Busy Week At DDS

It was a busy week of learning at Douglasdale! 

Swimming lessons 

Robotics

Yoga at noon

Paper Towel Composting with the Ecco Team

and let's not forget splashing in puddles outside!

             

The list of great learning experiences goes on!

                                                                           

To top off a great week we hosted a hands on Power of Ten parent workshop with renowned math educator Trevor Calkins that saw over 100 families learning:

•   What is different now than when most parents went to school?
  
•   Some of the methods for teaching basic facts and multidigit operations
  changing (+, –, x, ÷)?
  
•   New ideas in learning how to do ‘long division’?
  
•   How they can help at home (the three BIG ideas)?
•   How games help
  
•   What this new word ‘subitize’ means
  
  Thank you school council for helping to sponsor this successful event and thank you Step Ahead for providing complimentary childcare so that more families could participate. The teachers are looking forward to a full day of professional development with Trevor on Friday!
  

A reminder that there is no school for students on Friday January 30th. We will see everyone back on Monday February 2nd. 

Parent Math Night at DDS

Trevor Calkins is a world renowned math educator and will be here at Douglasdale later this month. He will be hosting a parent evening at DDS on the night of January 29th. There is still room for parents to attend the workshop however all Step Ahead childcare spaces are now full. Please sign up if you are interested. Thank you to DDS School Council for helping to sponsor this great learning opportunity. We know it will be a fun and educational evening.  http://poweroften.ca/ 
Staff will be working with Trevor all day on our January 30th PD day. 

Drying Up Our Paper Towel Consumption

Thanks to the Conoco Phillips Environmental Quest grant, DDS is going to start paper towel composting.  Paper towel has consistently been one of the greatest contributors to waste in our school and we are looking forward to making this change for our environment. Riva’s Eco store has kindly contributed to our project by providing low VOC paint for our students to spruce up our indoor composting bins.

Keep your eyes peeled for paper towel compost bins around the school!

Upcoming at DDS

We have some exciting things coming up at Douglasdale in the next few weeks. Watch your child's backpack for notices!


On January 29th we are hosting world renowned math educator Mr. Trevor Calkins for a parent math night.

•   Why do students still need to know their basic facts?

•   What,if anything is different now than it was when most parents went to school?

•   Why are some of the methods for teaching basic facts and multidigit operations

• changing (+, –, x, ÷)?

•   Are there any new ideas in learning how to do ‘long division’?

•   How can parents help at home (the three BIG ideas)?

•   What is the role of praise in developing mathematical ability?

•   How do games help?

•   What does this new word ‘subitize’ mean and why should I care? 

• 
  

• The notice for this event has been on our website and in D2L and we are pleased that the response from families has been very high. Childcare spots are now full however there is still lots of space for parents to come for the workshop so please return the form if you are planning on attending.

• On February 4th the whole school will be heading down to the Jack Singer Concert Hall for a Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra presentation called "Building the Orchestra." There is no cost for his trip. Please watch for the permission forms in the coming days.

• A huge thank you to our School Council for sponsoring these two exciting events!

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Happy New Year!

Welcome back DDS families! We hope that you all had a wonderful break and found lots of time to play, laugh, read and rest. There are many great things to look forward to in the coming months at DDS. Students will go on variety of field trips, will welcome Kananaskis in the Classroom, Calgary Opera and Philharmonic for visits, and of course will engage in lots of hands on learning every day in and around the building. Happy 2015!