The core value word for this month is fairness. We are trying to instill within our kids the ideas about taking turns and sharing when it's appropriate. One way for them to practice, for example, is when there are a number of students who want to play on the tire swing; they are learning to take turns so that several children get a chance to play rather than just one person being on there the whole time. One of the hardest lessons to teach students is that fairness is not the same as equal, however. For example, some think that if someone has a special toy that they'd like or a snack that they'd like, that that person HAS to share it. That of course is not the case. This can be a hard thing to differentiate. It's also hard for them to know and understand that sometimes, different students require different behavioural supports or different academic supports because of their individual situation. Not everyone requires the same supports or accommodations. I always think about the quote by Albert Einstein that says, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” We need to look at the needs of each individual to decide what is fair for them.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our Family Math Games evening. It was so great seeing so many people out. We received so many positive reviews and hope that those that weren't able to be there that night are able to still enjoy the swag and can maybe find time to play the games with their family at a different time.

Please be aware that as of February 14th, there will be a change in the accessibility to our wifi network. As of right now, the network is open for anyone to use. As of February 14, only Palliser owned devices will have access unless permission is obtained by administration. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to connect with me.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Family Day and that the weather holds out for an enjoyable February break for everyone.

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daea923aafb6-vulcan1

What did the snowman have for breakfast? Frosted Snowflakes. The kindergartens have been busy learning more letters and sounds, building our writing/drawing stamina, and learning more about numbers. We have been practicing counting on from different numbers (5, 6, 7...) instead of always starting from 1. In February we are excited to continue our learning and on February 25th we have the Early Childhood Development Coalition cooking hamburger soup with our class. Happy Valentine’s Day too!

The kindergartens

We will always remember the start to our year 2020: inside recess for a week! The students were very creative as to how to spend their inside recesses and were excited about the week. When the weather finally warmed up so everyone could go outside, we aren’t sure who was more excited - the students or teachers!

We quickly got back into the routine with all of our classes. We continue to work on various reading strategies in our reading groups and it is so exciting to see the students put these strategies into place! Please keep up the daily reading at home so they can practice! In writing we have been working on writing reviews and boy do they have some very strong opinions! They can be very convincing as to what the best toy, restaurant, home-baked treat, movie, game, etc. is! Math has us solving various problems using addition or subtraction. Students are learning various ways in which they can show their work and solve a problem. In Science the students have been exploring various senses and get quite excited about explaining their discoveries. Students started off the month by showing off their skills with a basketball and are currently doing some strength and balance activities on gym mats. They have some pretty great tricks to show!

February is an even more exciting month! We have our 100th day of school and have been counting up to it since the first day! Fun to 100!

January brought some cold weather but we were busy inside with all sorts of learning!

In science we wrapped up our study of building and testing with a variety of materials. Students had the chance to explore towers, bridges, tables and more. It was great to see them work to solve problems and figure out which material might be the best. We are currently learning about factors influencing quality of life and having a chance to explore the traditions, culture, celebrations, food, games and more of the various countries we are learning about. We started with Peru and have been having a blast learning more about it.

In math we completed our focus on graphing and are currently working on multiplication and division, although so far we are still working on our multiplication. Don’t forget to mark down Feb. 4th on your calendar and plan to attend our Family Math Night as we will show you lots of games you can play at home to help continue to practice a variety of math skills.

We also hope you keep a few fun events that are coming up that you may want to be involved in. Trickster is coming in early March and we always need lots of hands to help out with unloading, costumes and loading. Also this year we will be going to an overnight field trip in May. Be sure to watch for an informational meeting time and date coming up.

By Addison W

Imagine being on the coldest place on the earth. Feels like being trapped in a dungeon trust me I know how it feels. A few weeks ago, it had been so cold - down to -40, not including the windchill. It was, at one point colder than Antarctica!

Being trapped inside was not fun! All of my classmates were bouncing off the walls. We watched movies, had extra gym time, and got to know one another just a little better! Students were very happy to head out side again when the chinook rolled in!

By Emily J

We all know what teamwork is. What most people don’t know what the bad thing, or the cons of teamwork is.

Lack Of Leadership

For example, If your friend Charley was to make a group with you for a school project and become the boss, do everything for you and just overall, take over the project, you would want to cancel the group, out of anger. Now, Charley would be angry, and also sad that you didn’t want to work together anymore. That makes two errors there; Charley had wanted to be the boss and you let in continue to the point where it was too much. What should have happened was you should have told Charley when the project started that TEAMWORK must be acquired. And Charley should learn more about teamwork.

Opposite Personalities

I am going to use the Charley example again. Charley and you have different personalities. You two butt heads all the time, but you can never truly stay mad at Charley. One day, Charley wants to put fake puke on people's cars at the grocery store. You think this is a terrible idea, so you kick that idea to the curb. You say “This is an awful idea, DON'T DO IT!” Charley did not listen like the complete rebel he is. Now, Charley is going to go put gross fake puke on people's cars all by himself, being in an alliance of 1. All alone, NOT TEAMWORKING!!! That is why, it is way easier to work with someone who has a close personality with you, so this doesn’t happen.

Too Many People in the group

How about you, Charley, Alex, and Max are in a group working on a puzzle. You all can’t work together! That is way to many people for a small puzzle. You can all take one corner, but then you may have to reach across each other. Even if you had it all worked out, then you would all be doing something different than the other, not working together. What you should do is have a bigger puzzle or even do something that is better fit for more players.

TEAMWORK

Dot Bacon, a 10 year old student of VPE quotes that teamwork is “Helping other people that don’t think they can accomplish something.”

Teamwork is important in any group. If you don’t have it, than your whole team won’t work. That is teamwork.

BY EMILY J