 This Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 6:00-7:00, is the last of three Family Math nights at BEST. Family Math was developed by the EQUALS program of the Lawrence Hall of Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Its mission was to improve mathematics teaching and learning in classrooms and schools, providing activities and methods to help students succeed in mathematics, especially female and minority students. It is interesting to note that since the 1980's in Canada, females have achieved as well or better than males in all areas of Mathematics except one - spatial relations.
Family Math focuses on parents and children learning mathematics together. It gives parents and children opportunities to develop problem solving skills and to build an understanding of mathematics with hands on materials. Students (that is parents and children alike) will learn how to think about a problem using such strategies as looking for patterns, drawing a picture, working backward, working with a partner, solving a problem by its components, solving simpler related problems or eliminating possibilities. Having a wealth of strategies allows for choices of ways to start looking at problems. We will also learn several mental math strategies and short cuts. Many different activities will be demonstrated over the three evening sessions at eleven elementary school in School District # 73. Activities are "free standing" for the most part. That is to say, activities can be adapted for many levels and it is not necessary to have attended previous sessions in order to learn from each evening's presentation. Although some parents will attend all three sessions, there is benefit from coming out to even one of the evenings. The Family Math program is a wonderful opportunity to involve parents with their child's development of understanding in mathematics.  Have you ever wondered what all the little yellow post-it notes with pictures and questions written on them that come home in your child's folder are from? Have you heard of Wonder Wednesday? Last spring we started Wonder Wednesday in our classroom. We would consult the website Wonderopolous on Wednesday morning for the Wonder of The Day, then the children were responsible for writing their further wonders about what we had learned on post-it notes and putting them on the Wonder Wall. At the end of the day we would try to answer as many of their 'wonders' as possible on the internet. We have continued the tradition this year, providing a real-world opportunity for Team Awesome to exercise their burgeoning writing skills. They are required to write their name and draw a picture of their wonder and then write as many sounds of the words they want to use as they can. Because they are intensely interested and invested in the outcome, they are willing to move beyond their comfort zones and take risks with their writing. As the year progresses their writing will become more comprehensible/ conventional. And of course, having their wonders answered is the icing on the cake- leading to yet still more wonders. And they have tons more wonders! About things we don't learn on Wonderopolous. About everything! Like, why don't cats like water? And, is the Earth made of metal? Which lead me to expand Wonder Wednesday. The children are encouraged to write about any of their wonders when they have a chance throughout the day and post them on the Wonder Wall. We have talked about where they can find answers and made a chart to help us. And every Monday I choose a wonder off the Wall to be our Wonder of The Week on the portable whiteboard, where Team Awesome provide the answers as we learn more at home or at school, teaching them to be responsible for their own learning. Creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills are all being practiced through one activity, most of which is student-directed. It's a win for all of us.  I was away at a workshop this morning and although Team Awesome knew it was just for part of the day, they were thrilled to see me this afternoon and greeted me with joyous cries as well as "I missed you"s and "I love you"s. This type of outpouring of affection in the form of hugs and words occurs often throughout the day. And I am profoundly grateful every time it happens because it is not like my own children, who are expected to love me, but given freely and unconditionally. There was a time, when I first begin teaching, that I would react to a spontaneous outpouring of love with a lukewarm response because I did not feel comfortable, that it was appropriate or that it was my place to tell them I loved them in return. As I grew wiser I changed my position and now respond in kind. Why should I not tell them I love them when it is true? Can a child ever have too many adults in their life who love them and tell them so? After all, it takes a village and I am so thankful to be part of theirs.
I am sure you are aware of the very upsetting events that occurred yesterday in Batchelor Heights as it has been all over the news, including across Canada. As Bert Edwards Elem is located close to the area and some of our students live there, we were concerned about keeping our students safe although the RCMP reassured us there was nothing to worry about. In our efforts to keep the children as safe as possible we decided to have both an indoor recess and lunch playtime and told the students it was due to the weather. As anyone with children knows, cabin fever seldom takes long to set in when they are kept indoors for hours. Team Awesome rose to the occasion admirably and kept their heads all day. There was no whining or fighting and they played without getting crazy and wound up. Fortunately, Mrs. Farber had gym time right after our inside recess and invited us to join her class to burn off some pent-up energy. We set up stations and rotated through them freely for the duration of our time there. During lunch playtime we had free choice stations inside the classroom. Funnily enough, considering what was happening up in Batchelor Heights, someone made 'handcuffs' with the K'Nex, sparking a flurry of catching and handcuffing 'bad guys' to the poles in our room. Just as the craziness up the hill ended on a relatively good note, our day ended with iPad buddies and parents picking up all the children safe and sound. A notice went home with the children today regarding a Parent Advisory Council fundraiser. The PAC would like to organize a gift basket fundraising raffle for this year`s Winter Concert on December 19th. They are asking each class to come up with a theme for a basket and to collect donated items that would fit the theme picked. Team Awesome`s theme is chocolate. Once the items are collected the PAC will supply the baskets and do all the wrapping. They would ask that the collected items be in by December 12th so that PAC will have time to wrap them before December 18th. Thanks in advance for your donations.
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