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!