Welcome to Grade 7!
We have been busy this summer planning for an amazing year in Division1! We are both very excited to work together with your children this year.
About Us:
Ms. House
This is my second year at Cavell. I began teaching as a high school French Immersion and English teacher. Once I saw the power of teaching students to write from their own experiences and to write well, I was hooked. I returned to UBC and did a Masters in teaching creative writing to kids. I believe being able to express yourself and make your voice part of the curriculum is essential. I use writer’s and reader’s workshops as a way to get to know students and build community and choice in the classroom. More recently, I have been a Literacy Mentor, taught grade 6/7, core French and Resource/ Gifted Education.
In my spare time, I help teachers participating in a poetry initiative called Poetry In Voice and hang out with my three kids (11, 7, and 7).
I can’t wait to meet this year’s class!
Mr. Baldwin
I have worked as a teacher librarian, physical education, Resource and intermediate classroom teacher. This is my fourth year at Cavell and I am very excited about teaching grade 7 with Ms. House this year. The grad class of 2016 is a great group of students and we are both excited to engage them in exciting curricular and extra-curricular activities throughout the year. I have a Bachelors degree in Human Kinetics, Education and an additional literacy/librarianship certificate from UBC. I have grown up being heavily involved in sports and see the significant value that athletics plays in developing well-rounded students. Students will have many athletic opportunities in and outside of class this year.
Housekeeping and Organization:
All students will be receiving an agenda book in which they will write assignment information, keep field trip forms, etc. If you wish to arrange a meeting with the teacher or have a question, you may write it in the agenda.
All students will be responsible for keeping our class clean and organized. In September, students will be asked to bring a plant, a box of Kleenex, or a box of wipes for this purpose. Please check your child’s agenda for this information.
Goals for This Year:
Personal and Social: Students will thrive as individuals and learn to understand and care about themselves and others, and to find and achieve their purposes in the world.
For example: Students will read “I am” poems and then respond by writing their own poems depicting their personal culture and identities.
Creative and Critical Thinking: Students will take concepts and content and transform them into a new understanding. The thinking goal includes specific thinking skills as well as habits of mind, and metacognitive awareness.
For example:
-In our classroom, an hour a week will be set aside as “Genius Hour”, a time when students can pursue their own interests by working on projects of their own choosing.
-Students learn about environmental issues (i.e. water shortages, site C) in current events and develop their own questions and alternative solutions.
Communication: Students will express and exchange information, experiences and ideas in order to explore the world around them, and to understand and effectively engage in the use of digital media.
For example: Students write their own blog entries related to topics they are studying, and on current issues in their classroom and beyond.
Field Trips:
We believe that it’s important to learn in our classroom but in our extended environment too!
Evans Lake: Students will be heading to Camp Evans Lake in June 2016. There will be more information and a meeting for parents at the end of September.
Vancouver International Writers Festival: Real writers are coming to Vancouver in October and we are going to enjoy a day with them on Granville Island.
Vancouver Art Gallery: We will be enhancing our arts instruction by visiting the Vancouver Art Gallery each term. We will be learning about the Canadian landscape as inspiration for the Group of Seven and Emily Carr, viewing recent acquisitions of First Nations Northwest Coast art works, and exploring Mashup: The Birth of Modern Culture.
Amazing Race: Combining communication, creative thinking and problem solving skills, students will embark in teams on a daylong amazing race across the city in the spring (parent volunteers, we’ll need you for this one!)
Homework:
We hope that you share our thinking that students should generally use after school and weekends to engage in other types of learning such as sports, arts, play or family time.
Homework is only assigned to our students if they are not able to complete work previously taught in class. However, larger projects may require research and additional time at home.
Missed assignments: When we give homework, we expect it to be done. If you cannot complete your homework for a valid reason ( appointment, illness, planned absence), please let the teacher know and provide a note from your parent. We will arrange a new deadline. If you have simply forgotten to do it, you will lose 10% and it will need to be completed as soon as possible. Your parent will also be informed of the new plan.
How to Reach Us:
We’ll be posting most pertinent information on our blog.
Please check here first:
http://div1cavell.blogspot.ca
The best way to reach one or both of us is by email (addresses below). Alternately, you may write a note in your child’s agenda. Please be sure that your child shows us the note as we will not be checking all agendas on a daily basis.
We also have common prep period and share information about the class regularly.
We sincerely hope that your child will have an engaging and enjoyable year!
Ms. House (Mon/Tues/Wed) Mr. Baldwin (Wed p.m./Thurs/Fri)
lhouse@vsb.bc.ca ebbaldwin@vsb.bc.ca
