Movember Donations to End Prostate Cancer

So the month of Movember (November) is almost over. That means it will soon be time to wave goodbye to my moustache. But before the month is out, it's never too late to donate to a good cause.

Just in case you missed the original post on here about Movember, the month formerly known as November is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for prostate cancer research. This year, the Halton District School Board has decided to sign up and create a team of mustachio'd male teachers in order to help raise money for prostate cancer awareness. I've decided to be one of those (in case you didn't notice on parent/teacher interview night).

Remember, in 2010 tragically more than 4,400 men will die as a direct result of prostate cancer. And 1 and 6 men will develop prostate cancer in their life time. Pretty alarming statistics.

If you want to donate, go to the following link

Thanks!

 

Food Diary Project for Healthy Living

On Friday, the students received a project for Healthy Living called a Food Diary. This project is one that will have to be completed both at home, and at school. It's due next Friday, November 26. Here are the project details.

Task Description:

Using three copies of the “Food Diary: What Have I Eaten?” activity sheet, you will keep a food record for three days, including one weekend day. This is so you can analyze your eating habits.

The Reflection:

After recording your food intake for three days, you will write a reflection that should answer the following questions:

Ø      Did you eat foods from all the food groups?

Ø      Did you have three meals each day?

Ø      At each meal, did you have something from at least three of the food groups?

Ø      Did your snack choices represent foods from one or more of the food groups?

Ø      How did you classify combination foods (for example pizza)?

Ø      Were your food choices ‘everyday foods’ most of the time?

Ø      For each food group, did you eat a variety of choices or the same ones?

Ø      What did you eat differently on the weekend day?

The Plan:

You will set a personal goal for improving or maintaining your eating habits, based on what you have observed and analyzed. Brainstorm ways that you can meet this goal. 

Just one more note, the students will need to fill out the food diary sheets for three days (as it mentioned above). However, one of these days must be a weekend day in order to compare eating habits on the weekend, to eating habits during the week (at school).

Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences

Folks, it's just about that time of the year for the traditional parent/teacher conferences.

As I'm sure you're aware of by now, they aren't going to be quite so traditional this year. With the new "Progress Report" comes the new conferencing method. The board wants completely student led conferences. Our school has decided to transition slowly into fully student led conferences, and has left it to the teacher's discretion about how much responsibility to place on the students. Because this is a large step (in my opinion) for the students to take in one year, our conferences for 6-2 will be a half and half scenario.

Here's "THE PLAN."

When you arrive at the classroom, your child's portfolio will be waiting for you. While you're waiting for your interview to commence, please have your son/daughter take you through their portfolio and its contents.

When the interview actually begins, your son/daughter will outline 2 things they are proud of and 1 thing they hope to improve on (2 stars and a wish). Then they will present to you a piece of work they are proud of. This will be followed by an explanation of the learning skill which they feel is their strongest/best asset and why. Finally, the student led portion will commence with the sharing of three personal learning goals for the year; one language goal, one math goal and one learning skill goal.

Once the three learning goals are shared, we'll sit down and map out a plan to help the achievement of them. This plan will consist of a chart that outlines a plan of action for at home, at school and independently.

Then the student will be asked to fill out the bottom portion of his/her progress report. This needs to be done before I can file them in the student's OSR.

Then at the end, there will be time for the traditional question and answer period where you can ask me questions, or I can present you with concerns.

Can't wait to meet all of you again...or for the first time. See you tomorrow or Friday!

Potluck Was a Success

Thanks to all the parents (and students) who slaved over making the food for our International Heritage Potluck today. The food was absolutely outstanding. I'm not even eating dinner tonight because I'm so full.

Also thanks to those who sent accessories like plates, cutlery, napkins. Thanks to Mr. and Mrs. McGowan for helping out with set up and providing so much of the accessories and drinks.

You guys are all superstars!

International Cuisine Potluck

Next Monday (the 8th), the students of class 6-2 have been asked to take part in an international cuisine potluck based on their heritage. I'm hoping your son or daughter has mentioned this to you previously (and it has been on my main page for a week now).

In health class, we've been discussing the various influences on our food choices. One of those particular influences was culture or heritage. Because it's great to celebrate multiculturalism, we decided as a class that we should have a potluck where each student can bring in a food item (home made of course!) that represents their heritage.

As an example, I'm German, so I plan on making something German to bring in for the class (I'm leaning towards either latkes or schnitzel).

We do have some allergies in the class so it is NECESSARY to keep the following ingredients out of the dish

1. Any kind of nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans, etc)
2. Peaches

We also have two students who are lactose intolerant, but both have said they can take their medicine that day, so if dairy does need to be included, this will be allowed.

However, I'm asking that each dish/cuisine be accompanied by an ingredient list so that the students can decide whether or not they want to try something.

One other thing to consider is sample/portion size. You don't need to make a HUGE amount of what's being brought in. There are 27 students in the class (plus 28 if you count my dish). That means there will be a lot of food going around. There's no need to waste a ton of food by bringing in too much. As long as you've got enough for each person in the class to sample, this should be sufficient.

Also, if it's at all possible, I'm looking for a couple volunteers to provide some utensils, plates, napkins, etc.

If you want to come in and try some of the food yourself, you are more than welcome to! Once again, that's Monday, November 8th for our "international" potluck. We'll probably aim for around 12:00 to start the festivities.

"Movember"

As I'm sure some of my students have told you, I've decided to grow a moustache for the month of November in honor of prostate cancer awareness. This has become known as "Movember."

The month formerly known as November is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men's health.

This year, the Halton District School Board has decided to sign up and create a team of mustachio'd male teachers in order to help raise money for prostate cancer awareness. I've decided to be one of those.

If you have the time, desire and or funds to donate, I'd appreciate that you do (despite how much we ask of you at River Oaks). Also, donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

You can do so at my "Mo Page" through the HDSB's group page...HERE 

Remember, in 2010 tragically more than 4,400 men will die as a direct result of prostate cancer. And 1 and 6 men will develop prostate cancer in their life time.