Catching Up

Hello Parents and Students: I would like to apologize for not keeping the blog up to date since I was in Ottawa, and for much more - including not blogging about the AMAZING reception/party/welcome I received from you students, upon my return from Ottawa (I was speechless!), and parents, for not being more available for communicating about your children - particular apologies to those of you whom I had to unexpectedly cancel parent/teacher interviews with - thank you for your patience while waiting for me to re-schedule. As many of you are aware, my Mother became seriously ill the day I returned from Ottawa, and it's been a roller coaster ever since. There have been many ups and downs, and as a result I have had to be away from my class more than I would like - but my Mom is my priority and I am so grateful to all of you for your understanding and empathy - many of you have said that family comes first...thank you for that, but your children come a close second. Happily, we have still been accomplishing much in the classroom - your children are working hard! We are learning about the diversity of life, how to write a structured paragraph (eat an Oreo!), how to think about the reading strategies we use, and we are beginning to map our community as we create icons that represent our sense of place. The students have generated a list of expectations - what kind of classroom environment we want to establish for the year - and a list of favourite reads (which I will post on the blog soon - I left it at the school!). They have also generated a list of what "community" means to them, and I have been delighted to welcome Ms. Laurie Piazza into our class on Monday mornings to explore the concept of "Mindfulness" with my students - it's a way of tapping into our own personal energy and being "in the moment", helping "train" our brains to be alert, calm and focused...a great way to start the week, and we have 5 more sessions with Ms. Piazza to keep learning from. I will do my best to keep you more informed of what we are up to, although I do know that the next while will continue to be a bit tumultuous for me. Please know that when I do need to be away, I ensure that the TOC is fully up to date on what we're working on, I'm thrilled with the teachers who replace me, and the students continue to move forward in their learning. Thank you again for your understanding. If we did not meet at parent/teacher interviews, I will do my best to contact you in the near future by email or by phone in order to at least touch base about your child's learning. K. Kilpatrick