When I look back on the school year so far I can't help but smile! Although I feel this is a year of change as teachers begin to dabble in the new BC curriculum and we explore a new reporting system, I also feel this year has brought new opportunities for creativity and learning.
I am thankful for the amazing group of children I am lucky enough to work with. The students inspire, challenge, and bring laughter into my life each and everyday. In such a short time, the kids have pulled together to form a community that is nothing less than heart warming. It is a joy to see how caring and thoughtful the children are with each other as they learn and grow together. I want to thank Marina and Mrs. Young for showing such devotion and commitment to the students in our class and working collaboratively towards our shared goal of helping each student become the best learner he or she can be. I have many plans for the classroom in the new year - probably more than can possibly be implemented - and on the top of my list is to motivate, engage, challenge and support the students in our class so they love learning and recognize their academic and social-emotional potential. Have a wonderful holiday season! We had a blast today making our gingerbread houses! It takes a ridiculous amount of time to prepare for and only takes the kids 30 minutes to complete, but it is all worth it! Some of the houses are true engineering miracles - who knew such a small house could hold so much icing and candy? Today I am feeling especially grateful for Marina, Mrs. Young, Karin and Mrs. Roberts who made this endeavour such a success!
What a learning journey we have been on these last few weeks! As you know, it all started with an unexpected delivery from the South Pole and a request from Professor Glacier. Wanting to help the penguins anyway we could, we started to learn what we could about penguins right away.
As our research drew to an end, we spent some time discussing how we might share what we had learned. We tossed around a few ideas but decided to make a movie. With a plan in mind, we gathered together and started organizing our new learning under headings such as "Habitat", "Life Cycle" and "Food Chain". Students then volunteered to speak to specific points of interest and the real fun began. Just this past weekend I discovered an app by Do Ink called "Green Screen" and I knew it was exactly what we needed to make our movie really special. The app essentially allowed us to add a digital picture into our final video product to make it look as though we were in the Antarctic. Although I would say the app was easy to use, the experience was not without challenges. Because we would need to edit multiple video clips into one movie, we had to gather video footage using the regular camera app then edit and compile each clip within iMovie. While still working in iMovie, I was able to add the titles and written captions. To add the background in the end, we imported the edited footage from iMovie into the Green Screen app. In order to add the background images, we needed to film the raw footage in front of an actual green screen. We hung large sheets of green paper as our backdrop and we were ready to go. One of the many lessons I learned as we made the movie today was how important it is was not to touch the paper while filming. When you watch the movie, you will see that each time the paper was touched, the image moves out of focus and shadows are visible. But even with this slight challenge, we are extremely proud of the end product! The Penguin learning continued with full force in our classroom this week. We are taking our commitment to Professor Glacier very seriously! So far we have learned about the penguin lifecycle, habitat, and food chain. Friday afternoon was an especially exciting learning opportunity! With help from 3 parent volunteers, the students were able to explore 4 different Science stations. The purpose of the afternoon was to learn about some of the ways Emperor Penguins adapt to the harsh Antarctic climate. With hands-on experiments, students learned about how blubber keeps a penguin warm, how oil can waterproof feathers and how challenging it is to safely pass a penguin egg between parents without the use of hands. Next week we will be concluding our Penguin unit by learning about the causes and effects of Climate Change and then we will compile what we have learned in a report to send off to Professor Glacier. |
Ms. Shawna WoodPassionate about teaching, learning, inclusion and kindness. Archives
August 2019
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