We have set our Portfolio Meeting week for November 17th to 21st.  Please take a look at the calendar on the blog and email your first and second choices for meeting dates and times to your teacher.  In preparation for your child’s Portfolio Meeting, please refer to his or her Student Learning Plan and be prepared to speak to, and bring examples of goals that have been achieved and/or goals he or she is working on.  We will not be distributing a portfolio booklet this year – with the shortened term we just need to keep things simple.  Don’t worry if your child hasn’t gotten very far along in her or his Learning Plan, we do realize this term has been short with the late start.

Our class will take part in the province-wide Hearing Screening Program on Wednesday, October 29, at 9:45 am.

Screeners will use headphones to see how your child hears sounds of different pitches in each ear.  Ear drum movement may be checked if necessary.

If you do not wish your child to be screened and/or do not want the school principal to be informed of the screening results, please contact and inform the Community Audiology Centre directly at 604-659-1100 prior to the screening date above.

Next week will be busy and exciting for our students!

For the Intermediate Group we have our field trip to Capilano River Regional Park on Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m.(meet at the Capilano River Regional Park Camp Site), then, for the afternoon, we will all be walking over to Gladstone Secondary to do Robotics with their Robotics teacher and students.  Check out their website:  www.robosavages.com .  Our group needs to be at Gladstone by 12:20, which means that many of us will be eating our lunches in the car as we drive from North Vancouver back to Beaconsfield or Gladstone.  I still have some details to firm up with the teacher there about where exactly to meet, etc., so I will be letting everyone know if we should simply meet at Gladstone, and where exactly, if that is the case, or if we should meet at Beaconsfield and walk there as a group.

On Thursday morning we will be spending the morning at Gladstone and walking back to Beaconsfield.  Students need to be at Gladstone at 8:30 a.m.  Again, I will know the details of where to meet later, but at this point please just make a note of the earlier time to be at school.  Starting at 1:30 on Thursday afternoon, we will be having a low-key Hallowe’en party.  Bring costumes and treats to share!

For the Primary Group, we will be having our Hallowe’en party on Wednesday afternoon from 1:30 to 3:00 p.m.  The primaries are welcome to wear their costumes for the entire day or just for the afternoon.

For both groups Hallowe’en parties, all parents and siblings are welcome.  Please bring a treat to share!  Adults are also welcome to wear their costumes.  🙂

Greetings,

Is there anyone who might be able to provide a ride for one of our K classmates and Mom to and from tomorrow’s field trip to Pacific Spirit Park?

If so, please email Shannon or use the “email the teacher” form on this blog.

Thank You!

The children have started Library time at school.  The Primaries will have Library time on Wednesday afternoons and the Intermediates will have Library time on Tuesday afternoons.

Students are able to  borrow two books at a time. When they bring their books back, they are then able to check out two new books, if they wish. Please ensure you keep the Beaconsfield Library books separate from books you may borrow from the Vancouver Public Library.  If you return Beaaconsfield books to the VPL, they do not return them to us, and your family will be billed for the loss of the book(s). Also if this occurs, your Allotment cannot be used to cover the cost; cash or a cheque must be provided to the school office.

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We have a wonderful Parent who is a Computer Scientist  and who is graciously offering up her time and expertise to work with Edublogs (Thank You, Thank You!)  to resolve the subscription issue.  The issue originates from Edublogs, not from me, or our local site, so we thank you for your patience while we work this out.  In the meantime, please bookmark the Blog and check it regularly for updates.

Have a great weekend!

We have two field trips coming up in the next two weeks, one for the Primary group and one for the Intermediate group.  Each trip has a maximum of 15 students only, so sign-up sheets will be on the parent table and will be on a first-come first served basis.  Registered students take first priority, parents and siblings can sign up on the waitlist if a spot comes available.

Primary Field Trip:

Nature Explorers:  Awaken curiosity and engage the senses while exploring nature and the changing seasons in Pacific Spirit Regional Park.  This trip will take place on Wednesday, October 22 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  The cost is $5.00 per student.

Intermediate Field Trip:

Forest Communities: Discover the diversity of plants and animals in a temperate rainforest and trace their complex  interconnections.  This trip will take place on Tuesday, October 28th from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.  The cost is $5.00 per student.

Greetings Families,

This is a friendly reminder that Activation Assignments are due by October 14th.  As it is a Ministry of Education requirement for all students, there is no flexibility with this requirement or due date.  Please ensure your child submits their assignment by Tuesday.

Yesterday, I introduced Passion Projects using the Inquiry approach to the T/TH students.  To that end, I shared three short videos, which we discussed, to help instill and inspire the students in following their passion and putting passions into action.  I am sharing them here for home viewing and discussion:

A Pep Talk from Kid President To You

Change The World in 5 Minutes – Everyday At School

Cain’s Arcade

These videos are all suitable for our younger students also!  Enjoy!

Monday, October 13th schools are closed for Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, October 14th is Picture Day at Beaconsfield.  Individual photos will be taken of each student and parents will have the option of ordering photos, if they so wish, once the proofs arrive back.  We ask all our students, K-7 to attend for their individual photo, as  these photos are also taken for the school library cards.  Once the cards arrive back to the school, students will be able to check books out from the library.  We ask that all students be here on time for 9:30 a.m. so we can get everyone’s photo taken in an efficient and timely manner.  Please come to room 203 and we will do all the Home Learners together.  Parents of K-2 students please stay with your child until his or her photo has been taken.

Also for Tuesday, and every following Tuesday and Thursday, please ensure the Intermediate students bring their planners to school as we will start using them with them here.

Finally, for families wanting to order from Scholastic, the orders are due in on Wednesday for the K-2’s and Thursday for the 3-7’s.  Please put your orders in the folder marked “Scholastic.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

Greetings Families,

I hope everyone is as excited to finally start our programing as Juliana and I are!

We have put “verification forms” in everyone’s file folders.  Please read through your form, correct or provide information on the form as necessary, then place your completed form in your teacher’s folder.  Also, for parents who brought your release forms home to sign, please ensure you bring them back signed and place them also in your teacher’s file folder.

Monday is the start date for the K-2 students and Tuesday is the start date for the 3-7 students.

We have had many questions from parents regarding things we need for the classroom.  We are in great need of baskets, bins and containers for the classrooms – baskets and bins for papers, toys, art materials, science materials, etc, and baskets and containers for pencils, pens, scissors, glue sticks, art materials, etc.  In other words big and little baskets, bins and containers!!

I am also asking families to start collecting items from nature:  sticks, dried hollow stalks, pine cones, etc. as we will be building insect hibernation habitats.  Also – if any family has a reciprocal, jig or other saw, I do need help sawing the wood I have into suitable size pieces for the children to make their habitats with.  Please email Shannon or use the form on this blog if you can help with that.

Thank You!

I’m so looking forward to all the smiling faces in Monday!  🙂

For grade 5, 6, and 7 students interested in joining the Band program:

Band will be every Tuesday and Friday in the morning at Beaconsfield (time TBA).  There will be a mandatory Demo Day, when Tom Lee Music comes to the school and showcases each of the band instruments for the students and they get a chance to try them as well.  This is scheduled for the morning of October 10th, 9:25 – 10:30 a.m.

If your child is interested in joining Band, please let Shannon know ASAP so I can let the Band teacher, Mr. Ledingham know, and ensure your child attends the October 10th meeting – this meeting is for students only.

Shannon and Juliana are excited to get back to school and start working with all the children.  With the bumpy start to the school year, this will be a different and challenging year.

Unlike regular school programs, the Home Learners’ do not start attending programs until the teachers have met with every family and completed each child’s Student Learning Plan.  The beginning of the year meeting process generally takes up to 3 weeks.

We will be meeting with families starting on Thursday, September 25th.  We must have all families involved in the program meet with us before we are able to start programming.  Therefore, please follow the process as outlined below:

Returning Students:

Please make it a priority to book a meeting time at your earliest convenience by emailing your teacher your first and second choice of meeting times and dates.

New Students Who have Completed the Registration Process:

Please await contact from your teacher whom you will hear from by Thursday, September 25th.  Please do not contact us, as class lists are unknown at this time.  As soon as your child is assigned to his or her teacher, you will be contacted.

New Students Who Have Not Completed the Registration Process:

This includes people who may have emailed or telephoned us over the school closure period.  Because the program moved locations over the summer, if you telephoned to leave your information, we suggest you call the Beaconsfield office again to ensure your information did not end up on a disconnected phone line.  If you have not completed and submitted a registration form, you must do so as soon as possible and provide all required information to the office.  Once we have your information, a teacher will contact you. Please await contact from your teacher whom you will hear from by Thursday, September 25th, or 48 hours after you have submitted all your registration information.   Please do not contact us, as class lists are unknown at this time and we will not be able to provide you with further information at this time.

Emails:

Please be patient awaiting email responses as we have an unusually high volume of emails on our system due to the school closures.

Check back here regularly as up to the minute information, as we receive it, will be posted here for all families. We are not emailing start-up information, everything is being provided here.

Thank You

We look forward to meeting and working with everyone this year.

Due to the current job action, we are encouraging all parents to stay apprised of the labour situation through the news media as well as the job action section of the VSB website. We thank you for your patience during this difficult time.

We have packed up the classrooms, and everything has been moved to Beaconsfield Elementary.  With all the kerfuffle, we didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to students, families, or colleagues, yet we would like to take this opportunity to let you know how much we enjoyed a year of learning adventures with your children.  What a great student (and family) community we have in our program!

If yesterday was, indeed, the last day of school, then school is closed and all staff are away until Tuesday, September 2nd, 2014.

On September 2nd, all registered students are invited to convene at 9:00 a.m. in room 201 at Beaconsfield Elementary.  We will have a brief meeting of welcome and everyone will be dismissed at 10:00 a.m.  Please be on time as we will share important information about the school year at that time.

Families who are not yet registered are respectfully asked not to attend this meeting.  Please click over to the About/FAQ & Registration page for instructions on contacting us over the summer and in September.

Vancouver Home Learner’s families (formerly Garibaldi Home Learners’) may want to enjoy time together in the school garden and/or playground following the meeting.  Juliana and Shannon will not be available after 10:00 a.m. as all staff have meetings immediately following the assembly,  for the remainder of the day.

For Home Learners’, the month of September consists of planning, preparing, completing individual Student Learning Plans with Teachers, working on and completing activation assignments, and starting their home learning.  As of today’s posting, programming is scheduled to start on Wednesday, September 24th, 2014.    It is possible we may be able to start programming earlier, however that depends solely on whether or not we can meet with all families as soon as possible following the 2nd.

To that end, please  look at the calendar on the left column of this site (or click onto the calendar page) to view available times for meetings.  Please email us using the ”contact the teacher” form on this blog, with your 1st and 2nd choice of Student Learning Plan meeting times.  We will do our best to book people into their requested meeting times on a first come, first served basis, and will email you confirmation on September 2nd.

Your Brain on Books: 10 Things That Happen to Our Minds

When We Read

Any book lover can tell you: diving into a great novel is an immersive experience that can make your brain come alive with imagery and emotions and even turn on your senses. It sounds romantic, but there’s real, hard evidence that supports these things happening to your brain when you read books. In reading, we can actually physically change our brain structure, become more empathetic, and even trick our brains into thinking we’ve experienced what we’ve only read in novels.

1. We make photos in our minds, even without being prompted:

   Reading books and other materials with vivid imagery is not only fun, it also allows us to create worlds in our own minds. But did you know that this happens even if you don’t mean it to? Researchers have found that visual imagery is simply automatic. Participants were able to identify photos of objects faster if they’d just read a sentence that described the object visually, suggesting that when we read a sentence, we automatically bring up pictures of objects in our minds.

2. Spoken word can put your brain to work:

   Critics are quick to dismiss audiobooks as a sub-par reading experience, but research has shown that the act of listening to a story can light up your brain. When we’re told a story, not only are language processing parts of our brain activated, experiential parts of our brain come alive, too. Hear about food? Your sensory cortex lights up, while motion activates the motor cortex. And while you may think that this is limited only to audiobooks or reading, experts insist that our brains are exposed to narratives all day long. In fact, researcher Jeremy Hsu shares, “Personal stories and gossip make up 65% of our conversations.” So go ahead, listen to your coworker’s long and drawn out story about their vacation, tune in to talk radio, or listen to an audiobook in the car: it’s good exercise for your brain.

3. Reading about experiences is almost the same as living it:

   Have your ever felt so connected to a story that it’s as if you experienced it in real life? There’s a good reason why: your brain actually believes that you have experienced it. When we read, the brain does not make a real distinction between reading about an experience and actually living it. Whether reading or experiencing it, the same neurological regions are stimulated. Novels are able to enter into our thoughts and feelings. While you can certainly hop into a VR game at the mall and have a great time, it seems that reading is the original virtual reality experience, at least for your brain.

4. Different styles of reading create different patterns in the brain:

   Any kind of reading provides stimulation for your brain, but different types of reading give different experiences with varying benefits. Stanford University researchers have found that close literary reading in particular gives your brain a workout in multiple complex cognitive functions, while pleasure reading increases blood flow to different areas of the brain. They concluded that reading a novel closely for literary study and thinking about its value is an effective brain exercise, more effective than simple pleasure reading alone.

5. New languages can grow your brain:

   Want to really give your brain a workout? Pick up a foreign language novel. Researchers at Lund University in Sweden tested students from the Swedish Armed Forces Interpreter Academy, where intensive language learning is the norm, and medicine and cognitive science students at Umea University. Both groups underwent brain scans just prior to and right after a three-month period of intensive study. Amazingly, the language students experienced brain growth in both the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex, with different levels of brain growth according to the amount of effort and learning students experienced in that period of time.

6. Your brain adapts to reading e-books in seven days:

   If you’re used to reading paper books, picking up an e-reader can feel very awkward at first. But experts insist that your brain can adopt the new technology quickly, no matter your age or how long you’ve been reading on paper. In fact, the human brain adapts to new technology, including e-reading, within seven days.

7. E-books lack in spatial navigability:

   Although your brain can adapt to e-books quickly, that doesn’t mean they offer the same benefits as a paperback. Specifically, they lack what’s called “spatial navigability,” physical cues like the heft of pages left to read that give us a sense of location. Evolution has shaped our minds to rely on location cues to find our way around, and without them, we can be left feeling a little lost. Some e-books offer little in the way of spatial landmarks, giving a sense of an infinite page. However, with page numbers, percentage read, and other physical cues, e-books can come close to the same physical experience as a paper book.

8. Story structure encourages our brains to think in sequence, expanding our attention spans:

   Stories have a beginning, middle, and end, and that’s a good thing for your brain. With this structure, our brains are encouraged to think in sequence, linking cause and effect. The more you read, the more your brain is able to adapt to this line of thinking. Neuroscientists encourage parents to take this knowledge and use it for children, reading to kids as much as possible. In doing so, you’ll be instilling story structure in young minds while the brain has more plasticity, and the capacity to expand their attention span.

9. Reading changes your brain structure (in a good way):

   Not everyone is a natural reader. Poor readers may not truly understand the joy of literature, but they can be trained to become better readers. And in this training, their brains actually change. In a six-month daily reading program from Carnegie Mellon, scientists discovered that the volume of white matter in the language area of the brain actually increased. Further, they showed that brain structure can be improved with this training, making it more important than ever to adopt a healthy love of reading.

10. Deep reading makes us more empathetic:

    It feels great to lose yourself in a book, and doing so can even physically change your brain. As we let go of the emotional and mental chatter found in the real world, we enjoy deep reading that allows us to feel what the characters in a story feel. And this in turn makes us more empathetic to people in real life, becoming more aware and alert to the lives of others.

By:  Staff writers, Open Education Database, March 16, 2014