Week #40: Jun. 26th - 29th

Dear Families,

Here I am writing my final blog update for our 2022/2023 school year.  It is with mixed emotions that I share this post.  

I am happy to have successfully completed this year seeing all my students diligently grow academically, socially, and behaviourally, however, I do feel emotional that our time together in our learning community has come to an end.  

I will miss each student as they have in their own way brightened my heart with their smiles, enthusiasm, and respect.  Each day, I was greeted with warmth and positive energy.  I truly am the blessed one!  

I would like to take this opportunity now to thank each of you (parents) for all that you have done this school year to continually support your child in each and every aspect of learning that they participated in.  

Just to name a few - supporting your child in his/her weekly homework, organizing attire for the many spirit days, paying for our field trips, your generous donations to Sick Kids, Water First (and more), preparing your child for Stone Soup, Empathy Assembly, Black History Assembly, the Poetry Cafe, the ongoing open communication, and the list goes on! 

Our time at school was a successful one because of your unwavering parental support - truly!  I could not have done what I did this year without your help so thank you from the bottom of my heart!  

I want to take this final opportunity to wish you all a happy, healthy, and safe summer holiday!  The next little while I am looking forward to being glued to the outdoors biking and hiking (passions of mine) with my loved ones.

As many know, I feel the most grounded in my classroom, but on my free time, it's definitely in nature that I feel at peace.  I am deeply grateful to have a healthy mind, body, and spirit to enjoy it.

I wish for you to seize and savour every moment you can with your dear child(ren) in our picturesque community!  #blessed 

KEEP SMILIN' J  See you in September everyone!

My former students Tessa (grade 4) & Parker (grade 7)
Can't wait to see you in Sept.!!

TEACHER APPRECIATION:

To all my families, thank you for taking the time and energy to express your utmost appreciation and gratitude through your letters, cards, emails, books, gifts, and donations.  

Thank you for the indigenous and equity inspired books, Ayden.  How thoughtful!

Your sentiments brought tears to my eyes and I will NEVER LOSE SIGHT of your kindness.  I am deeply moved by your generosity and caring hearts.  I truly won the jackpot of supportive parents and darling children!

I am grateful for YOU!

Thank you to Mrs. Leal and all my students for this AMAZING t-shirt of our key learnings this school year, WOW, WOW, WOW!!  I looooooove it :-)

As requested, I deeply appreciate that many families connected my love for giving back to a charity and donated to causes near and dear to me (e.g., Water First, Sick Kids, and Terry Fox Foundation) on my behalf.  

I truly cherish these acts of kindness!  "Living is Giving" and thank you for making a difference in the lives of others who need it the most.

Logan's Sick Kids Donation - MEEGWICH

My connections with my students' parents/guardians is something I value and is sealed in my heart.  I could not have made the progress in your child's academic, social, and behavioural learning if I didn't have your support every step of the way - thank you, thank you!!  

I want each of you to know that I deeply admire and respect you for how you're raising your child(ren).  The kids at Nottawa can and will continue to make this planet BRIGHTER & BETTER with your influence.

I certainly had some emotional moments, but all happy tears and I'm excited to continue watching your child learn and grow throughout our years at Nottawa :)

Please don't ever hesitate to reach out to me to connect, I will always do my best to maintain our bond :)  

JULY KINDNESS CALENDAR:

Each child has brought home a July kindness calendar and I encourage you to continue making kindness the norm boys and girls!  Enjoy participating in the various activities :)

The famous words "If you can be anything, BE KIND" can and will make our world better and brighter for everyone.

HOMEWORK:

Thank you to all the students who continued to complete their daily homework diligently even in the last week of school!  Now some may have wondered, "Why would Ms. Gill do this?"  

In class, we regularly talk about the importance of continuing to build our BRAIN POWER, Learning Skills & Work Habits, and Character Traits.

For us, LEARNING NEVER STOPS because we want to be the BEST WE CAN BE all day everyday!

Way to go boys and girls, you truly amaze and delight me!!  

Lastly, please remember to practice your math facts, read every day, and take moments to write letters of gratitude for your loved ones.  

After all, we all have people we are thankful, grateful, and appreciate in our daily lives, let them know you care :)

SUMMER SCRAPBOOK:

Speaking of continuing to learn, I sent home a scrapbook with your child to encourage him or her to maintain his or her writing over the summer holidays!  Continuing to work on this skill is important as the expectations in grade 4 increase.

In their scrapbook, your child may choose to write a narrative (story), a procedure (recipe), a recount (retelling an event in sequence), a report, an explanation, growth mindsets, or a poem.  

The goal is for your child to share some special things they did over the break and to continue their love of writing!

Please encourage your child to proofread and edit their work prior to their sharing with you.

Editing Checklist:  When I proofread, I make sure that ...

• Each sentence begins with a capital letter
• I left spaces between words
• "I" is always capitalized
• Quotation marks (speech marks) are used when someone is talking or to quote someone else's ideas
• I check my spelling
• "No excuses" - word study words are spelling correctly
• My writing makes sense
• My printing is legible
• Names of people, important places, days and months are capitalized
• Each sentence ends with a .  ?  or !

In the fall sometime, I look forward to inviting your child for a picnic lunch in our outdoor classroom to celebrate some of their scrapbook writing pieces and to check out the fun adventures they experienced in July & August.   

POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS:

As gift to each other, students did a meaningful activity that focused on sharing positive affirmations about their peers/friends in our class.  

Your child brought this piece home with them and I hope you've had a chance to read these amazing affirmations :)

It's natural to feel insecurities at different times of our lives, it is my hope your child will keep their "YOU ARE AMAZING PLACEMAT" in a safe place so they can refer to it when they may need a 'boost' of positivity to reaffirm all the wonderful qualities that they possess!  

After all, we all need a 'pick me up' from time to time to get out of a sad, worried, anxious, or negative headspace.  

Please enjoy the students writing their affirmations below in such a caring and compassionate manner, feel the loooooooove :)

As an educator, I always want my students to feel:

SEEN

HEARD

UNDERSTOOD

VALUED

Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to challenge and overcome negative thoughts.  When you repeat them often, and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes.

Many of us do repetitive exercises to improve our physical health, and affirmations are like exercises for our mind (brain) and outlook (perspective).  

These positive mental repetitions can reprogram our thinking patterns so that over time we begin to think and act with a stronger sense of self-worth making you more likely to improve your own well-being :)  HOW AMAZING, I LOVE THIS!!  

I have every confidence your child too will embrace their peers' positive affirmations about them and live a life filled with PEACE, JOY, and HARMONY :-)

TALENT SHOW:

Congratulations to ALL the talent show performers!  I was in awe of the many skills shown!  Nottawa is filled with exceptionally talented students – wowie!  

In particular, I would like to extend a HUGE congrats to the participants from our class, namely - Isla, Mae, Mielle, Ivy, Brynn, Kaia, and Molly.

You girls did an outstanding job and displayed your extraordinary skills in singing, dancing, a puppet show, and choreographing a detailed hula-loop dance!  

It takes a lot of courage to get up in front of a big audience.  You did it with such grace and gentle confidence.  You made our class family so proud!!  Way to go girls  :-)  

Below, I have posted some images of the girls in action, enjoy!

Molly 

Brynn, Mae, Isla

Mielle & Friends

Kaia & Ivy

Kaia & Ivy

BEATTIE DAY:

Thank you to all the staff and students who dressed up in black and white to help honour our secretary Mrs. Beattie for her invaluable contributions to our school community.  

Along with our attire, Mrs. Beattie gifted every child and adult with her one of a kind saying - "Make it a GREAT DAY" button.  This is something that we will always remember you by!!

We had an assembly to show Mrs. Beattie how much we appreciate her by singing a song made by Mrs. O, sharing video messages by kids around the school, and some heartfelt speeches shared by Mrs. Mortimer and Mrs. Kutcy.

GRADE 8 GRADUATION:

I would like to take this opportunity to say congratulations to all our Grade 8 graduates!  Good luck in your high school endeavours!  

I had the pleasure of teaching Bailey in grade 3 (2018)

So PROUD OF YOU :) Bailey and I in grade 8 (2023).  

Bailey & I on the last day of school :)

Thank you to our dedicated parent volunteers who took so much time and effort to provide and make ALL the amazing decorations for the grad theme.  It looked stunning and you always go above and beyond to make it special for our school family!!  

I attended the graduation ceremony Tuesday evening and it was wonderful to see everyone “dressed to the nines!”  Our 8’s looked so beautiful!  

As I sat admiring everyone, I couldn’t help but think about my students (your child) getting up on stage for their graduation when it comes up, I can’t wait!  I know, I know, we still have a few years left don’t we?!  (Lol).  

It will be a precious moment and one I’m very much looking forward to!  It’s been a remarkable school year watching each learner grow to their full potential!  My students are truly ready for the next grade level.

MINDFULNESS:

The summer holiday is here and with this, I encourage you to take quiet moments for yourself to just BE and BREATHE like Ivy, Mae, Evie, Arie, and Benner.

In class, we meditated regularly and I could always count on many students to be a model for mindfulness and meditation.

Below, I have posted a 5 minute guided meditation for kids that you may wish to try out with your child.  

It features deep breathing techniques, an easy visualization, and relaxing music. It can be used to calm anxiety, stress, or worry. It can also be listened to at bedtime to help your child drift off into a deep and peaceful sleep.

You can use this meditation anytime and it only takes 5 minutes to calm the mind and relax the body. I hope this brings you all continued peace and harmony to seize and savour life's precious moments.

GROWTH MINDSET:

One of my favourite quotes is below and I wanted to share it with you to help extend my sincere gratitude to ALL OF YOU.  

It truly is wonderful to be loved, however for me, the greatest gift I have received from all my students and parents is being seen, heard, and understood completely and wholly not solely as a teacher, but more importantly, as a human being.

Thank you for taking the time to UNDERSTAND me for who I am; I will never lose sight of your love and support.

With ever lasting appreciation & respect,

Ms. Gill