Here we go, ready to start another year of exciting
things at Churchill Alternative! I am
ready for lots of fun and adventures in learning after a fantastic summer, and
I hope that you can all say the same. Over
the break I taught summer school in July, while Arlo and Otis spent their time
at parks, museums, and the library with their mom, and baby brother Oscar. In the afternoons Jenny, the boys, and I
would typically head to a splash pad, the beach, or out for a bike ride or
walk. Arlo and Otis love keeping busy,
so I put them to work hauling dirt and rocks when I spent some of my summer
doing some landscaping and building around my house. A few camping trips, and a trip to
To get a quick run down of some important items to be aware of in the
opening weeks of Room 308’s 2015/16 school year please read the
following, or check it all out on our class blog at www.alternativeschooladventure.blogspot.com,
and contact me if you have any questions.
Class Meeting
We all know that education
at Churchill relies heavily on the partnership between the school, the student,
and the home so rather than waiting until everyone has settled in and those
questions on the tips of your tongues are forgotten we are going ahead with our
class meeting on Tuesday,
September 15th, 2015 , at 6:00pm . Our room is
number 308, on the third floor beside the computer lab. You can get acquainted with our room and the
way in which things will run over the course of this year. Items of discussion will be; volunteering in
the classroom, field trips, guest speakers, overnights, curriculum topics,
homework, and general information. If
you have individual concerns regarding your student you can approach me at this
time and we can schedule a meeting for a future date. All parents
are encouraged to attend this event as it is a great way to bring up
ideas/concerns, and get to know the other families that are a part of our Room
308 community. I look forward to meeting
you all.
Class
Blog – www.alternativeschooladventure.blogspot.com
Our class
blog is one of the most effective ways to stay informed with what is going on
in our class (short of stopping in regularly).
On it the students and I will post everything from important dates and
assignments/handouts, to artwork and pieces of the student’s writing. I will try to send out reminders to check the
blog when info has been posted, but you may just want to add it to your
“favourites” folder and check from time to time. This will take the place of regular
newsletters for the most part. Please
let me know if you cannot access the site, or if you do not regularly have
internet access and I can make alternate arrangements.
Forms
Inevitably the first week or two will be a time to
read, sign, and return countless forms.
As repetitive as this seems it is a necessary administrative aspect of
the start of school, and we need those forms to ensure that proper information
is exchanged. Please return these ASAP
so that we can get this out of the way and get on with the year.
Agendas
Being well organized is the first step to student
success. As we prepare our students for
the challenges of middle school, and beyond, keeping track of what is
happening, and what is coming up, is vital.
We will be creating our own personal agendas in class, and will use them
regularly to keep ourselves on track.
This will provide a great opportunity for communication between the
class and the home. In it you will find
a brief rundown of what we have done each day, and some reminder notes for
things that are upcoming. At the class
meeting we will discuss how to use this as a way to send in messages from home.
Nut Restricted
Just a reminder that Churchill continues to be a “Nut Restricted” school, in an effort to
create a safe environment for a number of seriously allergic members of our
school community. More information is
available through the office concerning the details of this policy, but basically
the main item to be aware of are that students are asked to not bring food to
school that contains nuts (especially peanut butter).
Volunteers
and Volunteer Co-ordinator
Yes we still welcome (and need) volunteers in grade 5/6. It may not always be glamorous work, but it
is always a valuable contribution that you make to our learning environment
when you can find the time to join us in class. You are all
encouraged to help out in class whenever possible. If you have a particular strength or area of
expertise (or a great connection) let Ray know so we can make use of it. We are in need of one or
two people who are willing to take charge of our volunteer and snack schedule
on a month-by-month basis. If you are
able to help us out with this please let me know right away so we can start to
organize the school year.
We
are also looking for a math- strong
volunteer who would be able to work with a math group once a week.
Our
read aloud program greatly benefits
student literacy in our class, and relies heavily on our volunteers. This year we would like to improve on our
performance last year, which say each student reading aloud three times a term
to a volunteer. If you are able to share some time with us
please let Ray know at the class meeting.
Group Snack As is the custom here at Churchill the
students of room 308 will be participating in a group snack program, which will
be shared during the first nutrition break.
The benefits to this are obvious in that you do not have to provide
different snacks each day for your child, you just have to provide snack for
the whole class once every 25 school days.
However there are some concerns that must be considered with a program
such as this. We will discuss diet
restrictions in our class, but usually we have to consider that there are
likely members of our class who are allergic to certain foods, or are
vegetarian, etc. The following dietary
concerns were shared in our first circle meeting:
Peanut allergy and some gluten intolerances
Following the “Healthy Snack” policies that the school promotes
the students in past years made up some guidelines to keep in mind when
choosing snack for the class.
-low
sugar items -healthy foods high
in vitamins -variety -focus on fruits and vegetables
If a relatively “sweet” snack
is being provided it should be combined with another item such as carrot
sticks, fruit pieces, cheese and crackers, etc.
In the past we have had nearly one hundred percent
participation in this program, but this does not mean that all must take part. If you would prefer to send you child with
their own snack each day, and not have them take part in the sharing of snack
simply let me know and I will make sure that your child’s name is not on the
schedule. We will probably set a schedule from
the second week of school, and try to arrange following months through the
volunteer co-coordinators.
Terry Fox Day
The
Terry Fox Run is one of the most exciting, and memorable dates on the Churchill
calendar. It is a great community event
that families always enjoy participating in.
Please look for forms and pledge sheets coming home. Help us reach our goal. This
year we will hold our Terry Fox run on the afternoon of Wednesday, September 23rd.
Shoes and Gym
Footwear that students use outside on the yard
is not to be worn in the classroom, library, or gymnasium. This is particularly an issue during the wet
and winter months, but it is a practice that we will try to get used to from
the beginning of the year. Many of the
students play in the sandy areas of the schoolyard at recess and lunch hour,
and they carry in a considerable amount of sand, dirt, and stones on and in
their shoes. They all have hooks, and
shelf space in our classroom to keep their shoes, and many decide that they
want to have separate “gym” shoes and indoor shoes. At no time are students to be walking
without footwear in the school.
Regarding “gym” shoes, they must be shoes that can be laced up, are not
worn for everyday use outside, and have non- marking soles. This is standard practice for school gyms in
order to provide a safe environment for participants. If students feel so inclined to change before
and after gym they are welcome to (this will be the policy in middle school).
Scholastic
Our first Scholastic Book Club order forms went
home today, and is due Sept 18th .
By participating in the Scholastic program students get fantastic deals
on popular books and Scholastic donates books to the classroom. The general practice in our class is that two
weeks is given between when the forms go home and when the last ones have to be
handed in, and delivery usually takes two to four weeks after that date.
Dates of Importance
Class Meeting September 15h
- 6:00 pm
1st Tree Family Day September
25th
Thanksgiving October 12th
Math Freaks Come out at Night October
29th
Progress Reports November 12th
PA Day October 9th and
November 20th
Wish list
Not everyone can make it in to volunteer for various
reasons, but often I am asked if there is anything else that they can do for
the class. Here are a few roles that
need filling and items that we could benefit from. Let me know if you are able to take care of
any of the following “wishes”.
Feed the Frogs - Purchase a dozen crickets from a pet store
every week for our class pets.
Class visitors - The next best thing to a field trip is a guest to the
classroom. If you are (or know) a
musician, author, journalist, known athlete, etc. who would be willing to share
with the class please let me know and we can arrange a visit.
Public Library
Contact - Go online or in person to the Ottawa Public
Library every few weeks and sign out/return books for class use based on the
subjects being covered.
Laundry Service- We have towels, cloths, and a
sofa cover that needs periodic washing.
Math Group
Volunteer- Work
with a group every week on math related activities.
Read Aloud
Volunteers– Give students in the class a chance to read
out loud.
Hand Sanitizer - Our class pump of hand sanitizer sits by the door and gets well
used around recess and at other times during the day. Refills are needed two or three times a year.
Magazines - We
have cleared out our old supply of old magazines for projects. New ones to read, or older ones to cut up,
would be appreciated.
Regards Ray Kalynuk
and the students of Room 308
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