Week #11: Nov. 10th - 13th

Dear Families,

As I write this blog update, my heart's bursting with JOY 🤩  

The highlight of my week was meeting with my students' family members 🤗 

Thank you (parents) for taking the time to attend, celebrate, and enjoy your child's academic, social, and emotional achievements thus far in the school year!  

The conferences are one of my most favourite times of the year as I get to connect with families 💞

You (parents) are making such a significant difference in how and what I teach on a daily basis.  I am in awe of the remarkable child(ren) you're raising who I have every confidence will take care of our future and the planet 🌍 

During the student-led conferences, I was extremely proud of all my learners as they clearly, confidently, and calmly led his or her conference by sharing their self-assessment (Progress Report), personal goals, and Remembrance Day message.

As I shared, this is a life skill your child’s developing - to lead a meeting and to hone their public speaking abilities 👌🏾 

It was your child's chance to shine and they certainly lit up our hearts and minds, didn't they? Absolutely!

As you could sense, your child worked exceptionally hard in class to prepare for this special experience and I am so proud of the manner in which everyone diligently prepared themselves :)  

Throughout the conferences, I experienced some heart-warming moments with parents and I really appreciate and value all your positive and constructive feedback.  #lifelonglearner

I will use it to continue to provide my best as an educator for your child's academic, social, emotional and behavioural needs.  

Meeting the needs of my students is of utmost importance to me and I will always work hard to ensure they receive a compassionate, caring, and safe environment to learn, work, and play in 🏫 

Again, thank you for your continued support, cooperation, and understanding.  

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school or via email pgill@scdsb.on.ca

REMEMBRANCE DAY ASSEMBLY:

Earlier this week, our school gathered together for a Remembrance Day Assembly. 

It was a student-led ceremony, with our Grade 8 speakers guiding us through thoughtful reflections, while other classes shared songs and poems of remembrance to honour our Veterans and those currently serving our country.

There was a collective sense of respect and appreciation throughout the gym, our audience was so attentive, and the ceremony was truly heartfelt.

I am especially proud of my students for their performance of “Love Can Build a Bridge.” 

They sang with such pride, dignity, and sincerity, and it was such an important reminder of the message of "Love is the key to the world's problems."

A big thank you to families for helping your children come dressed in red, black, and white for the ceremony, it added to the sense of Canadian pride and made the assembly feel even more special.

Another very special shout-out to our guests, the Beinn Gorm Highlands Band, who paid a beautiful musical tribute. It was wonderful to see Ava (Ryder’s sister) performing with such pride and confidence!

On a personal note, I was touched to reconnect with a former student, Tyson who was part of the Highlands Band, who came up to greet me after the ceremony. I taught him back in Grade 2 at Connaught, and now he’s 21 years old and over six feet tall! 

It was an afternoon filled with reflection, pride, and gratitude, a reminder of the importance of remembering and honouring those who have given so much. Well done, Nighthawks!

BULLYING PREVENTION WEEK:

Did you know that the third week of November is dedicated to Bullying Prevention?  This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart as your child's teacher because I have faced racism first hand as a youngster, and unfortunately, even as an adult.

To help show my students just how important this cause (bullying prevention) is to me, I have shared my personal experiences of being mistreated by my peers because of the colour of my skin.  

Please know, I want to be real and authentic with my students and how important it is to me that we all ACCEPT and EMBRACE others for who they are and never judge others based on their race, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc ...  

These are the hands of my friend Lindsay and I hiking up 6th street, we found this heart!
"Love is the key to the world's problems."

MY STORY:

As a youngster, I attended Connaught Public School in the late 1980's and 1990's, many of the students there at the time didn't have experience with children of colour and I feel they didn't know how to relate to me.  

Unfortunately, each day in grades 2, 3 and halfway through even grade 4, I would quietly come home hurt and crying because I was "different."  

I would honestly want to wash away my brown skin so I wouldn't stand out.  I desperately wanted to fit in with the other kids and take the "brown away."

But then halfway through my grade 4 year, my life changing teacher Mrs. Boucher entered my life!!  She was the first person who made me feel that I MATTERED.  

You see, Mrs. Boucher helped me recognize my differences as my strength (my SUPERPOWER) and that I should never be ashamed of who I was (an Indo-Canadian).

Mrs. Ann Boucher (my champion, my HERO)

In the middle of grade 4 and onwards, I became proud and confident in my OWN SKIN (see photo below).  Can you see the difference in my smile?  

Left side grade 3; right side grade 4

In my grade 3 portrait (see above), I may have been smiling on the outside, but as a 4th grader (almost 5th), I'm genuinely smiling on the INSIDE TOO!!!  I now stand tall and proud to be an Indo-Canadian.

Thank you Mrs. Boucher for calmly and compassionately helping me through my pain and instilling the value of RESILIENCE in me!!  

Despite the hurt I experienced the previous years, I showed up to school every day, never gave up on myself because I had you in my life.  

I knew from a young age of 9 that I wanted to be a change maker like Mrs. Boucher.  My biggest dream has been to help children BE PROUD OF WHO THEY ARE and use their differences as their superpower because EVERY CHILD MATTERS!!  

As a result of my hardship (challenge), I have made it my goal/mission to ensure that my students do not go through what I did.  

Of course, life isn't all "rainbows and sunshine," we will all experience pain and sadness from time to time, and your child is encouraged to work hard in class (and at home) to learn strategies to build their RESILIENCE, PERSEVERANCE, and GRIT so that they are equipped to manage their emotions and overcome any challenge that comes their way.  

It won't be easy, but from my experience, I can confidently say, it will be worth it, I promise 🤗 

In class, I am reinforcing the importance of creating, building upon, and maintaining happy hearts in and out of our classroom.  Your child's caring and compassionate ways are appreciated beyond measure!

I want to help my students BE THE BEST THEY CAN BE ... EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING!  #integrity  In class, we regularly talk about celebrating our differences and IT'S OK TO BE DIFFERENT!!     

Our Community of Learners Agreements that are posted at the front of the classroom help guide us every day - Attentive Listening, Mutual Respect, NO PUT DOWNS, Right to Participate, Right to Pass. 

 

We also regularly refer to these agreements as a reminder for us all to treat our peers, friends, and family with kindness, dignity, and respect.  I feel this will help in creating a happier, safer, and more caring world.

I believe in all my students and their abilities to reach out to do their part in making a positive difference for our today and tomorrows ... together we can help put an END TO BULLYING!

MATH:

We’ve just begun our new math unit on Spatial Sense, and students will be learning about shapes, measurement, and geometry!

Grade 3's will be exploring:

• The geometric properties of two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes and how they are connected

• Understanding congruent angles, lengths, and faces of objects

Grade 4's will be learning about:

• Identifying and naming angles

• The properties of a rectangle

• Metric measurement and how units relate to one another (millimetres, centimetres, metres, and kilometres)

• How to measure accurately using the appropriate tools and units

• Elapsed time

• How to measure and construct polygons

This week, students completed a “Show What You Know” Diagnostic Assessment, which gives me a great starting point to see what they already understand. 

This data helps guide our lessons and allows me to focus our class energy where it’s most needed throughout the unit.

Check out the photos below of the questions that your child answered.

GRAMMAR RULE #3:

This week, we learned about Conjunctions - and, or, but are used to join words or groups of words.

In class, we worked collaboratively in our guided and shared groups, and then independently to build sentences using conjunctions.

Here's a friendly video that we watched to help us with learning more about this concept and how they're effective in helping us build more descriptive and detailed sentences.

Please note, when your child's grammar sheets come home in their agenda bag, I encourage you to please take some time to review these and have your child to finish up any questions they may still need to complete or further practice in.  Many thanks!  

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE FOR BUS NOTIFICATIONS:

It is highly recommended that parents go onto the Consortium website and register for announcements. There may be bus delays and cancellations this coming school year. 

By registering you will receive a timely message whenever there is a delay or cancellation. 

You can sign up by clicking on bus cancellations tab and scrolling to the bottom to subscribe now. 

https://simcoecountyschoolbus.ca/

HYLA:

A big thank you to Hyla for gifting our class a beautiful growth mindset sign that says, “Enjoy this sweet moment!” 🍬

In our classroom, we do our best to learn and appreciate the present moment, whether we’re solving a problem, creating art, or simply listening to one another. 

Our daily meditations remind us that the present is called this because it truly is a gift.

Thank you, Hyla, for such a meaningful reminder that fits perfectly with the heart of our classroom community. 💚

MIRABELLE:

I am delighted to share another post about another special note-taker in our class, Mirabelle!

She has been quietly note-taking during lessons or when we take up our morning math questions, she takes the initiative to jot down key ideas, examples, and strategies in her notebook.

This is such an important lifelong skill, one that high school, college, and university students rely on to organize their learning and review important concepts. 

By developing this habit now, Mirabelle is setting herself up for success and showing great independence and focus in her learning.

Way to go, Mirabelle! 👏 Your dedication to your learning is truly inspiring!

MINDFULNESS:

Here is a speech by famous musician Ed Sheeran who shares his childhood experience to encourage all outsiders to stop being ashamed of their uniqueness, and to embrace their differences instead.

If you listen to his story and how he's overcome challenges in his life, I believe it'll leave you with an appreciation for this wonderful musician. 

As you listen to the video, please think about the following questions:  

What did you learn from Ed’s wise words? 

How can you incorporate them in your life?

In life, unfortunately more often than not, we will all experience some form of hurt or pain because of who we are.  Don’t let others words get you down.  

Easier said than done, but trust me, let’s embrace our quirks and BE OURSELVES!  

There is only one YOU, stand UP, and shout, “I am worthy!  I am happy just the way I am!”  

Together, we can make a difference and accept one another as we are!

GROWTH MINDSET:

This week's mindset message was ...

“Instead of thinking Plan A didn’t work, try thinking, there’s always Plan B!”

What does this mean?

Sometimes, things don’t go the way we expect the first time we try them and that’s okay! This message reminds us to keep trying and stay flexible :)

If Plan A doesn’t work out, we can come up with a new idea or strategy, that’s our Plan B! It means we don’t give up when something is hard; we just look for another way to solve it.

Having a growth mindset means believing there’s always another way to learn, improve, and succeed. 💪

With love, grace & gratitude,

Ms. P. Gill