January 23-27, 2023

Report Cards will be available through your MyCBE account on January 30, 2023. Report Cards are strength based and focus on six areas of learning; communication, functional academics, regulation, social interactions, leisure skills and functional living skills. Learning activities in our EES classroom are specifically designed to build foundational skills in these areas. Our blog this week will highlight each area and give different examples of the programming to assist families in understanding their students report card.  

Students are also supported through their Individual Program Plan (IPP). Students will have brought their IPP's home on Friday. In the envelope are two copies of the IPP. Please sign one and return to the school. 

Communication - Supporting communication occurs continuously throughout the day from the very moment students step off the bus to getting back on the bus at the end of the day! Communication is all about the sending and receiving messages with others. Students are supported to develop communication skills in many ways through the use of classroom visuals, adult modelling communication, to the use of assisted communication both high tech and visual boards.  Our classroom has an AAC (Augmented and Assisted Communication) device with WordPower available for student use throughout the day. Students are being supported to use this device during shared learning and individual work tasks. 

Functional Academics - Students engage in functional academics through a variety of individual and shared learning tasks. Students are greeted every morning with work tasks set out on tables. These specially designed tasks focus on literacy skills, math skills, learning readiness skills, and help to support concepts introduced in shared learning . Literacy tasks develop skills in letter and sound recognition to reading comprehension and preprinting skills to functional writing. Readiness skills focus on put-in tasks and errorless matching tasks. These tasks focus on fine motor skills, academic communication, and work to increase students stamina for task demands. Math and numeracy tasks work to build number recognition, one to one correspondence and math concepts. Each table group is supported by an adult, and tasks range from familiar and practiced to introducing new concepts.  Students also participate in daily shared learning through songs, movements, interactive SmartBoard activities and inquiry learning. 

Regulation- Students participate in daily regulation. This ranges from daily check-ins using the 4 Zones of Regulation (Green, Red, Blue, Yellow) to activities to support student regulation. Students learn how to identify, in themselves and others, how they are feeling and the different tools they can use to re-regulated or get back into the green zone. Tools such as using fidgets while in shared learning, special areas for calming, big body movements, and different breathing techniques are used and practiced everyday, 

Social Interactions - Students spend time throughout the day building social interaction skills through a variety of activities such as group table play, buddy activities, turn taking games and shared learning.  Character traits are taught through the teaching of The 7 Sacred Grandfathers.  Each character trait is paired with an animal. Students learn and practice actions and behaviours that demonstrate how to be respectful like the buffalo, loving like the eagle, wise like the beaver, humble like the wolf, courageous like the bear, honest like the Sabe, and truthful like the turtle through songs, stories, and peer modelling. 

Leisure Skills - Students get time each day to participate in activities of interest.  Often preferred toys, sensory or movement activities are used as motivators using first/then language.  When students come into the classroom in the morning they FIRST complete three work tasks and THEN engage in preferred activities. Students participate in daily outdoor playground play, exploratory play, introduced to a variety of equipment in the gym and engage in whole group music instruction with our music teacher to further develop leisure skills. 

Functional Living Skills - These are skills that are developed through consistent daily routines that assist students with functional tasks. Building independence in self-care skills is an important part of our day. These skills include dressing during our arrival and dismissal routines, hygiene skills (hair and teeth), increased mobility, snack and lunch routines, and support with toileting skills. During community walks, students learn important safety skills and learn about environmental print, such as safety and road signs.  Learning about days of the week and months of the year through our daily calendar work also supports functional living skills. 

I hope this blog helps you to understand the learning outcomes in your students report card and IPP. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to further discussing your students school successes! Stay warm this weekend!

Upcoming Dates

• Jan 30: Term 1 Report Cards released through your MyCBE Account.
• Feb 2: Winter Walk Day (see below)
• Feb 3: CBE Non-Instructional Day (no classes)
• Feb 16 & 17: Teachers' Convention (no classes)

Report Cards

• Your child's report card will be available online starting on Monday January 30.
• To see the report card you must log into your MYCBE Account. 
• Contact your child's teacher if you have any issues.

Winter Walk Day - February 2

Ethel M. Johnson School is planning on participating in the Alberta Winter Walk Day, Thursday, February 2, 2023.  Walking is a great way to enjoy a beautiful winter day.  We will walk outside around the block, on the sidewalk, weather permitting.  Students are asked to dress for the weather to enjoy the fresh, crisp Alberta air (i.e. coats, mitts, boots and snow pants).

Calgary Roughnecks Tickets

We are pleased to share that students will have the opportunity to experience lacrosse, Canada's official summer sport later this month. The program is through the Roughnecks and they have provided two free tickets to a game in February for each family!  Next week teachers will be sending home (a code) to redeem two free tickets. Stay tuned!