Happy Monday!

What an amazing snowfall yesterday!  As inconvenient as 30 cm of snow can be, we live in a beautiful city and I love the way the snow glistens and shines on sunny days like today. And the kids are having a BLAST playing in it! 

That being sad, I hope all were safe and sound yesterday. 

We are starting a fun week here at SJA! Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and we are going to celebrate our friendship and kindness in our P.J.'s. Students are invited to bring their "stuffies" for the day. We will be playing some fun games and we may even enjoy a little treat! 

I sent home a list of the first names of all of the students in the class. If you and your child decide to send in cards or treats, feel free to use this list. Another option is to just have your child write their name on the card. Also, please do not feel obligated to send anything. I know it can be difficult with your child being part of two classes. We will have plenty of kindness and treats to make it a great day here!

Here are some of the activities we will be doing this week to celebrate our friendships this week!

We have read a story, There Was An Old Lady who Swallowed a Rose. We will be using this Valentines themed book to reinforce rhyming and sequencing. It follows the same pattern as many of the other "Old Lady" books we have read this year. 

We will be using Valentine's Task Cards to help us infer information. "My Valentine is for an animal that is long and thin. This animal slithers. This animal might stick out its tongue"!

We are going to learn some special friendship words and use them to play an exciting game of BINGO!

To practice our reading and speaking skills, the students will participate in a fun heart game involving reading, telling stories and active participation tasks! 

These activities will be going on all week! Check out our Twitter account @MrsFaloonPLC to see some of the pictures of our exciting days!

Last week, we started writing in our journals about something the students could do. The class was asked to brainstorm something that they were really good at. It had to be something they were proud of.  This is something we are going to continue to work on. The students will be asked this question many times, "What can you do?" The idea is to remind the students that we are all good at some things, while others tasks may be more challenging. It is important for us all to remember that we are people with strengths and weaknesses. This is what makes us, us! It is good that we all have different strengths because it makes this world unique, diverse and beautiful. Watch for more learning about this! Look for the title, I Can!

Just a reminder that your child's Term 1 report card and IEP will be coming home soon. These reports are completed as a collaboration between myself and the homeschool. They are sent home from your child's homeschool. 

If you would like to discuss your child's progress at all, either on the phone or in person, I am happy to talk with you. I will send home an interview request form at the end of the week. 

Some schools will be including the Term 2 IEP's in with the reports from Term 1. This means you will be receiving the grades and evaluations of their progress on their expectations from Term 1 as well as the new IEP goals that your child will be working toward in Term 2. Some schools will be sending the Term 2 expectations home at a later date. 

Regardless of when you will be receiving the Term 2 document, I am happy to go over it with you as well. There is a lot of information in those documents and your voice as the parents is important. Your input on the IEP is encouraged! 

Thanks for reading! As always, let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Have a great week J

Hello! 

I cannot believe that it is February already! 
January flew by and I have a sneaky suspicion that this is an indication of how quickly the rest of the year will go!

As early in the year as it seems, we have already begun discussions about the student's progress and where their learning journeys will take them next year. For some students, they will be returning to their home school full time while other students will be returning here to the PLC at St. John the Apostle for another year in this program. It is necessary for these conversations to happen this early as there are many protocol to follow and some paperwork that needs to be done! I have been lucky enough to have already spoken with many of you about this. Please know that I will be touching base with everyone about the next steps for your child. 

Term 1 report cards and IEP's will be sent home this month. The assessments and reports are completed as a collaboration with myself and their homeroom teachers. 
Once they are sent home, I will be available to meet and discuss your child's progress. I will send home information about this in the next few weeks. 
Soon after, your child's Term 2 IEP will be sent home. Some of you will be receiving these IEP's along with the report cards and some will be receiving them at a later date. The dates vary because the home schools choose the date in which they are sent home within a certain time frame. 
The Term 2 IEP's will be the goals and expectations that your child will be working toward for the remainder of the year. After you receive this document, I will be happy to go through it with you either in person or over the phone. These are important pieces to your child's education and your input is encouraged. Never hesitate to contact me if you have a question regarding the IEP. 

Just a reminder that with the winter comes cold and wet snow. Extra clothes for your child are a great idea! 

We have been really busy here in the Primary Language Class! So much learning and many exciting events have happened in the past few weeks!

Last week, our school had a Structure Challenge. Each class was given one 75 minute block of time to build a structure with just straws, connectors and some blocks. The focus of the challenge was collaboration. The students were amazing! The morning class decided that they wanted to build a play structure. During our building time each student was responsible for different part of the play structure and then it came together beautifully in the end. In the afternoon we ambitiously decided to build an igloo. There were many challenges… But everyone worked together to connect all the straws in a circle, worked through the mistakes, and create an igloo that could stand on its own. I was so proud of both classes for their patience, collaborative skills, and great communication throughout the projects. 

We have even thought about other things that we could build.....just for fun!

The students have been doing a great job with their word wall words. Just as a reminder, I send the words home each week in their notebooks. You are welcome to work through the words as you would like. As I have mentioned before, I completely understand that your lives are busy and there are so many other things you would like to be doing with your children that are not homework! That being said, exposure to these words is extremely beneficial. Repetition and daily use of these words will improve their recognition of the words, alleviating some stress while learning to read. There are many different apps and programs that focus on sight words as well. Please let me know if you would like some information regarding these useful sites. 

Here are the words for this week!

big, run

three, yellow, two

pretty, three, not, ten, see

green, hot, any, children, flag

This month, we are looking ahead to Valentine's Day and what it means to be kind. Our class and environment works really hard to promote a place where we can all be ourselves...exactly how God made us. We accept each other and celebrate who we are. This will be our focus for Valentine's Day. While the students are welcome to bring in cards for their friends, it is certainly not necessary. We will have a little celebration of kindness on that day in class. Stay tuned for more details about that! Also, please let me know if you would like a list of first names for cards. 

Lately, we have been exploring different technological tools to help us in our learning. The students have been working in an app called SeeSaw. Here they can record their learning in picture, photograph and video format. They are many options including taking a video, recording their voice or show their learning by drawing. They are all able to independently record their learning and store it in their own file. I am pretty impressed with the ease of which they have picked it up! There are many other functions of the app and as I learn them (it is new to me this year) I will introduce the functions to them. I am excited about this new tool we have. Ask your child about SeeSaw! 

I have also introduced an app called Google Read and Write to the Grade 3 students. This is a tool that they will be using to help them gain independence as a learner. This program helps students with reading, comprehension, vocabulary and writing. I am very excited to teach the students this tool as I hope they will be able to use it independently in the junior grades. I will also be introducing this tool to the Grade 1 and 2 students later in the year. 

I cannot say it enough.....I am so proud of my classes. Even on my grumpiest days, they make me smile and bring my spirits up. Even when my children at home are sick and I do not get enough sleep, they brighten my soul. Even when I feel overwhelmed with all that needs to be done in a day, they remind me of what is truly important. I am one very lucky woman to be able to do a job that I adore with students like your children! Happy February everyone! Stay warm and stay tuned for more exciting adventures from the PLC at SJA!