Dear Salle 113 families,
First of all, Happy Father's Day to all our dads and father figures! We hope you loved the acrostic poem we wrote about you!
As I mentioned on Google Classroom, you're invited to TWO things!
Please join us for the announcements on Wednesday and Thursday morning, 9:00 am, for the DEWSON WORLD PREMIERE of our poem video projects! They turned out great and will be yours to keep after the "premieres"! Big thanks to my choir friend, Will, for putting these together - he has way better skills than me!
I have also scheduled a series of short, optional, park meets for after school this week and next. The first was today and I already got to see several students. It would be nice to see everyone again before school wraps up, and of course, I'll bring our prizes! Please check the plan for the last 7 days to see when and where these are happening!
This week we are wrapping up the last odds and ends that we didn't finish last week and mixing in lots of fun. Highlights will be "Coding Game" independent time on Wednesday, movie afternoon on Friday and a field trip to the Aquarium next Monday! This Thursday, the kids are running the show. I've collected ideas from many students for what they'd like to do or learn and we will try to squeeze it all in! If your student wasn't at school on Friday or Monday, or they didn't have an idea yet, they can let me know tomorrow and we'll work it into the plan! We will end the day with a talent show, so if your child plays an instrument, does gymnastics, dances, can perform a magic trick, tell a joke - ANYthing - they can practice up and perform for us Thursday!
A few of you generously purchased books for our class during the book fair before schools closed. We were able to read a few of these early in our online learning, but I've just received a couple more (merci Freya!). We will read this great book this week (celebrating Indigenous culture and including words in Cree), but unfortunately we won't have time to try the recipe at the end. Here is the recipe for Bannock, a bread made in many Indigenous cultures. I hope you'll try it, as I will!
Some students have asked about the book package that I sent home in April. The workbook and any copies are yours to keep, and I am happy to help students who want to try activities during independent time this week and next. The books and texts need to be returned to school. You can either bring them to the park (if you're coming to meet me) and I'll return them, or you can hang on to them for the summer and give them to your teacher in September. Thanks very much!
I expect you'll be receiving your report cards electronically sometime end of this week or next. I always like to mention a few things to keep in mind at every report card time:
1. Please celebrate your child's accomplishments! Everyone is doing lots of things really well!
2. I think working on our learning skills is really important. It's hard to improve other areas without strong learning skills, so please do read these comments with your child.
3. Together with your child, please pick ONE thing to work on and set a goal! Whatever they pick, work a tiny bit on it EVERY day - just like brushing your teeth! This could be a learning skill or part of a subject area (e.g., French speaking).
4. Please don't compare with friends or even siblings. Everyone has different strengths and comparing never makes either person feel good in the end.
5. Let's remember that this report is a reflection of just a small moment in time, which was far from normal. This year has been topsy-turvy, especially for our class. For most other classes, teachers have had a lot more in-class time to refer to. I can only comment on what I've observed in the last 3 months, which has been almost entirely online. For some, online learning was a great experience, for others, not being in the room with the teacher was a challenge. I've tried to take all this into account in writing my comments and determining marks, but I still wish I'd had more time in-class to provide a more well-rounded picture. Hoping that next year is back to normal!
I want to say thanks for all your support over the past few months. The messages I received from so many of you were incredibly encouraging and kind. I don't think many more things could have happened in my personal life during these short 3 months (baby being sick on my second day back and needing to have my dad drive an hour in at 7am so I could work, isolating with baby for 2 weeks while teaching, endless covid tests, surgery, my grandfather, urgent house issues... after a while you just have to laugh!). But through it all, I've really enjoyed the time spent with our class and the new-to-me challenge of planning for online! I wouldn't want to do it indefinitely, but I think we made the best of it! I'm looking very much forward to seeing the kids again in September in their new classes and I am excited for them to have a more normal year - fingers crossed!
If I don't see you at the park or online, have a wonderful, relaxing, summer! You've earned it!
All the best, Tamara
(Decorating our acrostic poem for papa... until he ate the marker...)