The latest:

We worked with Mrs Eustache today painting our school drums, check out the amazing work our students did!

3d Printing

3d printer applications

The blanket exercise

Please see the following note about the Blanket Exercise that we will be participating in, led by Mrs Eustache

Dear Parent or Guardian,

On Monday afternoon we will be doing the KAIROS Blanket Exercise with Mr. Allan’s and Mrs. MacDougall’s class, to help us understand the history of relationships between the first people of Canada, the Indigenous people (First Nations, Métis and Inuit), and the European settlers.

We spread out blankets to make the land of Canada and imagine ourselves travelling back in time. We began 10,000 years ago before Europeans arrived and then travelled to the 16th, 19th, and 20th century, and then to the present. The students learn how disease, colonization and the residential school system hurt Indigenous people and all aspects of their way of life.

At the beginning and after the Exercise, the students gather in a circle to share their feelings and ideas. The students also learn that People find hope through sharing these true stories. In reconciliation new, fair relationships form between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Reconciliation is possible if non-Indigenous people take action.

To help your child :

* Ask about the experience today in the Blanket Exercise. What parts did they like the most? What parts did they find were the saddest?

* Wonder together about what your family might do to change relationships, to make conditions more fair for Indigenous people (e.g. learn more, tell others).

* Learn more by reading a script of the KAIROS Blanket Exercise. The one we used was adapted to have less content.

However, reading one of the online versions for adults or older youth will introduce you to the facts behind today’s exercise.

If you have any questions about this activity, please don’t hesitate to contact Leeann Eustache 250-672-9916 or leustache@sd73.bc.ca

We believe that reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in Canada requires us to learn and to take action. Through this activity we are trying to encourage this process.

Thank you,

Leeann Eustache

Aboriginal Education Worker

Barriere Elementary

Secwepemc summer & winter home dioramas (so far...)

gumboot Dancing

We were fortunate enough to have our district Fine Arts Coordinator, Mrs McCloy, in our school working with our strings students this week, and I invited in our class to share some dance with us. She taught us some history and basic steps that go along with African Gumboot Dancing. Check out the video below to see our class in action, and click here to learn more about the history of the dance and its connection to slavery.

inukshuks

Last week we worked with Mrs Eustache on Ted Harrison themed inukshuk paintings, and then headed out to build our own inukshuks. Check out the images below to see the great job the students did testing their patience, and their knowledge of Newton' Three Laws!

Working from home

For those of you that are working from home, I will continue to post assignments on the Google Classroom page. Here are a few tips to help make things easier on you:

1. Watch this video to help you login to your GEDU account

2. Visit the Agenda Message on this website to see what we did that day

3. Go to that subject on Google Classroom to find any work or instructions that may go along with it

4. Turn things in online using Google Classroom, or bring them with you when you come back

Students can always do a few things to continue their learning at home:

1. Read for 20 minutes each day

2. Play Prodigy Math

3. Go to my Math Games page and try one out (or play a board/card game at home)

4. Work on your Genius Hour Project

Parent teacher interviews

We will be having our early closure day for Parent Teacher Interviews on Thursday November 19th. We will be offering some different ways of meeting this year:

• In Person (must follow protocols outlined below)

• Zoom

• Phone

If you choose to meet in person, you must wear a mask, and you will enter and exit the room through the back door to my classroom (as the students do each day). We will allow some extra time for sanitizing between interviews as well.

Due to the cleaning that may need to take place, the times are more spaced out, and therefore limited. If people do choose Zoom or phone options, I can possibly make more time available.

Please note, if none of those days work for you, please write in a requested date/time on the bottom of the sheet or in your students agenda. I will do my best to accommodate your request.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

It has been a great start to our school year, and I have enjoyed working with the students in the class. We have been working on getting to know each other, learning about expectations, as well as getting into the groove of being back in school.

This year we are using a few tools to help with communication and organization:

1. Google Classroom

2. My Website - https://sites.google.com/gedu.sd73.bc.ca/mr-allans-class/home

3. Agendas

4. Mailboxes

Google Classroom is a platform we use mainly in school to organize and display our assignments. We also can use this platform to submit assignments as well. We have been working with students over the past week, and will continue to teach them about Google Apps that we are fortunate to have in order to aid them with their school work. Things you can find here are:

• Pages for each school subject taught by myself

• Assignment descriptions, criteria, worksheets/materials, due dates and links to helpful websites

• Assignment marks and feedback

• A notices page that list important information

*Note: you do not have access to this website as you do not have a GEDU account. You would need your student to show you this page.

My website’s can be found at the link above and is a great place for a lot of information to see what is going on in the classroom:

• Agenda message

• Information on projects or events happening in the class and around the school

• Links to helpful educational websites

• My contact information

Students have received their agendas and will write the agenda message down each day. I do not check them every day, but you can always check the agenda message on my website. If you write a message for me in the agenda, please make sure your student knows to show me the message.

Each student also has a mail slot in the room. Here they will find returned work, as well as work that was handed out while they were absent. Please remind your student to check their mailbox for any assignments if they have missed school, as well as having them check in with myself if the need some help. I will direct them toward this as well, but reinforcement from home will be a huge help. You can always check my website and Google Classroom for missed work as well.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you may have throughout the year. Email is preferable for me, but feel free to reach out in any way.

I am excited to work with yourself and your student and am looking forward to a positive and productive school year for all.

Thank You

Kyle Allan