Hi everyone,
I realize some of you may not be fully logged onto the new site so I thought I would post here about picking up belongings. Mme Miller and I will be here on Thursday of this coming week to clean up the class. We will put ALL of your belongings + t-shirts outside our class (in the kindie yard) for you to pick up anywhere between 9am-3pm. If you require alternate hours, please let us know! Feel free to bring kids, there is no need to go in the school! We hope you are all doing well! Mme Ellis
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Hi everyone, You should have received a call or a voicemail from either Mme Miller or myself to check in with everyone. In fact, you should be receiving calls from all your kids' teachers this week. It's true - we've been asked to continue teaching as much as possible online over the next little while. So, in light of this news, I've been giving online teaching a lot of thought. I thought I would relay my philosophies on the subject: 1) Nobody signed up for this. - Not for suddenly terminating our collective lives together - Not for social distancing or sickness - Not for learning remotely - Not for juggling working from home with kids! 2) We cannot replicate what we had in class to an online platform. 3) We need to prioritize supporting each other and fostering relationships. - WE MISS EACH OTHER and want to hear from each other! I prefer focussing on connections and keeping up relationships and anything else is secondary. - Luckily this particular class has been very strong and I am not particularly worried about students falling behind. Many students were excelling in French and math and Mme Miller and I were simply fostering more development. Google Classrooms As you're reading this, I am navigating the new world of technology in hopes to better assist you and provide resources that are useful. Please bear with me, as I am NOT a tech teacher (Mme Miller even less so!) In fact, I prefer to avoid it at school. However, here we are. I have to switch our communications to a new platform called Google Classrooms. UGDSB supports all google applications and this is what the students will need to use for the rest of their schooling in UGDSB. In the next few days you will be receiving an email to ask you to sign up. If it asks you for a class code, you can use lkma4bf . If you have any trouble, please let me know. Epic! You should also be receiving another email from me regarding this application. I am hoping you can continue some French at home using the books provided on this site. They have a good selection in French. All you have to do is click on "read to me" and it will narrate for you. That's it for now! You will soon be able to access more information through the new Class site. If you have any trouble or any further questions, please feel free to email/call/text me. [email protected] Cell: 519-830-0033 [email protected] Cell: 519-588-8818 Hi guys,
I hope you're all doing well. I have to say that I am really sad that things have turned out this way. Mme Miller and I were really enjoying our little class. Everyone was getting along really well and things were really easy! Now, however, I doubt we will see each other for some time. So I figured that I'd better follow through with my promise to make poo:) As an aside, if you're looking for new toys these were big hits in our class: -Playstix -Plus-plus blocks -Perler beads -Lego -Magnatiles -Any science experiments involving vinegar and baking soda! Stay safe, everyone! Thanks to those who have sent in notes, please feel free to continue! Well, this year is turning out to be quite the memorable year! COVID 19 and Strikes. My thoughts are with those of you who are struggling to find daycare options.
Today we did an impromptu lesson on germs ("microbes") using glitter gel and spoke about where they are (EVERYWHERE) and not to touch our faces. We've also washed our hands many times already! So, the change in the school day schedule means a change in our plans at school. Our big bowel movement day will now take place April 9th. Hopefully. Easter weekend is the first weekend after we come back to school. So far I have one volunteer for Scientists in the School. Please let me know if anyone else can join us:) Best of luck over the next weeks! See you in April - crazy. April 9 - Making Poo April 10-13 Easter Weekend April 23rd - Scientists in the School (8:30-12:00) April 24th - PD Day Hi everyone,
I mostly just wanted to wish everyone a happy March Break! I know some of you are going away (and have already left). Enjoy your time with your families, in the sun if possible! As a general update the class has been doing quite well. The SKs are really impressing me with their reading abilities! I have never had such a group of great readers in SK! The JKs are all playing well and have very few issues between themselves. I think Mme Miller would agree with me that this is the first time in years that we've been able to relax a bit while everyone plays well together! We are truly enjoying ourselves:) At the moment, we are in the middle of our digestive system unit. We will be wrapping this up after the break and (hopefully if the strikes allow) making poo on the 26th of March. There is a Scientists in the School day coming up in April. I've asked Mme Lambkin to put payment online so that should be up soon. We will be needing 4-5 volunteers from 8:30-12:00. Please let me know if you (or grandparents etc) are available! March 26th - Making Poo ("Caca" in French) April 10-13 - Easter Weekend April 23rd - Scientists in the School April 24th - PD Day Lastly, please pop by and check out the lost and found if you have time! Thanks, Melissa Hi everyone,
A couple of things to note: 1) PIzza and milk/juice that was supposed to be delivered on Friday will now be delivered on Thursday. 2) We will be moving on from our Arctic adventures and beginning out Human Body adventures next week. Our igloo will soon become a doctor's office. If you have any relevant toys at home that you are willing to share, please let me know! FYI in a few weeks will will culminate this unit with a "making poo" day. Yes - you heard me! I have a secret recipe:) But first, we'll learn about the digestive system. . 3) Tomorrow is technically pink shirt day if you want to join. Bonne semaine! Melissa Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's/Family Day weekend! Just a quick note to let you know that if you've ordered pizza, it will be delivered on THURSDAY instead of Friday (due to the strike). Thursday also happens to be our Rice Krispie square day. So...many of you will be packing very light lunches - yay! To keep you up to date with classroom affairs, we are currently learning about polar bears and doing some really awesome artwork:) We also had a lockdown drill today which meant that the kids had to sit quietly in the corner while a pretend "bad guy" was in the school. I also wanted to thank many of you for the outpouring of support during this period of striking. It's been hard on everyone, but I have to say the support has been amazing! We're all hoping it ends soon. Mme Ellis Hi everyone, It has been a little while since I've reported on our ongoings. At the moment, things are up in the air with the strike so it's been hard to complete anything. However, when we are at school, we have been learning about the Arctic and which animals live there. We've made a little igloo in the class that they have been quite excited about:) In terms of the strike, I assume everyone was informed about the lack of February report cards. Please keep in mind that assessments are still taking place, so if you would like an update, I'm more than happy to provide one. As for February, I thought I would get a head start on Valentine's Day information. I am hoping to collect cracker boxes, small cereal boxes etc for the students to decorate. They will be used to hold all the cards that they receive. If you can send in empty boxes that would be great! In terms of the cards, to make our lives easier we would appreciate if you simply wrote "To: my friend or To: mon ami" on each one so they don't have to distinguish between names. Of course, there are some students who may want to write all the names, and that's ok if they do. Here's a class list: Amy, Arthur, Austin, Briar, Callan, Cohen, Cora, Drew, Eilidh, Elliott, Evelyn, Ewan, Lachlan, Levi, Lily, Mack, Maddie, Mia, Michaela, Moss, Rosie, Tyson, Zak, Zola Upcoming Events: Tuesday Jan 28th - Strike (No school) Jan 30 @ 5:30pm - Movie Night Friday Jan 31 - PD Day (No school) Tuesday Feb 4 - UGDSB Strike (No school) Thursday Feb 6 - Province wide ETFO strike (No school) Monday Feb 17 - Family Day ( No school) Thursday Feb 20th - Heart shaped rice krispie squares (Feel free to comment below if you would like to donate ingredients - Rice Krispies, Marshmallows, Chocolate, sprinkles) Show and Tell Program
Lastly, I'm trying to get organized to begin a take-home backpack program. Our SKs are already familiar with it. Each student gets a few days with the backpack to write about what they did at home and present it to the class. This year I wanted to do a "Take it outside" theme about outdoor activities. It will all be outlined in the backpack, but if your student comes home with a little red backpack, don't worry! I hope everyone is feeling good about the return to school! A big welcome back from Mme Miller and I!
January is pretty low key in terms of events: Jan 9th: Fire Presentation Jan23rd: Making popsicles (Yogurt, fruit). If you would like to donate fruit, you're welcome to! We don't need much. Jan 30th: Movie Night through Parent Council Jan 31st: PA Day Safety Safety Safety! We have started the year with some talk about safety. Specifically this week we are looking at our phone numbers and trying to memorize them. I thought that it might be neat to motivate the kids with a phone call to mom/dad if they are able to remember the number. So, if you happen to receive a call from John McCrae P.S. over the next week or two - don't panic! It's likely just your child calling to say hi! I've picked out phone numbers from either mom or dad for them to try to remember. In cases where I know someone is at home during the day, that's the number I picked for your child. If you would like me to change it to a specific phone number please let me know. If you're too busy to answer when we do try to call, you can ignore it and we'll try again later! On that subject, I also thought it might be neat to use some old cell phones to practice with. Does anyone have any that they could part with temporarily? C'est tout from my end. Have a great first week back! Melissa Hi everyone, I've been doing the last day before the holidays for many years now and I have to say today was probably the best one! The kids were really really good! They sang songs in the gym with the school this morning, said goodbye to M Raey and watched the Lion King this afternoon. I will also say that this day is usually quite overwhelming as a teacher due to the plethora of gifts we tend to receive. You guys continue to amaze me with their generosity! I wish I had time to thank you all individually, but you'll have to make-do with a blog post! Many of you used the link I provided to purchase gifts. It's the first time I've done that and it seems it was a hit. All I can say is that Mme Miller and I would like to THANK YOU all very much! We hope you all have a great holiday season and get some rest and relaxation (and get over all the illnesses!). We look forward to seeing you again in the New Year! |
A little bit about Mme EllisI have worked in Guelph for 8 years and have been teaching for 12 years. It is my 6th year at John McCrae and I love it! I have 3 young kids at home, so I know exactly what you're going through! A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MS MILLER... I have been working as an ECE for 18 years and have a young child at home. This is my 6th year working with UGDSB, I am excited for the school year to get started and getting to know everyone. Hope everyone had a great summer! Archives
June 2020
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