Thursday, April 16, 2020

I have uploaded today's work in your child's Science folder in their Google Drive. The PDF file is called "Week 2 Day 3 Language/Science." Today, students will investigate digital books and answer related questions to our Science unit on "Soils." I have included instructions in the document that I have uploaded.

Thank you to all who have sent me digital copies of your child's work. As previously mentioned, the best method to submit completed work is through your child's Google Drive. In this way, I can add comments if the work is saved as a PDF or a Google Doc. I know that there is a learning curve with navigating through technology as we continue to learn at home, so thank you for your efforts.

It was so nice to see all students who participated in our Google Meet yesterday. We had two special people from St. Gregory's who joined: Mrs. Di Labio and Mrs. Frenken. I know that our students miss their friends and it was great time spent to reconnect.

Have a great day!

Mr. Blais

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Today's update: I have uploaded a rounding lesson and a rounding worksheet. You can find these documents in the Math folder in the Google Drive. The files are called "Week 2 Day 2 Rounding Lesson" and "Week 2 Day 2 Rounding."

Also, I have sent an email with a link for today's Google meet in your child's Gmail. Please ensure that you first click on the link directly from today's email, or it will not work. Today's Google Meet is not instructional and optional for all. I'm sure that students are really excited to see their friends!

(April 14) Some things I forgot to mention...

I have uploaded Mme. Ghaffari's French work as well. Once in the Google Drive, click on the Homeroom folder (HRM) and you will find week two's French work.

If you are uploading student work to the Google Drive, make sure that you click on the "Share" button at the top right and share the document (s) with me.

This week at a glance:

Tuesday, April 14th - Addition Lesson and Practice

Wednesday, April 15th - Rounding Lesson and Practice 

                                        Google Meet 10:00 (optional)

Thursday, April 16th - Language/Science (Soils) (Reading and Answer Questions)

Friday, April 17th - Religion

I will upload all materials in the morning of each day.

Thank you for supporting your child at home!

Update: Tuesday, April 14, 2020

I hope that everyone had a great Easter weekend despite the challenges that everyone is facing right now. I'm sure that it was more quiet than usual. I know that it felt different for me not being able to see family during this weekend.

I want to let you know that I have uploaded the math work for today and this week we will focus on reviewing addition and begin rounding. The files will be found in your child's math folder in their Google Drive. I will continue to upload current work as the week progresses and I will inform you of which folder I have placed the material.

Students should be using 100's charts, or base 10's to assist them with adding. At home, you could do a Google search for hundreds charts and base 10 materials and print them out if you are able to do so. Alternatively, your child can use virtual manipulatives found at this website: https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/virtual-manipulatives/

I have been asked by a few parents when our next Google Meet will occur. We will have our second meeting tomorrow (Wednesday, April 15) at 10:00. Please review the etiquette and expectations with your child posted last week on the blog. Just a reminder that students will go to their Gmail and click on the current link for the meeting. Please ensure that your child clicks on the link for the April 15th email. I know that students are excited to see their teacher and friends, so the purpose of this meeting will not be instructional and it is optional.

On another note, I want to thank all those students who have completed last week's work and who have sent me a copy of their completed tasks. Now that I have received student work in a variety of ways, I wish to inform you of what has worked out the best for me. If you save me your child's work by uploading it to their Google Drive and saving it as either a Google Doc or a PDF file, I can add comments/feedback to the original document. In this way, you will not have to email me their work. The second best method is to take photos of their work and email it to me. The downside to this method is that I cannot make comments to the actual photo for your child to read.

Please continue to check this blog daily as I will continue to update it frequently to avoid sending out emails. If you have any questions about this week, or the assigned tasks, please let me know.

Have a great week!

Mr. Blais

Update: Wednesday, April 08, 2020

It was great to see some of our students today who tried out using Google Meet. Mme. Ghaffari and myself miss all of you, so it was so nice to see some familiar faces, smiles and to hear your voices once again. We are so proud of everyone for showing grit, staying healthy and of course, keeping busy.

I have uploaded Day 3 and Day 4 work for this week in your child's Language folder. Once logged into the student portal, students will click on their Google Drive, then click on the Language folder to discover spelling and religion work. In French, students will be listing the foods (in French) in the story and explain which is their favourite and why. French work is found in the HRM folder.

A few questions have been asked about sending work back to Mme. Ghaffari and myself. If your child does his/her work in a Google Doc, click the share button at the top right of the screen. Share it to Mme. Ghaffari's or my email address.

If you are printing out the work, or using blank paper to complete the tasks, take a photo of the work and email it to us.

I am currently working on next week's work. With Holy Week and the Easter holidays, I will upload next week's work on Tuesday, April 14th. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter, despite the challenges of our current situation. Please let me or Mme. Ghaffari know if you have any questions.

Update: Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Please be advised that I will be uploading Wednesday and Thursday's work in your child's Language folder in their Google Drive tomorrow morning.

We will have a short Google Meet tomorrow (Wednesday, April 08) at 10:00. This meeting is optional and the purpose is for students to see/speak to their teacher/friends since it has been a while now. I will only provide the link to the Google Meet 10 minutes prior to the meeting for safety reasons. The link will be sent to your child's email address.

Here's some more information regarding the use of the Google Meet app.

• I have sent a Google Doc to your child's homeroom (HRM) folder which explains how to navigate through the app. Login to the student portal. Click on Google Drive. Click on HRM (Homeroom) folder. Read through the Google doc "Google Meet - Student View"
• There is a dress code. Students should be dressed like it was a regular school day, so no pajamas
• Any Google Meet can be recorded; however, I will not be recording tomorrow's meeting since it is not instructional
• Once you have been provided with the link to the meeting, please make sure that you mute the microphone (explained in the doc "Google Meet - Student View)
• All conversations are viewable by everyone taking part in the meeting
• When it is a students turn to speak, I will ask him or her to unmute their microphone
• Any inappropriate behaviour will be reported to the principal
• Students must login and use their device in the kitchen or living room

Google Meet is not difficult to use, but we'll navigate through any issues as best we can since it is our first attempt. Students will go to their Gmail prior to 10:00 tomorrow and they will receive an email message/link to attend the meeting. Click on the link and it should open Google Meet. I hope that it all works out for us! Thank you for helping your child with these technological issues at this time. Much appreciated!

Learning At Home - Week 1 (April 06 - April 09, 2020)

Today, we have started our learning at home initiative. To begin, I have uploaded Math work/lesson (division) into your child's Google Drive. In order to access the lesson/work, students will visit www.ocsb.ca and click on the student portal at the top of the page. They will be asked to type in their email and password which are found at the front of your child's agenda. Once logged into the student portal, your child will click on Google Drive. Students will also find their French work from Mme. Ghaffari in their homeroom folder. The folder should contain the letters HRM. If you have difficulty locating any of the material, please send me an email.

Monday: Review division lesson, begin fact family/division worksheet (Google Drive, Math folder)

Tuesday: Complete fact family/division worksheet, complete cookie question (Google Drive, Math folder)

Wednesday: Spelling, write sentences, scavenger word hunt (Google Drive, Language folder)

Thursday: Religion/Language, read/view Holy Week, write paragraph (Easter/Lenten journey) (Google Drive, Language folder)

Friday: Good Friday

**Please see Mme. Ghaffari's French work schedule in the homeroom (HRM) folder for this week's work

Please keep in mind that teachers have been directed by the Ministry of Education to provide a total of one hour of work per day for kindergarten to grade 3 students. That includes French instruction within the one hour time slot. Due to Good Friday and Easter Monday, students will receive a total of 4 hours of work for the next two weeks.

If you do not have a printer at home, students can complete their work on paper. For the time being, you can keep all finished work. Also, you can take a photo of your child's work and email it to me. I would love to see their hard work!

Thank you for jumping into this learning at home initiative and I truly appreciate your efforts at home. Please check this blog daily for updates. I will add an important update tomorrow to explain how your child can use Google Meet for an online meeting with his/her teacher and classmates. This meeting is optional of course. We will meet every Wednesday at 10:00.

Take care and stay healthy!

Mr. Blais and Mme. Ghaffari