A very proud start to the year!

As I have often shared (because it would be impossible for me to hide), and anyone who has ever met me can attest to... I am a very emotional individual. So as I have been saying since the first day of school... I am so intrigued and impressed by the individuals I am privileged to teach this year at Pineland.

Both grade 7 classes have been built so well to balance all aspects of a learning community. The classes are riddled with individuals with vast arrays of interests, abilities, and personalities. It has been so much fun re-establishing relationships with students I have taught or coached in the past as well as building new bonds with those who I have chatted with in passing or simply held the door for over the last few years.

My primary goal of establishing a safe and risk-taking, inclusive, and motivated environment is already taken shape.

In Math, I challenged the classes with an extremely broad problem, requiring tremendous collaboration to work through many complex steps to come up with a solution. NO PROBLEM!!! Even groups that encountered difficulties took a step back from their work to realize their errors without getting down on themselves or giving up. Each group proudly presented to their peers and everyone applauded and took note of the strategies of others.

In Language, the first writing task was inspired by Neil Pasricha's "Book of Awesome". Pineland was fortunate to have him as a guest speaker two years ago, and I have also shared his TED Talk with students, "The 3 A's of Awesome" as it is also very motivational. Students are coming up with their own 'awesome' ideas and using the writing process to hone a personal voice when writing. (Many have completely nailed the feel for the writing... Now I'm just hoping that they will have the resolve to properly work through the revision aspect to polish their work).

I've crossed the line... and it's exciting!

Welcome to the start of a very exciting year! Yes, I am once again part of the French Immersion team (teaching English, Math, and Health) having been teaching the Core English students at Pineland for the last two years.

I am very excited to have the opportunity to now teach students who I have taught, coached, or seen in some capacity over the last few years, and also thrilled to get to meet some students completely new to me. So far, it has been an extremely positive start to the year. All classes and students have demonstrated amazing commitment to their learning, willingness to take risks, and respect for myself and one another.

I believe wholeheartedly that regular and honest communication between teachers and students and teachers and parents is essential for supporting the learning of students, academically and socially. Please don't ever hesitate to contact me with any concerns, questions, insights, etc.

This website has been revamped to meet the needs of my students this year, including a variety of resources on the right of the page. If there is any additional information that you may require, just let me know and I will endeavor to add it to the best of my ability. Many other teachers on the Intermediate team are using Google Classroom as a platform for communication. I have also delved into that world, but am new to it, so please be patient. Over the first month or so, I will try to maintain both my website and Google Classroom, trying to determine what works best for everyone.

I really look forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones at next week's Open House!

Sincerely,

Mr. (Dave) Moskal

EQAO

It is that time of year for the Gr. 6s. This year, the EQAO testing for the Gr. 6s will be spread over 6 days, beginning this Wednesday, May 24 and will continue through next Wednesday, May 31, inclusive.

Another difference will be that the testing will only take place during the morning block of school. In order to give all students ample time to complete the test booklets and out of respect for all of those writing, please be on time for school each day.

I believe the students' feelings of nervousness have all but vanished and that they are eager to see what the testing actually looks and feels like. We have prepared throughout the year to set them up for success and comfort over the coming days.

Gr. 6 field trip reminder

Friendly reminder that the Gr. 6s will be on a field trip to the Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts tomorrow. Please try to have a big breakfast as lunch won't be until almost noon. Also, remember to pack a lunch fit for a trip.

It should be a great day!

Mental Health Awareness Week at Pineland

Over the last week Pineland has recognized Mental Health Awareness Week through a variety of student and staff learning activities. Attention was paid to mindfulness and the different ways individuals can connect with themselves and their feelings, both emotional and physical. The importance of staying physically fit and eating healthy was also addressed in relation to maintaining mental health. We spent time outdoors (on the one dry day!) and also shared ideas around Growth Mindset and positive thinking, as well as other things that we suggest for each person's Mental Health Tool Box -- like: breathing techniques, calming activities/space, rest, etc.

This week was also linked back to the extremely rich discussions we had around our Bell Let's Talk sharing. Once again, the class took all activities and sharing quite seriously and were very open to learning new and different ways to maintain their own mental health.

As always, I was very proud to learn and share alongside class 5/6-1.

Self-Regulation Self-Reflection

As you are hopefully all aware by now, we have turned our attention this term to the Learning Skill of Self-Regulation. Like we did earlier in the year, there is a class target to track progress. Recognizing that each individual has their own goals and areas for improvement, students created personalized Self-Regulation trackers.

They were provided a format of deciding on a goal and then thinking of an action that would help them to achieve their goal. Four goals and actions were created for each student. At the end of each day, students honestly assess whether or not they successfully carried out their target actions.

I also assess the class as a whole and indicate how successful they were in terms of Self-Regulation and mark it on the class tracker. This can serve as an overall reminder of proper student behaviours that make successful students.

At the end of the week, the student trackers are totaled and used to practise Math skills related to fractions, decimals, and per cents. We can monitor our progress from week to week and track trends by graphing the data.

Please take time each weekend to review the student trackers and discuss what goals might look like for the following week. Initialing the tracker helps us all work on accountability. Thanks for your support!

Book report!!!

Please see the assignments page for more information. Any additional questions can be handled through email, so don't hesitate to ask for any clarifications.

The initial response to the assignment has been very positive. Since we have been using a variety of reading strategies throughout the year to analyze the novel "Dunk", the students are very familiar with the type of responses that are expected during the conferencing stage.

Parents can assist at home by asking questions about the novel that will elicit depth and explanation. (See example questions on the Homework page.)