**Please check the Meeting Schedules (in the sidebar) and the calendar at the bottom for information regarding this week's meetings and events. Laptops are not required unless requested. Thank you for leaving them in your classrooms.
***Please bookmark the Mindset link so you can access it easily.
Please click on the video below to watch Monday's BBE broadcast.
~from the ES BBE
The Elementary Office, in collaboration with the Elementary PSA, invites you to a week of relaxation. This is a small token of appreciation for all the wonderful things you do. Come sit by the fire, and enjoy some holiday treats, holiday movies, and festive music in a relaxing atmosphere.
Date and Times: December 6-12 from 8:00-4:00 pm.
Where: Sweet Treat Cafe (ES Community Room)
December
11- Virtual Learning Videos Due (uploaded to the Virtual Learning folder and embedded in Weebly)
12- Ugly Sweater Day
12- MA-Gd. 2 Winter Concert
14- Pyjama Day
14- All LI comments and Overviews completed on Veracross
14- EC Big Sing
~from the ES Principal
All overseas and local purchase budget requests for 2019-2020 were due on Friday. Thank you for completing this necessary task in an already busy season.
Curriculum Leads will be reviewing all requests through January 11th. If there are follow up questions, they will contact the instructional leads (core) or the subject area teacher (encore).
~from the ES Principal
Virtual Learning mini lesson videos need to be uploaded to the appropriate subject area in this folder. Core teachers also need to send the embed code and additional resource links to their instructional lead so that they can embed them in the grade level virtual learning page. Encore teachers need to embed their own videos and add any additional resource links. Don't forget to publish the page once these items are added. If you require any help with any part of this process, please see a member or the innovation team. All videos and resources need to be uploaded and embedded by Tuesday, December 11th. Thank you!
When: Wednesday, December 12th
Where: Let’s all try to meet for a group picture at 8:10- Location Theatre
Why: For a little holiday cheer!
~from the ASA Coordinator (Mr. Gareth Lloyd)
Session 1 ASAs and Hosted Clubs officially ended last week. However, this week there are a few Hosted Club make-up classes that you need to be aware of. Please check the schedule below to ensure you know whether you have students who need to attend a make-up class.
Monday 10th December
- Ballet rehearsal - All performers (Monday and Wednesday group) have a rehearsal in the MPR from 3:30-5:30 o'clock
- Judo Hosted Club 3:30 - 4:30
- Judo Hosted Club 4:30 - 5:30
- Gymnastics Hosted Club 3:30 - 4:30
- Gymnastics Hosted Club 4:30 - 5:30
- Ballet in the Theatre until 7 pm (Kindergarten until 5:30)
Ballet performance. Ballet performers should be released from class at 12 noon to eat an early lunch, dress and prepare for the 1:30 performance.
It's Pajama Time!
~from the ES Blazer Voices
Pajama Day is coming your way! It's this Friday, December 14th! Hip Hip Hooray! Let's kick off our holidays with a cozy and comfortable spirit day - PAJAMA DAY! Keep calm and wear pajamas on Friday, December 14th.
~from your Math Curriculum Lead (Ashley Christians)
Check out the short teaser below about the amazing things we are already doing and where we are headed on our math learning journey. Thank you Ashley for the creative presentation!
~from the ES SLT
You may have noticed Leigh, Tracey and me out and about in your classrooms. We are piloting a new approach to learning walks that will hopefully allow us to visit each classroom equally and more often. To do this, we have created three groups. One group includes assistants and the other two groups are a combination of core and encore teachers. We have assigned ourselves a group for the equivalent of three weeks. During that time, our goal is to make 3 visits to each teacher on our list. Our visits will last a maximum of five minutes and provide a snapshot of learning. When we are in your classrooms we are observing and recording what we think students are learning to do, what students are learning about, and what strategies are being implemented to support learners. We will complete our first rotation December 14th, each having made 78 visits (234 in total)! Beginning in January we will rotate groups and start sharing with you what we observed students learning to do and learning about. We will share our observations face to face if possible or via email if necessary. If in email form, please respond to our question to support our learning.
Thanks, as always, for inviting us into your classroom. We continue to learn so much from you and your children.
~ from the ES SLT
We plan to take our learning outdoors and into the forest during tomorrow's faculty conversations as long as the weather cooperates. We will start (3:45 pm) and end in the MPR. The weather forecast predicts cloudy skies with a temperature hovering around 3 degrees celsius (37 degrees fahrenheit). We plan to be outdoors for 30-40 minutes. Please dress appropriately for the weather and the outdoors. If necessary, bring a change of clothes.
In the event the weather forecast is incorrect, we will meet in the MPR at 3:45 pm and visualize our thinking about outdoor learning.
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Future Forward Learning in the Elementary
~from the Innovation Team (Nate, Paul, and Vlad) For quick on the fly note-taking, designing, drawing, brainstorming, mind-mapping, and more we have portable, tilt-able whiteboard tables, that everyone loves to use! An oldie but goodie, these whiteboard tables take an old concept and literally flip it. Students (and teachers or parents) can sit, stand, generate ideas, document and visualize them. We currently have 1 table that can be booked for use (and another on the way). Please speak to a member of the LI department if you would like to make use of it. |
Have an article, website, tool worth sharing? Send it to Krista and share it with your colleagues here.
Great Teaching: The Power of Expectations by Tom Sherrington
"Having high expectations, communicating them and reinforcing them is such a powerful feature of great teaching. When you sweat the small stuff, make the details count; show that you really believe that excellence is possible from everyone – the pay-off is significant. It sounds obvious but it can be easier said than done. Let’s explore the details. Where do expectations come into play?" Read more here.
Just Wondering- Kath Murdoch (December 5, 2018)-Reflecting on how we can design inquiry with and for learners.
~from the ES Librarian
Education outside the classroom continues to become an integral and important part of the learning experience. As educators all recognized the benefits of the great outdoors. To this end, we have just added a new professional book in the library (6 copies) - just in time for some winter break reading!
Children learning outside the classroom: from birth to eleven edited by Sue Waite
Sue Waite is the Associate Professor in Outdoor Learning at the University of Plymouth in Plymouth, England. Ms Waite is also a certified primary school teacher and her research has provided strong evidence for the multiple positive outcomes of curricular learning in local natural environments.
There is a companion website with more resources on the Sage Publishing website. Articles, videos, and other suggested readings are available from how to use technology outdoors to language communication outside the classroom.