Friday, November 18, 2011

Update from Grade Four Students

On November 10th we had a special visitor come to our class his name was Mr. Mortley. Mr. Mortley fought in WWll.  he told us that there were thousands of people were in the war and hundreds died each day. He told us lots of interesting stories that we will always remember. He brought us a picture of the ship he was on, and we could see all the medals he wore. He also had a flag from the war. Mr. Mortley was so kind and caring, he brought us Remembrance Day coins, a newspaper, book mark and a poppy with a flag on it.  He really has made a difference in our lives.  We are going to write him a thank you letter.

We also got a email from Mrs. Gill's neice Karri from Afghanistan.  She thanked us for all the things we were doing to remember those who fight for our country. She sent us pictures of Afghanistan and some children We are so lucky to live in Canada.      Thanks for reading our  blog.  Brittany

Hello, this is Colter reporting to you on our CTC Blog. The first subject I want to talk about is our "Advisory Committee" meetings. At this meeting we sit on the carpet in a cirlce and talk about good and not so good things happening in the school and in our class.  The most important rule is we can not say names, we can only talk about the situation. it helps us solve problems, some of us still have some problems but I am sure the problems will go away if we keep trying to do the right thing.  Some of the students have great ideas . One example is we are now remembering how we need to say thank you, so that person will feel good about themselves. I wasn't surprised with the results after collecting the data about who likes the meeting. Everyone in our class likes the opportunity to share and help others. It gives us that do not talk an opportunity to talk and be heard.  Mrs. Gill lets us solve oour own problems and that makes us feel good about ourselves as leaders. She always says quiet leaders are just as important as those that hav e a louder voice.  Thanks for reading our blog!

Mrs. Kennedy was able to be part of one of our meetings and has written her point of view of the process. I hope other parents who have been part of our meetings will also give their point of view. For those who like to join us please let us know and one of the student's will notify you when their next meeting will be. Thank you Mrs. Kennedy
  
As a parent visiting the classroom, I was invited to stay and observe the upcoming “Advisory Committee” meeting.   For those parents who don’t know what the Advisory Committee is, I encourage you to ask your child about it. 
The children gladly grabbed their chairs and huddled up at the front of the classroom to conduct their meeting.  From there Mrs. Gill presented them with a topic.  Today’s topic....recess activities!  The kids were eager to discuss all the things they do at recess and a few of the issues that they have been dealing with.  All the kids work together to help solve problems and come up with solutions that are positive, inclusive and can work for all of their friends.  As a parent it was humbling to watch the children take each others’ concerns so seriously and work together to come up with solutions that could work for everyone.  The compassion and empathy displayed by this class was unbelievable. 
Mrs. Gill allows the kids to make these important decisions by working together.  She guides them from the sidelines, throwing in the beloved role-play games that she is famous for whenever possible.  These are great kids that truly care about each other and eagerly accept the challenge of improving each other’s lives to the best of their abilities.  Keep up the good work guys!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Being the Best We Can Be!!


We are settling into the class routines and learning the importance of being on task and listening very carefully.
We are working on putting our things away and in getting ready for class as quickly as possible.
Some of the students are faithfully counting how many students say “thank you” when they hold the door for them. One of our  CTC Club’s expectation is everyone should take the time to say thank you…..unfortunately the last few counts we only average about 3-4 students saying thank you. I am confident we will soon hit 27.
Another CTC Club’s Expectation we made is to be considerate of our peers working and not to disturb them or distract them. We discussed that a good friend is one who encourages us to always make good decisions and do our best.

Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews:

I would like to thank all those who were able to visit our Commit to Character Club rm.226 (CTC CLUB) during the “Meet the Teacher Night”. It was wonderful to meet you all. If you were unable to attend or forgot to sign up for Parent/ Teacher/ Student Interviews, please be sure to do so as soon as possible.  I will have my list outside my classroom for available times.

Art Period - Special Guest

ART
Two weeks ago in art we had Mrs. Epstein join us which was very informative and fun. We learned about the “Group of Seven” and the importance of large brush strokes, and including two horizontal lines and at least one tall vertical line. The students did an amazing job mixing colours and never washing their paintbrush. The different colours were very eye catching. Some of our art is on display in the hall. We called ourselves the “Group of Twenty-Seven.”  This week in art we began learning to do Zendoodles, we are planning to put out Zendoodle to encourage Commit to Character.