Second Week of School - Thanks for another sensational experience!

Dear Families,

Here I am writing my final blog update for our 2021/2022 school year.  It is with mixed emotions that I share this post.  I am happy to have 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 spirit days, paying for our museum trip, all the generous donations I encouraged to the many charities, the ongoing & open communication, and the list goes on! 

Our time at school was a successful one because of your unconditional parental support.  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).  

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  #nostress

From my heart to yours ... KEEP SMILIN' J  See you in September everyone!

Positive Placemat Affirmations:

On the last day of school, students did a meaningful activity that focused on sharing positive affirmations about their peers in the class.  Your child brought this piece home with them and I hope you've had a chance to read these affirmations :)

It's natural to feel insecurities at different times of our lives, it is my hope your child will keep their placemat in a safe place so they can refer to it when they need a 'boost' of positivity to reaffirm all the wonderful qualities that they possess.  We all need a 'pick me up' from time to time to get out of a negative headspace.  

Below, you will find students writing their affirmations in such a caring and compassionate manner :)

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

• LOVED
• SUPPORTED
• ACCEPTED
• SAFE

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 :-)

Gifts of Appreciation:

To all my families, thank you for taking the time and energy to express your utmost appreciation and gratitude for me through your letters, cards, emails, and donations.  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 (below are just a few of the photos I had from the school year)!  

Many 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 The Living Wish Foundation) on my behalf.  I truly cherish these acts of kindness!  I will always fondly remember your support, it has meant the world to me!

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 :)  

Tessa:

Thank you Tessa and family for organizing such a heartfelt gift for me on behalf of the whole class.  The time, energy, and organizing that this took was incredible!  

Upon receiving them, I immediately called Tessa's family from the portable to express my appreciation.  As busy working parents to juggle this gift during a workday, meant a lot to me :)  Thank YOU!!     

Perhaps some of you may have noticed on the last day of school I was sporting these colourful Vans shoes.  Each student lovingly signed it :)

I will be rockin' these sweet kicks all summer long and I am sure they'll be a great conversation piece when I do have them on ;)  I promise to walk proudly in them as your child's imprinted not only on my shoes, but more importantly, in my heart.

Evie:

Here's another gift of appreciation from our Evie.  She made me a talking stick.  We've used this tool daily in class so it is very special to have one personally made for me :)

Did you know Talking Sticks are used by many Indigenous Tribes when they have council meetings?  The idea of the Talking Stick is to respect each others' opinions and viewpoints during important meetings where things are discussed or agreement needs to be made.  Unless you were holding the Talking Stick, you wouldn't interrupt or speak, but calmly wait your turn.

During the time you are listening, you are to pay careful attention to what's being said so that you don't disrespect others when they are sharing their thoughts, feelings, and emotions.

The AMAZING part about this Indigenous tradition/practice is that it is taught to children at a very young age.  Around three is the age they learn to be respectful of each other's points of view.

It's a purposeful exercise for respecting each other's VOICE.  The Talking Stick is an excellent tool to emphasize respect and patience for yourself and others.

I encourage you and your child on your walks and/or hikes to find your own Talking Stick, decorate it, and use it as a family during your time of sharing.  See image above for inspiration.  Meegwich.

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 Georgia, Rose, Reeghan, Evie, Evelyn, Emily, and Ainsley.

You girls did an outstanding job and displayed your extraordinary skills in singing, hover boarding, 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!

Summer Scrapbook:

I sent home a scrapbook with your child to encourage him or her to write over the summer holidays!  Continuing to work on this skill is important as the expectations in grade 4 increase.

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.   

Poetry:
Thank you boys and girls for working so hard on your poetry portfolio's!  Please take the time to share these and I encourage you to continue writing poetry over the summer months :)

Graduates:

Congratulations to all our Grade 8 graduates!  Good luck in your high school endeavours!  

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

I attended the graduation ceremony Monday 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.

Tabs for Wheelchairs:

A big thank you to ALL my students and families who contributed to our building a wheelchair campaign, check out all the tabs we collected!!

The grand total is 9, 543 :-)  Hooooooly moooooooooooly, thank you for all your contributions boys and girls!

I have looked into a local resource centre called Breaking Down Barriers that can use our tabs!

Breaking Down Barriers provides support, services, and programs to enhance the opportunity for people with diverse disabilities to live independently in the communities of South Georgian Bay. 

They provide independent living skills, work links, community companion network and peer support programs.  For more information, click the link below :-)

Breaking Down Barriers

Your donations will make a significant difference in the lives of those who need it the most for accessibility.  I can't wait to visit this organization oh so soon and donate our tabs :)    

Mindfulness:

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

In class, we meditated regularly and I could always count on Evie 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. 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