Where does time go?

This past school year is one for the history books as some would say. What started out as any other year definitely didn't finish as such. Though I was able to keep most of the blog up to date, I just didn't have time to make any posts. Then the Coronavirus happened and March to June was one complete blur. This past school year will definitely not be forgotten! Below are some photos that provide a visual history of the last part of the school year.

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End of Year Awards

 

And That Was the Year!

This past year, the blog just got away from me. Even though I sent weekly updates through Google Classroom and spontaneous posts of class events on Twitter, I just couldn't sit down and update this blog. I hope to do better beginning September 2019!

***UPDATE*** Photos removed due to technical issues. 

Class Party October 31

Remembrance Day Activity November 11

MacSkimming Outdoor Education Center November 29

Hackergal National Hackathon December 12

 

Landscape Watercolour Paintings of our Trip to MacSkimming December 2018

Warming Up Our Hands and Celebrating the End of 2018

Collaborative STEM Mondays in January 2019

 Learning How to Use Science Lab Equipment - February

Learning How to Describe Substances in Science - March

Collaborative Writing 

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How to Write an Effective Introductory Paragraph for a 5-paragraph Essay - March

Future Builders Trip at the E.Y. Center - May

Year-End Trip to the National Indigenous Festival at Vincent Massey Park - June

Surprise Thank-you Cake From My Class - June

What's Going On?

Tonight is Meet the Educator night! 

Students have settled in to their routines and schedule, in their transition to grade 7. Overall, everything is going well. The focus this month has been on organization and further developing responsibility of their behaviour and daily commitments to their learning. Below is a collaborative poem the class wrote in our study of poetry these past couple of weeks.

A New School Year!

The last half of the 2017-2018 went by so quickly that it took me away from making any posts. The girls volleyball team hosted two friendly games and made it to the semi-finals in the regional tournament. Eight intermediate girls formed two collaborative working groups and competed in the Ottawa Technovation Competition. Batoul, Nikita, Maria and Jasmine came in second and moved on to the Global Finals which was so exciting for them and me, having never participated in such an event before. All the girls in my homeroom joined the second Hackergal Hackathon in the Spring to continue building and learning computer programming skills. The class also had the privilege of learning about Ozobots and how they can be used to learn how to code. The Spring also brought much interest in soccer for the intermediate boys, and with the assistance of a former student, now in university, we coached the team to a silver medal in the regional tournament. Before the year was over, we attended the Ottawa Indigenous Festival at Vincent Massey Park to celebrate a year of very hard work - well done!

Volleyball Season is here!

I am the intermediate girls volleyball coach and have either been playing or coaching (or both) for most of my life. I coach the team three times per week during recess to prepare for the regional tournament. Before the Christmas break, we played a friendly game against Steve MacLean PS and Hawthorne PS. This year, the tournament will be at Vimy Ridge PS on January 17 and we look forward to competing.

Computer Science Programming!

From the beginning of November until December 13, I worked with 14 girls (including Harmony, Dunia and Fatima in our class) in grades 7 and 8 at recess time, to learn how to code. We were part of Canada's largest ever hackathon using the codesters platform, and supported by a Chief Information Officer from the Federal Government on the day of the event. It was a great day of fun learning and girl bonding! With the assistance of School Council who found 2 computer programming judges and another school teacher for a 3rd judge, the girls work was reviewed according to design, gameplay and coding. Winners will be recognized this week - stay tuned! You can view their work below.

So where have we been?

This year, we are a class of 26 students (and mostly boys) where our personal development focus so far has been on the life skill of respect. We began with a rocky start but once the routine and expectations of not only the classroom but also the school were made clear, student behaviour improved. Consistency has been key. Since I haven't made any posts on this website this school year yet (but many are on twitter), here is an overview of what we have been doing.

December 

Celebrating our achievements!

Working collaboratively to problem solve in Science with building structures according to set criteria.

During the week of Dec. 11, students completed learning how to code activities over several days.

November 

 We finally finished inspirational posters about hopes and dreams.

Science digital posters to showcase learning of first unit in Science on interactions in the environment.

Remembrance Day reflections

 In Math we worked collaboratively on vertical non-permanent surfaces (VNPS) to solve pattern problems.

With improved behaviour, students earned the privilege of a trip to MacSkimming Outdoor Education Centre to emphasize their Science learning of interactions in the environment.

October

Showing our learning of ratios in many ways.

September

Interactive notebooks at the ready and using the learning strategy of visualization of Science vocabulary in a cooperative word sort.

Goals for the year!