Week #16: Dec. 19th - 23rd
Dear Families,
I hope you have an enjoyable and safe holiday with your loved ones. Many lead such busy lives, but I believe the holidays are a time to slow down, be present, and think about all the ones we love, cherish and respect. I hope you get many opportunities to spend much deserved quality time as a family.
In a world where things seem to be getting busier and busier, I’m so grateful for people like you who seem to move just slow enough to truly “see” people.Something about you makes us want to be a bit more present, connect a bit deeper, know ourselves a bit more fully, see others a bit more clearly, breathe a bit slower & embrace a bit longer.I just wanted to take a minute to truly thank you and your class for the impact you have on everyone around you. Nottawa is incredibly lucky to have you and your students." - Mrs. Reid
It is with a warm and open heart that I wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and soon to be a Happy New Year!
As an educator, I am very blessed to have such caring, compassionate, and KIND family, friends, and students in my life!!
I will definitely miss seeing your child’s enthusiastic and beautiful spirit over the holidays and I am delighted we’ll all be reunited and get back into our daily routine of fun and learning on January 9th!
EMPATHY ASSEMBLY:
What a powerful performance yesterday by my students!! I am sooo proud of everyone for their dedication and hard work at school and at home in preparation for this assembly. It was very noticeable that our efforts paid off!
Although I sat at the front, I truly believe I could have been an audience member too as the children knew their parts by heart!! Amazing work boys and girls!
Below, I have posted a collection of photos that were sent to me of the kids in action. Thank you Mrs. Roth and Mrs. McIntyre for capturing these beautiful moments of us :)
If you (parents/grandparents) were able to attend, thank you so much for your support. I know it meant a lot to the class to have your presence with us. I’m sure you're beaming with pride just as much as I am. A memorable moment which we'll seal deeply in our hearts forever!
As I write this message, it brings tears to my eyes the impact that your child had on the audience (families, staff, students) at our assembly. Yes, it was one of those 'you had to be there' moments to feel the energy we brought.
This became evident to me when a parent of an SK student wrote the following email to me last night:
"Pareen & Grade 3's,What a gift it was to be a part of the assembly you organized today. From the music to the messaging…the drums ... the meditation … It truly was beautiful. We all learned a lot about empathy and I just wanted to thank you and your class for that.The grounded and calming energy rippled throughout the gym. I have never been in an assembly where all kids were as quiet and calm as they were today. I took a few videos and couldn’t believe there was almost silence in the background, especially right before the holiday break.
Upon receiving and reading this email, I felt a surge of emotion and gratitude. My greatest goal as an educator has always been to help my students and families feel seen, heard, and understood. And in return, the greatest gift that I've received from the kids and parents of Nottawa has been seeing me for who I am :)
I am eternally grateful and will never lose sight of everyone who has made me feel loved, accepted, and understood.
I would also like to personally thank some special people in my life for attending yesterday's performance. Thank you to Mr. Roth, Mrs. Roth, my Ma, my first cousin Arshnoor (visiting from India over the holidays) and Mrs. Engel (retired custodian of Nottawa) who came to support us!
Your continued caring and nurturing ways in ALL my teaching endeavours is appreciated, always!! I love you :-)
EMPATHY RECIPIENTS:
Congratulations to our very own Jonas and Mae for receiving the Empathy award! You always demonstrate this trait in your thoughts, words, and actions ... EVEN WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING! Thank you for BEING YOU!
It is always a tough decision for me to select students of the month because I am surrounded with SO MANY CHARACTER FILLED KIDS. I do my best to thoughtfully think about my recipients and specifically share how they are demonstrating the trait of the month.
Way to go Mae & Jonas :) You're truly models of empathy in your thoughts, words, and actions!
SANTA'S VISIT TO HELP SUPPORT MY FRIENDS' HOUSE & THE FOOD BANK:
Santa's visit to our school was a huge success because of all the empathetic students and families who donated to My Friends' House & The Clearview Community Food Bank.
Santa, thank you for taking time out of your BUSY holiday schedule to visit with our students. They were buzzing with excitement to greet n' meet you :)
Your time, energy, and personable conversations with all the children you met is something we'll always cherish and remember in our hearts! Meegwich :-) We HONOUR & LOVE YOU.
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| Grade 7 Charley & Me :) |
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| SK Maddy :) |
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| Grade 1 Blackey |
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| We're excited to meet n' greet with Santa |
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| Living is Giving for us :) |
Thank you to Mrs. Garvan and the Leadership Team for organizing, packing up all the boxes, and delivering our donations. The amount was the most these charities have seen from a school! Way to go Nighthawks :-)
I know Santa's heart was filled with joy, too!! He is so proud of each and every one of you for sharing your gift of giving to others who need it. Thank you so much for your generous contributions :)
Here at Nottawa Elementary, we know the true spirit of Christmas! Maybe next year, Santa will be back to visit us again!!
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| Patiently awaiting 1:1 time with Santa :) |
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| Grade 6 Kali donating her goods to Santa :) |
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| Grade 6 Kali :) |
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| Grade 4 Jardine & Me :) |
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| Grade 4 Georgia :) |
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| Grade 8 Nate :) |
BUSINESS FAIR:
Thank you to all the staff, students, and parents for supporting this year's Grade 8 Business Fair. We had an absolute blast at it!! Check us out below :-)
Our gym looked fantastic with all the creative and YUMMY business ideas! Anyone that attended was in awe :) Some of my students are already planning and excited for their business idea! Love it :-)
The Fair was a tremendous success - raising $8,700! These funds will be so helpful for the grade 8's Toronto trip coming up in the spring. Way to go Nighthawks!
GRATITUDE:
I would like to take this moment to extend my utmost gratitude to ALL my families and their child(ren) who took the time, thought, and energy to donate generously to SickKids, The Clearview Community Food Bank, My Friends House, Indigenous artists' small business, Gifts of Hope Foundation, and/or provided me with other holiday gifts (e.g., gift certificates to Press Market, Tesoro's). I have tears of JOY as I write this!!
In class, I also had to hold back tears as I read some of the messages parents wrote to me. I don't take it lightly or for granted, they're sealed in my heart!!!
I will cherish your kindness and giving ways always! It means the absolute world to me knowing that I have your unconditional love and support in helping charities who need us.
Feeling your compassion on a daily basis is something that I value so much! My students are truly my GREATEST GIFT!!
It has been a productive, positive, and passionate school year thus far, and I look forward to creating many more beautiful memories in 2023!
I'm SO HAPPY and PROUD to be part of our Nighthawk family!!
Again, parents thank you so much for your generous contributions to these much needed organizations, foundations, and causes!! #livingisgiving
A GIFT OF PEACE:
The past while, we spent quality time making a PEACE inspired gift bag for our families. The kids are excited to share this holiday gift with you!
Inside each bag, you will find a peace dove (ornament) with a heartfelt message, a poem by Maya Angelou entitled "Amazing Peace," a peace stone, and finally, a beautiful handmade Christmas card by your child which I know you will adore! You will also receive a winter landscape drawing which is laminated (see images below).
Peace is one of our greatest gifts we can give to each other to help continue living in a safe, strong, and free country. We must all continue striving towards treating one another with love and peace. This will contribute to a wonderful life for one and all!
You're definitely going to enjoy these precious gifts as your child's whole heart and spirit went into it :) Enjoy!
PEACE PLACEMAT:
Your child has also brought home a placemat (see below) which you can enjoy filling out as a family before your holiday feast. This is similar to what was brought home for Thanksgiving so you will be familiar with this friendly activity :)
I encourage you to please pass your peace stone around the table and share what peace means to you this holiday :) You can then record your answer in one of the quadrants.
If your child would like to share his or her placement with me in the New Year, please bring it to school for us to celebrate!
LETTERS TO THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES:
A special mention to all the students who lovingly completed their holiday & gratitude letter for a member of the Canadian Armed Forces.
This act of kindness will be felt and remembered always!! The letters were very personable and turned out so well. Thank you, THANK YOU!!
I am also very grateful to the parents who supported their children in this writing task. I read through these letters and I am so touched and excited to mail them at the D&L Variety Store!!
The purpose of this activity was for my students to acknowledge and remember all the men and women who are serving our country, especially during Christmas time when they will be away from their families.
We want the armed forces to know that we are thinking of them and value all their amazing contributions to keep us safe, strong, and free.
MATH:
Your child has completed his or her patterning assessment. I appreciate all the support you've provided for this unit of study and helping prepare your child for this test.
We have wrapped up the patterns unit of mathematics and will be moving on to Number (Addition, Subtraction, Money, Multiplication, and Division).
Expectations for these units are posted below for your reference. A math note outlining these will also be sent home in the agenda in the New Year ;) Stay tuned!
Learning Goals for Addition & Subtraction, Money:
We are learning to:
We are learning how to estimate and use our estimates to check our work
We are learning to add and subtract numbers in our head
We are learning different strategies and models to help us add and subtract
We are learning to use different strategies and models to solve addition and subtraction problems
We are learning to use different strategies and models to represent addition and subtraction problems
We are learning to estimate the change required when making cash payments
We are learning to calculate the change required when making cash payments
Learning Goals for Multiplication & Division:
We are learning to:
We are learning to understand how multiplication and division are related to each other
We are learning the different ways we can multiply and divide and use this to solve problems
We are learning multiplication and division facts for 2, 5 and 10
We are learning to represent multiplication and division using drawings, models and tools
MINFULNESS:
Please watch and share this heart warming video which pays tribute to the heroes around us and reminds us all about the power of kindness especially WHEN NOBODY'S WATCHING! I love it :-)
GROWTH MINDSET:
"Never give up on your hopes and dreams, no matter how difficult!" - Ivy
Meegwich,
Ms. Gill
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