Last week many of you looked at NumberTalks and we went into a couple of classrooms to try it out. There was lots of great thinking going on and so many creative ideas. We all hope to continue building on that. Please try and do 3 of these a week in your class so we can get some really good evidence for our PD Day in November. Everyone is very interested to see where this math thinking is going to take up.
In the principal;s Update I received on Friday there were many learning opportunities for staff. Please take a look below and see if there is anything that you are interested in.
Items of Interest:
- GAFE Conference: Once again Ottawa will be hosting a Google Apps For Education (GAFE) based education conference. It will again take place at La Cite on Oct 22-23. There are a limited number of tickets available to our school board. Each ticket costs $200 at a bulk rate. Schools are being asked to pay $100 for each ticket. There is a great lineup of speakers and sessions. Take a look at the site. If you are interested let me know by lunch on Monday.
- Deep Learning: Introduction to Deep Learning (open to all K-12 Educators/System Consultants/Learning Partners) has just been added today to the Learning Pathway in our Leading & Learning Journey offerings. If you are interested in this it is a great opportunity. Isabelle and Leanne were involved in this last year. Touch base with them if you are interested and want to know a little more about what it is all about. There is only space for 25 so you have to move fast.
- Opportunity: Grades 4-6 Math Educators: Student Success is looking for Grade 4-6 school teams to pilot a few tasks (in October) and do a very short review for an EQAO support resource created for EOCCC. Let me know if you are interested and I will facilitate this.
- The Leading & Learning Journey is OPEN for Registration: This session directly supports educators in learning, teaching and leading mathematics. Making Space for Students to Think Mathematically (K-6) (4 Sessions)
- Le Français à coeur 2016-2017 Responsive Teaching of Reading in an FSL ClassroomThe Eastern Ontario Staff Development Network of Eastern Ontario (EOSDN) is pleased to host “Le français à coeur” conference to be held on Thursday, October 27, 2016 in Kingston. There is a follow-up session scheduled for Tuesday, April 4, 2017 in Kingston as well. The first 10 schools to register will secure their participation at the conference.The Elementary Student Success department would like to extend an Invitation to three FSL teachers (Gr. 1-6) at your school. The Department will cover the cost of registration and provide:
- supply coverage for both teachers
- transportation (Ottawa to Kingston, return)
- Please review the Conference Program
- The Entrepreneurial Adventure (EA), is in the process of accepting registrations. In the program, students are engaged in a social and ethical entrepreneurial environment; students identify a cause or charity that interests them, create a company that produces a product or service, market that product or service, and finally donate all proceeds to the identified charity.more information please consult the Website and/or Contact Betty Weil by email (bweil@thelearningpartnership.ca) or phone (613-513-8394).
- Junior Achievement Program: (ONFE) Another great “free of charge” opportunity with a focus on innovation for your grade 5 students. JA Business Basics (Grade 5) – This is an interactive and engaging one-day program that introduces Grade 5 students to the fundamentals of starting a business and the opportunities and challenges of being an entrepreneur. Through key business concepts, such as creating a business plan, interview techniques and marketing strategies, students develop an understanding of how a business operates and generates a profit. and, if interested, submit the name of the 3 participating teachers by Thursday October 6th, 2016 to Chantal.soucy@ocsb.ca
Here is how the week is looking:
Monday:
Tuesday: Picture Retake Day, Halloween Pep Rally 11AM,
Wednesday: Cross Country Meet
Thursday: Pizza Lunch
Friday: Christian Community Day
Want to visit St. George to have your students learn more about the church?
Msgr. Hans thought it may be a good idea to have the students learn more about our church. He has offered class visits and tours so to speak. I mentioned it may be a good idea for a class if they were already there at mass and then they could stay after for a few minutes. Please see his email below. If you are interested, let me know and I’ll get you in contact with him.
“Students at a/StG Catholic School should be familiar with the building and grounds of a/StG Catholic Church.
This means they should know the parts (altar, tabernacle etc) and layout (sanctuary, baptism area, confessionals, choir…) of a Catholic church in general, and of their church in particular, like the shrine/icon of StGeorge in the staircase (with votive lights), the altar of Our Lady in the church, the baptism font and Holy-Oils ambry, the Stations of the Cross, the outside Shrine of our Lady (between church and rectory.
A church is both a place for communal worship, most importantly for celebrating the Mass, and for personal prayer.
For the latter, it is helpful to identify (in our church) the altar of Our Lady, the statues and images of Saints, with the candle stands, both in the church and in the St George Shrine under the stairs.
In other churches (e.g. St Patrick Basilica or Notre Dame, there are altars to the Sacred Heart, crucifixes etc.)
Small devotional practices and gestures are reminders of important aspects of our faith, e.g. blessing yourself with holy water as you enter/leave the church (a reminder of being baptised), genuflecting before you go into your pew (a reminder of Christ’s presence in the church/tabernacle), boys not covering their heads in the church (as it is a consecrated building). These are aspects of Catholic culture and identity.
A visit to the church outside mass time is in itself a good expression of the fact that it is not only an place to assemble for mass but also to pray privately. Any visit we make to a church should include an act of prayer or devotion.
In my perception, not all of these things can or should be covered in one visit, and it may depend on the students’ age and grade what to show/explain to them, and how.
But it would be important that over the course of their elementary school years they get to know the whole church building and its “furniture”.
It is also helpful if these things are explained to the students by their teachers, not only by clergy.
In our case, a visit to StG church could also include looking at the church hall and offices, and show the kids the location of the previous school site.”
St. George 130 