Ms. Swinton's Class

Hello once again to my students and their families! I don't know about you, but I'm feeling very grateful for technology right now, and the way that it allows me to keep in touch with the people I care about from a distance, including all of you! I hope that you are all doing well, and that you've found ways to fill this time at home with love and connection, and that you've maybe made some special memories already! I love the idea of taking this period of such strange uncertainty to do fun activities together that you might not otherwise have time for. I've seen some great suggestions out there, including this list of 113 different at-home ideas ! The CBE has also compiled a really helpful list of ideas for Learning at Home , as I'm sure you've already seen from their email. This list includes both offline and online suggestions. As always, of course, you could also spend time reading, playing, writing, practicing basic facts, learning something new, cre...

Good evening! I hope that you and your family are well and finding ways to fill these unexpectedly empty days at home! This is an uncertain time for us all, and uncharted territory for everyone involved. I want to assure you that we at Hawkwood School and in the CBE are doing our best to handle this unprecedented situation in the way that is best for everyone, and that it is extremely important to continue checking your email regularly for updates from Mr. MacDonald and from the Board. This has all been very sudden, and I hope that everyone is handling this as well as they can. I know that it is not an easy situation and that the uncertainty is a lot to handle. Just know that everyone is taking this seriously, and that answers and information will be coming as things get more sorted out. For now, please take care of yourselves and one another, enjoy this extra time with your family, and know that I am thinking of you all during this challenging time. It is very strange to not be seeing...

All CBE Classes Cancelled https://www.alberta.ca/coronavirus-info-for-albertans.aspx View this message on our website:  cbe.ab.ca This afternoon, the government announced that all classes are cancelled immediately and indefinitely due to COVID-19.  We thank the government for listening to school boards and parents to support the health and safety of students, staff and families. Please do not send your students to school   on Monday, Mar. 16, 2020 and until further notice.  Before and after school programs are also cancelled. Staff will be available at each school to ensure that, if students show up, parents will be contacted and expected to pick up their child immediately. More information will be sent to you in the coming days with details on when to pick up personal belongings, return library books, etc. Schools will create a pick up schedule, which will be communicated to parents. Please note that yellow school buses and other specialized...

UPDATE: This situation is rapidly changing . Please continue to check your email for the latest information from Mr. MacDonald and the CBE. The CBE website also has up-to-date information. This afternoon, the government announced that all classes are cancelled immediately and indefinitely due to COVID-19.  We thank the government for listening to school boards and parents to support the health and safety of students, staff and families. Please do not send your students to school   on Monday, Mar. 16, 2020 and until further notice.  Before and after school programs are also cancelled. **************************************************************************** With the province's continued recommendation to keep schools open , I am sure that many of your households are engaged in discussions about how best to do your part in flattening the curve  and protecting those most vulnerable in our families and communities. My own household has had similar con...

We began the day with independent reading time, while the Rocky Mountain Readers went to the Learning Commons to vote on the books they had read. Then we moved into Circle time, which gave space for a number of students to share their concerns about COVID-19 and the public response to it. Students were very reassuring and encouraging to one another, and I've suggested that they continue this conversation at home with a trusted adult if needed. I am also here if students need to talk. As far as the continued impact of COVID-19 on the school, so far the decision has been made to keep CBE schools open but cancel any events that involve people from outside the school, including parents, which is why our Student-Led Conferences and Book Fair have been canceled/postponed. The CBE has released a page of Frequently Asked Questions that might be helpful in answering some of the questions that you have, and we will continue to keep parents updated if any changes occur. As of now, however, sc...

Today in Math, after our number sentences, we began working on estimating quotients (finding an approximate answer to a division problem). This is a useful skill both for answering word problems that can be answered with about  how many, as well as checking whether our answer to a division problem is reasonable . It is important to always  be checking if our answers are reasonable. We explored using front-end rounding as well as compatible numbers. It is important for students to choose numbers that are close , but that they can easily work with mentally . That means thinking about our basic division facts, and ensuring that the numbers will divide evenly with no remainder. In Social Studies we wrote a reflection on the field trip we took yesterday to the Glenbow Museum. Students structured this response into one or more paragraphs and made sure to highlight their key experiences and learning from the trip. In French, following calendrier, we finished up working through t...

We had such a great field trip to the Glenbow Museum today! We began with a tour of the museum, highlighting a cool art exhibit (about which the students had some really thoughtful and unique ideas and connections), part of the Mavericks exhibit that included Captain Freddie McCall and his daring emergency plane landing on top of a carousel at the Stampede, and the Warriors exhibit. The second half of the day included our program about the First Nations of Canada, and allowed students to consider the similarities and differences between First Nations groups and their ways of life in four different regions of the country: North, East, South, and West. The program highlighted how the different resources, climates, landforms, and locations impacted the ways in which groups in the region lived and met their basic needs. After collecting information about the food, clothing, transportation, tools/weapons, mat...