainable source of income for their parents. The presentation was inspirational and called us all to take action. To learn more about it and/or the Youth Summit or Take Action summer camps, you can visit:

http://www.freethechildren.com/

Wednesday's Awesome

Student Led Conferences

I was so impressed to see all of you take charge as your parents came to visit our classroom and learn all about the great work you have been doing. You each worked very hard to create a portfolio that was all your own! Awesome!

Thursday's Awesome

Choosing a theme for your baby boy's room

Hello modern robots! Awesome!

Friday's Awesome

Winter Carnival

What's not to love? Fun, games, hot chocolate and my very own students acting as the responsible leaders of the day! Awesome!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Well, today we finally finished the novel we have been reading for the past little while. Iqbal is the fictional biography of a true hero, Iqbal Masih, a young Pakistani boy who was forced into bonded labour at a very young age. At 10 years old, he escaped the carpet factory he was working at and became an international spokesperson against child labour. Sadly, in 1995, at 12 years years old, he was shot in his hometown. He remains today, an example of courage, leadership and integrity. I think I speak for the entire class when I say how much we enjoyed reading this book and I believe it also helped us hone our inferring skills.


Valentine's Day Awesome

Food shaped in the form of a heart

So pannekoek is pretty great on its own (dutch pancake, covered in this case with smoked salmon, cheese and hollandaise), but it takes on a whole new meaning when it is shaped in the form of a heart. Served on a heart plate too? Who said romance was dead? I think my husband was trying to make up for the door he got me for Valentine's day :) Well, it worked. AWESOME!

Portfolio Prep

The students have been busy preparing for student-led conferences on Wednesday. They have been doing a lot of reflection on their growth and on the goals they still wish to achieve. One thing is for sure, I am very proud of you all for the amazing work you do every day! You never cease to amaze me with your brilliance :)

Today's awesome

Vivid Vocabulary

Oh, how I love words. Short words, long words and those in-between words. There are sole words that are poems without the need for companions. Ravishing, majestic, squeal, not to mention AWESOME!

Friday's awesome

Catching up on a show you've missed

So maybe you've been to busy lately to catch your favourite show. I've seen it happen before. The good news is your reunion will be that much sweeter as you remember how much you've missed it. So give yourself a few minutes to sit down, turn on that TV and get comfortable. You are about to watch an episode of AWESOME!

Thursday's awesome

National Sweater Day

It's about time sweaters got their own day! Your granny works so hard to knit them and they are so recklessly thrown at the bottom of your closet. Well, not today! Today is sweater day, a chance for you to take a stand against global warming by turning down the heat and turning up the sweater. Turning up the sweater? How about turning up the awesome? AWESOME!

Planet Walk

Today we learned more about our solar system. We talked about interior and exterior planets, the asteroid belt that separates them and much more@ Then we took our explorations outside. Its hard to visualize the size and distances between these planets by just looking in books. To try to make a representation that was true to scale, we got all bundled up and started walking. What we is discovered is how close the interior planets are from both the Sun and themselves. The exterior planets you ask? Not so close! By the time we got to Neptune, the Sun was nowhere to be found!

Yesterday's awesome

Picking a name for your little one

Picking the perfect name is really hard. You think and you think and you think... And then you think some more. But finally it comes to you and nothing could be more perfect than finally starting to call your little miracle by their given name, in this case, Cooper James Charles. AWESOME!

Today's awesome

Educational DPA

What could be better than going outside to learn about Science, while getting in some DPA? 298, 299, 300, 301, AWESOME!

PS Don't forget to your sweaters tomorrow!

Class Dojo

Today I introduced a new classroom behaviour tracking tool. It's called Class Dojo and every student is given an avatar. They then earn (or lose) points based on positive (great insight, helping others, participation, etc.) or negative (disrespectful, disruptive, etc.) behaviour. The avatars are not much to look at yet, but once a student has earned 20 points, he or she will be able to choose his/her own monster avatar. I can't wait to have a class full of little monsters ;)

Beginning of the week awesome

Finding out....

It's a boy! AWESOME!

Teriffic TESSAllations

Wow! Can I say how blown away I was by your amazing tessellations? You really put your transformational geometry to good use today as you you created some beautiful MART! I will get a gallery posted soon but until then, consider this Tessallation as a sign of good things to come!

End of the week awesome

MART

Love math? Love art? How about trying your hand at some MART? AWESOME!

Shining bright as a light to others

Today 5 grade 6 students held an assembly to tell our school about their special fundraising project that begins tomorrow. They are raising funds for Salvaide, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that has been helping the people of El Salvador since 1985 as they build social justice, democracy, and economic development. They will be selling beautiful scrunchies ($2 each) and and inspirational bookmarks ($0.75 each or 3 for $2) so that they can provide lunches to students in El Salvador. Congratulations to Caitlin, Grace, Jillian, Brooke and Kate! Your presentation was amazing and we are all very proud of you!

Yesterday's awesome

Realizing you're affecting change

So today we conducted our first waste audit of the year. Last year in February, we calculated 12.8 kg of garbage in one day and we were able reduce that to 4.05 kg this year! This is phenomenal!!! It is amazing to see what a positive impact we can have on our world by working together! Talk about AWESOME!

Today's awesome

Being inspired by others who are affecting change

There is nothing I love more than seeing people who are passionate about a cause. Today, I was inspired by my students who had found an injustice in our world. Instead of turning a blind eye, they chose to raise funds by creating eco-friendly products to be sold. The money they raise will be put to good use by those who are much less fortunate than ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi says "Be the change you wish to see in this world". I say AWESOME!