The majority of the remainder of the morning was occupied with a Grade 4 Winter Games, which seems to have been a big hit. Everybody had fun, and some even won prizes for winning or placing well in the various competitions. I continue to be impressed (this being my first year at BCE) at the level of encouragement given to physical activity and friendly competition. It is a hard balance, keeping things fun and still challenging, but the Phys Ed staff does a great job. Our music teacher is also improving her French over the course of the year, so is able to converse with students in their/my language of choice.
I am happy with students' progress in their multiplication journals, and would encourage parents/guardians to push their children even further in thinking of the "WHY?" portions of each question. Problem Solving is an area the school is trying to improve, and applying these principles to something straightforward like single-figure multiplication is a good way to get more comfortable and stay in practice.
We started writing up our health study notes today, something that I will send home tomorrow. The unit on healthy living was fairly straightforward, and all content on the test will be taken from the notes I send home with them.
We had a library session today as well, and I have started to push students to choose more books that are outside their comfort zones or that slightly challenge their reading level. This inevitably meets with opposition, which is understandable. However, students seem to realize soon thereafter that there are many types of books they enjoy and that it is worth taking a risk every so often. Now that students have really embraced reading in class (and many at home and in free time), I am less concerned about alienating them from reading by challenging their interests and abilities. As always, reading in French is very constructive and will do wonders for their reading, writing and oral skills.
If you have any questions, my ESDNL email is back up and running well. Enjoy the snow, and stay warm!
I was like that too when I was a student. Whenever there's a weather disturbance, we would always ask the teachers if classes will be suspended and allow us to go home early (LOL).
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