Week #19: Jan. 23rd - 26th

Dear Families,

We've completed our final full week of January, can you believe it?!  Time sure flies by and I hope you've been enjoying the sensational snow that we've received!  

Check out the photo below that I took just outside our portable.  Isn't it like a POSTCARD or PAINTING?!  Wowie, the views of our school yard during the different seasons is remarkable and I feel so HAPPY sitting contently and admiring it on this quieter day ;)

I hope everyone's PA Day is going well!  I am really enjoying collaborating with my colleagues to plan and prepare meaningful lessons/reports for my students!  

Here at Nottawa, we truly are surrounded with supportive staff who value the importance of working together to create a school climate that is safe, strong, and child centered.

CHARACTER RECOGNITION ASSEMBLY:

This week, we took time to honour and celebrate January’s Character Trait of Honesty as a school family.  

Congratulations to Libby and Kaleb for being recognized for displaying this trait.  Please continue being your truthful selves in and out of the classroom! 

Your actions are making a difference in our school.  I know that your peers and teachers admire this quality about you!

February's Character Trait Is ...

We are fortunate to be in a school culture that is sensitive to the needs of others – staff and students work together to ensure that we foster a community that is safe, strong, and free.  

As your child’s teacher, I promise to continue to explicitly model, guide, reinforce, and support EQUITY & INCLUSION for ALL my students to feel a sense of belonging.

SPIRIT ASSEMBLY:

Thank you to all the students who DRESSED LIKE THEIR TEACHER for the spirit day!  It brought such joy to my heart seeing the creative ways kids assembled their attire to be like me and/or Mr. Morin!  

I loved seeing all the blundstones, colourful patterned socks, growth mindset t-shirts, blue jeans, plaid tops, beanies, personalized lanyards, raptors and other sporting gear!! You made my day :-)

When I taught Ayden's older sister Kaylee, we too were twinning!

Gooo Raptors!  Let's bring in another Championship like in 2019!

Wowie, making the extra effort to create lanyards like Ms. Gill!

Above and Beyond!  Lovely!!

Lovin' IT!  Check out Isla's puzzle socks!  Libby's PRIDE blundies - fantastic :)

Community of Patterned Socks!

Living is GIVING, why not be kind, be true, BE YOU!

How adorable is this?!  Right on, Ellis!

100% Agreed!

CHINESE NEW YEAR:

This week marked a special time for all our Asian brothers and sisters, it was celebrating The Chinese New Year.

We have talked extensively in class about the importance of honouring and acknowledging different cultures and their traditions so the kids were excited to learn about this!!

Below is a helpful video that we watched in class which explains how our Asian people celebrate their New Year.  Give it a listen to gain a greater understanding of this special event from Annie & Moby :)

ELLIS:

Thank you to Ellis and family for purchasing and sharing some fortune cookies for the class to enjoy for Chinese New Year!  

It was a lovely experience for the kids because we sat in a community circle and each read aloud our 'fortunes' together as a class family.  

Mine said, "Don't worry about money.  The best things in life are FREE."  Wowie, how VERY true :-)  I hope you were able to see your child's fortune when he or she brought it home on Tuesday.  

It was wonderful to hear that the children almost instantly connect their fortunes as GROWTH MINDSETS and know the importance of putting these into their thoughts, words, and actions!

BELL LET'S TALK DAY:

Mental illness is a very common form of human pain and suffering. Being a good listener and asking how you can help or simply just being there for people you care about can be the first step to recovery.

On Wednesday, we had a class discussion about the importance of being educated about the stigmas surrounding mental health.  Many students were not aware of this topic so it was an excellent opportunity for me to touch upon this and you know, I will definitely be reinforcing mental health throughout the remainder of our school year.

We carefully watched and listened to the very informative videos below.  It gave us a clearer understanding about this topic and we have a greater appreciation for those who are affected by mental health.

Ask your child the 5 ways someone who suffers with mental illness can BOOST THEIR WELL-BEING.  HINT (see image below too):  Connect, Give, Learn, Present, Active).  

We as a class family are so fortunate that we participate in these wellness suggestions each and everyday!

Taking care of our mental wellness is equally as important as tending to our physical well-being.   

Since 2011, Canadians and people around the globe have joined in the world’s largest conversation around mental health on Bell Let’s Talk Day. 

Together we have taken big steps to reduce the stigma around mental health issues, inspire one another to take action, and help create a Canada where everyone can access the mental health support they need. But it is clear more needs to be done.

Let’s change this. Take action on Bell Let’s Talk Day and all year long!

This year’s Bell Let’s Talk Day campaign highlights ways we can all create meaningful change and take action by doing one or more of the following:

• Choose a mental health organization to learn about or support

• Help a friend struggling with their mental health by learning how to support them

• Ask about how your school, workplace or community is creating change for mental health

• Nurture your own well-being by practicing and learning mental health strategies

• Get involved in a mental health initiative or organize an event to support mental health

• Engage in conversations about mental health to fight stigma

Please join in Bell Let’s Talk Day now and always by showing your support for all those who live with mental illness and those taking action to help them.  

Share your actions using #BellLetsTalk and help inspire others to join the movement to create positive change!  

BELL LET'S TALK MANDALA:

In class, we practiced mindfulness with the official Bell Let's Talk Mandala.  Bell Let's Talk has designed a mandala that you complete.  

Many mental health professionals recommend colouring as an effective way to practice mindfulness to help heal your brain and heart from sad, anxious, worrying thoughts and feelings.

Mandala meaning "sacred circle" in Sanskrit is a circular art form often containing geometric and repeating designs.

Similar to meditation, it focuses your attention on the present moment and away from worries and stress.  

Speaking of which, below you will find your child in the present moment - relaxed, calm, and at ease in their mind, body, and spirit :)  Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this mindfulness activity.  

You may wish to share your child's creation on social media using #BellLetsTalk.

Let's continue to CREATE POSITIVE CHANGE!

KINDNESS BOX:

As part of learning and showing support for our Mental Health, we have been writing 'bucket filling' notes since the beginning of the school year.

I am sure you've heard about this or seen one that your child's received from a peer or me :-)

Kindness notes from Kieran & Benner :)

As part of thinking about the brains and hearts of their peers - Isla, Brynn, Mae, and Ivy decided to build a kindness box for our class family to help boost EVEN MORE positive energy within our class community!  How amazing :-)

Thank you girls for taking the time and energy to build this, it means a lot!  Annnnnd, the best part is, it's REUSABLE, the girls intentionally thought about this so I can use it with my future classes!  HOW THOUGHTFUL :-)

Below, you will find an image to help inspire the students to write their boost building messages!  Click the image to enlarge it to see the sentence starters.

Students are encouraged to use the phrases on the left if they are making a kindness message for themselves and use the phrases on the right if they are making a kindness message for somebody else.

Our kindness box has been bursting with messages already, and it's created such a positive atmosphere all around.  My students are THE best!  

DIVISION:

What is division?  Splitting a number into equal groups is called division.  This can be a tricky concept, however, providing students with various strategies (e.g., repeated subtraction, making groups, using multiplication to solve for the missing number) to help them solve division related questions is essential.

In the video below,  Annie and Moby explain these strategies in a manner which is child friendly and effective.  Check it out :)

After watching the video, please answer the following question and use repeated subtraction to help you solve!  Give it a go and see how well your child consolidates this strategy.

MATH:

This week, I introduced another 'money problem' (below) for the class to solve in pairs.

As always, I encouraged the children to use the "Success Criteria for Problem Solving" (photo below) to help them solve.

This was a multi-step word problem so it required using 2 operations (addition & subtraction).  Please take some time over the weekend to ask your child what his or her strategies were.  Thank you so much.  

Check out your very own mathematician hard at work!

NATIONAL SWEATER DAY:

Did you know, National Sweater Day is on February 2, 2023?  What is it?  Well, National Sweater Day is an opportunity to raise awareness about climate change and energy conservation, and show how together – classroom by classroom, school by school – we can be a part of the solution.  Click link below for more info.! 

National Sweater Day 2023

Make an impact beyond National Sweater Day by asking students to reflect on their personal carbon footprint and make personal commitments in their own lives to help keep climate change in check. 

Collectively, we can have a powerful impact!!

Thank you to Ms. Steele's and Ms. Weeks' classes for being our GREEN TEAM LEADERS and raising awareness to these much needed causes!  

Education is the first step to bring about positive change!  We appreciate you creating meaningful and appealing slide decks (such as the one above) to help educate all staff and students on this topic.  I love it!!

I shared with the students that if they have a sweater that is blue or green wear this as the blue represents the oceans, lakes, seas, rivers, and green the land.  Or if your child owns a sweater that has an impactful message about helping and caring for The Earth, wear this to show your support.  

As always, thank you parents for your active involvement in preparing your child to participate in our various SPIRIT DAYS.  

Below are some examples :-)

FIELD TRIP:

Exciting news!  We have a fun and upcoming trip to the Bowling Alley for Valentines Day!  

This is such a wonderful trip which gives primary students the opportunity to experience a FUN way to celebrate their love and friendship with one another :)  

We will be handing out our Valentines on this trip, so please ensure your child's cards are ready and at school in his or her agenda bags on Tues. Feb. 14th!  

To ensure we're inclusive, I will share the names of the kids below with their correct spellings :)

Valentines Class List:

Mielle 

Isla 

Cruz 

Ellis 

Jonas 

Brynn 

Kaia 

Ivy 

Molly 

Logan 

Benner 

Ben 

Libby 

Kaleb 

Anna 

Arie 

Mae 

Kieran 

Will

Trip Date:  Tues. Feb. 14th   
Time: 10:00 - 12:30-ish p.m.
Location: Georgian Bowl
Cost: $13.00 (students provided with a slice of pizza, water, bowling shoes, and bussing transportation)
What to Wear:  WHITE!  So you can glow in the dark ;)  This is optional.

ANNA, MAE, CRUZ, ISLA:

Congratulations to our girls who participated in a tournament last weekend in Whitby, Ontario.  Anna came into school excited on Monday sporting her medal :)  We took some time to honour this achievement as a class family.

When I asked the girls about their experience, they shared, "Well Ms. Gill, we lost to a team in regular play, but when we faced them again in the gold medal game, we beat them.  Our goalie did a terrific job because she made PROGRESS and learned from the last game how to save the puck."  Wow, this is amazing and put a smile on my face!!  

We often talk in gym class the importance and value in "Sometimes we WIN, sometimes we LEARN!"  It's okay to 'lose," and in fact, that's what brings about the best growth in getting better for the next challenge.  These girls demonstrated this and I'm so, SO PROUD OF EACH OF YOU (and your teammates).

Best of luck with the rest of your hockey season :-)

LILY:

This was Lily's last full week with us at Nottawa Elementary.  I would like to take this opportunity to wish Lily all the best in her journey at her new farm, house, and school!  This is a dream come true for the family who have worked so hard to achieve this :)  I'm so proud and happy for the Scicluna family!!

Lily, I will miss your kind, helpful, and sweet presence in the class!  We formed a very supportive and loving bond.  Saying goodbye to Lily was very emotional for both of us (we hugged each other tightly and tears filled our eyes), but I believe in you Lily and have every confidence you will be RESILIENT and make this transition a positive and smooth one, kiddo!!  #believetoachieve  

I look forward to hearing about your experiences in your new hometown.  Please ask Mummy to email me pictures from time to time so I can show the class (your friends) how you're doing :)  Miss YOU already!

MS. TANYA:

Speaking of farewells, our evening custodian Ms. Tanya has accepted another custodian position and will no longer be at Nottawa.

At the Honesty Assembly, we had an opportunity to show and express our appreciation for this remarkable custodian and friend.  It brought tears to my eyes (and hers too, see photo) as we embraced and said 'see you later.'  

You see, Ms. Tanya and I have a soulful bond. To me, she was the heart of the school - quietly, yet affectionately connecting with the children (and ME) to help them feel seen, heard, and understood.  This was most evident with Charlie (see photo) who is in grade 7.  

The two diligently and effectively cleaned our school so it's safe & sanitary for us all to enjoy!!  What a dynamic T.E.A.M. you both are!!  

Each day, my students and I worked hard to keep our portable tidy and neat so that when Ms. Tanya came in, she entered with a smile and felt valued (not having to pick items off the ground, chairs stacked, desks aligned, boot room organized, etc ...).  And because we have such mutual respect for each other, she always left our portable literally SPOTLESS.  

Ms. Tanya, thank you for being such a caring, compassionate, and cooperative colleague and friend.  I will miss you more than you know, especially our 'chats' about life.  I HONOUR YOU!

Mrs. Engel, Ms. Tanya's Mom came to the assembly too to honour her daughter.  Proud Momma!

MINDFULNESS:

In life, we will not agree with everyone, and that's OK!  In fact, it's better than ok, it's what makes our world so bright, innovative, and interesting!  

But, what I've shared with my students especially in collaborative situations at home (with siblings) and school (with peers), we must always be considerate of others thoughts, feelings, and opinions.  

If you don't agree with someone, please remember to RESPECTFULLY DISAGREE.  We all have a voice, it needs to be heard in a kind, caring, and respectful manner.

"Let's treat people like they are PEOPLE, people! There's a lot of disagreeing going on in the world right now. So, it's time to teach us kids how to disagree with people without making someone feel terrible."

Here is Kid President's 6 Steps to learning how to disagree with people. "Remember, just because we disagree about which is better, dogs or cats, doesn't mean I can't be a good friend and listen to all the reasons why you like cats." #KidPresident #SoulPancake

GROWTH MINDSET:

Thank you Lily for sharing this week's mindset message!  It's an important one to help inspire us to believe in ourselves and our ability to make a positive change!  

From my heart to yours ... MEEGWICH!

Ms. Gill