Grade 7: Preparing for Success

Posted on September 7, 2011 by admin

LCC grade 7 students are spending the first week of classes in a special orientation program to help them prepare for a successful Middle School experience. Here are two reflections from our grade 7 students:

Today we had a class about your brain. We did an activity where you were supposed to be an event planner. Part of the time, the entertainment, food, and the location of the event were chosen by you, and the other half of the activity was you rolled a die to determine place, entertainment and what you ate. Luck, or chance, was mostly to do with this, and the thing is, to be a successful student, you can’t rely on luck alone. To be a successful student isn’t really about being smart. It’s about having good organization, writing things down so you remember them, and planning ahead and not leaving everything to finish on the last night. If you never do well in one subject doesn’t necessarily mean you’re bad at the subject, it may just mean you forgot to do an assignment or didn’t ask for another explanation in class even if you didn’t get what was going on. The successful student tries hard, studies for tests, does their homework on time. All in all, there are not really unsuccessful or successful students. There are simply those who don’t try their best, and those who do.–Grade 7 Student

Today we learned a lot about the brain. We learned things that I didn’t know yet. Even though we learned a lot of things about the brain, there are three things that really amazed me about it. I learned that you only use approximately 12% of your brain. I learned that the brain controls everything that you do such as walking, talking and moving around. Those things were pretty neat but the coolest thing about the brain that we learned today is that your brain is like a big filing cabinet. You have different sections of the brain that remember important things that you hear everyday. The brain is really neat and very cool to learn about. There are many things I still don’t know about the brain but I think that it is the coolest part of your body. The most fun I had all day was learning about the brain and I can’t wait to learn more about it tomorrow.–Grade 7 Student

Learning by Experience in Thailand

Posted on September 7, 2011 by admin

On August 21 I found myself in a new part of the world. I kept telling myself, “I am in Thailand. I am in Thailand,” but somehow it never fully hit me that I am on the other side of the world without anyone I know or can to whom I can go.

As I travelled to The Regent’s School I kept certain Thai rules in mind that I had read in a guide: never touch peoples’ heads, no revealing clothing (shoulders & high thighs) and NEVER say anything disrespectful about the King His Majesty or the Queen. At first, these rules seemed pointless to me because these types of behaviours were never a problem at home, but I knew that here I would have to adapt for the next six weeks.

After an hour-long drive from Bangkok airport to Pattaya, I arrived at the school. After leaving my bags in my large three-person (at the time) empty room, I went for a small tour of the beautiful red brick campus with two new boarders from Lithuania. The thing that has stayed with me was the humidity in the air. What I did not know then was that the next day scorching heat would also be part of the daily weather here in Thailand.
Like most youths, I can dismiss the advice of my elders, so when I was told on that August night that the “pesky tiny gnat-like flies” bite and leave nasty marks, I had the uncomfortable pleasure of seeing what they did to me the next day. Any mosquito bite would have been ten-times better than the marks that these almost invisible flies had left!

The next day, things started to become more promising as I had my first hot meal (which was delicious) and went swimming with all of the girls in the boarding house. Little did I know that when I returned from the pool, my roommate would be waiting for me. Antaya and I got along the minute we saw each other.

Everything, so far, is great here! I’ve met many new friends, experienced a whole new way of living and learned to be even more independent. There are still a lot of things to be done here such as elephant trekking and visiting “Community Partners.” It is just the beginning of the trip and I already worry about when it will end. —Olga Jablonski ’13

A Welcome Experience at the Welcome Hall

Posted on September 2, 2011 by admin

Today we started our Youth Philanthropy Initiative by volunteering at a grass roots organization called Welcome Hall Mission. This organization affects the lives of many; the young, the old, families and new immigrants through their many services offered. This organization serves as a shelter, a food bank, a rehabilitation centre for men, women and youth, and as a counseling centre.

The grade 10 Woods House advisory visited this centre yesterday to give much needed help. We made food packaging for the people who will be coming in today, we inventoried school supplies from their recent ”back to school drive,” and we organized clothing that would later be given out to the clients of the Hall.

Working with such a great organization that helps so many people in our city was a fantastic experience. Knowing that the food we were distributing would go to kids and families who really needed it felt good. It was great to work with our advisory. As a whole I think we all realized how fortunate we are and that in a city like Montreal, there still is a great amount of poverty. –Alexa Dlouhy ’13

Grade 8 Students Engaged in Community Service PSAs

Posted on September 2, 2011 by admin

Lower Canada College’s grade 8 class wasted no time hitting the academic stream with vigour. On the first full day of classes, students were participating in community service trips and researching environmental issues. All of this hands-on experience will serve as the foundation for the production of public service ads on Friday, using numerous production tools in the i-Life Suite that is installed on their MacBook computers.

A particular emphasis this year is being placed upon ensuring that student work is publishable on-line, providing them with an authentic audience. To that end, the school is highlighting the importance of producing work that includes creative commons media licensed media or original content generated by the students. LCC has also established partnerships with companies such as www.libertymusictrax.com, who are supplying students with licensed music for their presentations that can then be freely published on our portal. — Chris Auclair, Teacher

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Posted on June 2, 2011 by admin

I recently spent some time talking with students in our Kindergarten program. They were all sitting near up against a wall in our main building school, dressed in shorts and T-shirts. The weather had finally turned for the better and they were on their way outside to play soccer baseball on the “big field.” The anticipation of this special event was palpable. Every aspect of this yet-to-unfold adventure was exciting for them. Each child wanted to tell me why this class was going to be the most marvelous experience ever. One boy felt a little worried, as an older Junior School student had recently told him there were bears across the street wandering near the main field. Not to worry, the other children declared; this as an absolute silly lie. Everyone settled down when Madame Manseau asked them to line up and get ready. Away they went – all smiles, ready for another adventure at school.

Remember those days – when everything in life was amazing, wonderful, challenging and fun?

In 1989, a book entitled All I really know I Learned in Kindergarten was a huge bestseller across North America. It espoused the beauty and simplicity of the “Kindergarten Principles.” Today they are also being labeled as a guide for global leadership. We should all revisit those principles; they reacquaint us with key foundations for learning and act as a reminder to live each day with wonder and a joyful disposition. –Christopher Shannon, Headmaster