As part of our (teacher) year-end procedures, we will be going into the classroom in staggered blocks and bagging up student’s belongings. The district has not given us a timeline on when those items will be available for pickup, other than sometime within the phase 2 timeline. I’ve had a few parents ask when they can pick up their student’s items. The answer is that we just don’t know and it is to be determined. Pictures and yearbooks will be coordinated for pickup with the other classroom items as the district dictates.
The schools are still closed to the general public and our staff has not reported back. We are only allowed to go into a classroom for a finite amount of time, and that is it until next year. This whole process is new to us as well, and we’re doing all we can to be helpful while adhering to district policy.
I’ll continue to update you as I get more details. Until then, stay safe!
I hope you all enjoyed an awesome mother’s day with your students. This week our social studies and science lessons will be live lessons. I have lessons scheduled for Tuesday at 10 and Thursday at 10. Writing, Math, and Reading are up in Google Classroom for the week.
We have a lot of finalizing meetings for individual students, the grade level, and school this week. I would love to schedule some more small group lessons, but I don’t want to have to cancel them, so watch out for pop up lessons. We will have morning meeting in Discord every day as we have been doing.
I had hoped against hopes that we would be able to spend some time in a room together again this year, but we now know that it will not happen. Please watch your emails this summer, though. I’d love to catch up once we’re allowed to do so.
Hi parents!! I have four meetings tomorrow, so my planned meeting with our students is a no go. I would like to meet with them on Tuesday at 10:00, though. Also, I’d like to do a live meeting on Thursday at 10:00. We still have meetings rolled out to us on a night’s notice so this may change. Please reach out with me with any questions. If we have fewer meetings than planned, I will plan student meetings. Until then, all work is on Google Classroom. Thank you for the wonderful teacher appreciation gifts. I love and miss you all!
Our weekly google classroom assignments will go live tomorrow morning for the week. You will notice that the amount of work will be reduced as we start to make our adjustment to your students becoming 4th graders. As stated earlier in the week, my tentative live schedule for this week is:
Tuesday – Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
On Tuesday, we will do our normal daily math and then students will create a maze out of an old box. We will try to get a marble or small ball through the maze! Please save a box from Amazon (you know you’ve been shopping) if you can. Students will also need some type of tape.
Wednesday, we will participate in a a ruler drop experiment. Students will test their reactions and better understand their senses. If you don’t have a ruler, don’t worry. You can cut a piece off of a box and use this site to add a ruler to it. If you don’t have a printer, don’t worry, just have something slim and about 12 inches long. https://www.printablerulers.net/
Thursday, we will have a live code.org lesson.
Please note, I’ve removed Friday from the calendar because the PTA has organized an event that day and I want everyone to be able to enjoy it. Please reach out if you have any questions.
I wanted to remind everyone that our lesson tomorrow is at 11. We’ll have have a virtual picnic. I’d love for all students to participate by bringing their lunch and their device outside (if possible) and eating a picnic lunch with their friends. This will be a time when they can talk just like they are at the lunch tables at school. I’ll be on the call, but it will be a time for everyone to check in with each other.
My tentative schedule for next week is:
Tuesday – Friday at 10:00 a.m.
On Tuesday, we will do our normal daily math and then make a maze out of an old box and we will try to get a marble or small ball through the maze! Please save a box from Amazon (you know you’ve been shopping) if you can. Students will also need some type of tape.
Wednesday, we will participate in a a ruler drop experiment. Students will test their reactions and better understand their senses. If you don’t have a ruler, don’t worry. You can cut a piece off of a box and use this site to add a ruler to it. If you don’t have a printer, don’t worry, just have something slim and about 12 inches long. https://www.printablerulers.net/
Thursday, we will have a live code.org lesson.
Friday, we will work on a spacecraft challenge. For these you will need some, but not all of the following:
Cups Bowls Straws Foil Cardboard Tissue paper Toothpicks Tape
There is a lot in this post, so please read it in sections if you need to. Also know that we have experienced CCSD policy changing rapidly, and my mindset is to wait five days until we’ve received the CCSD communication before relaying it to you. Most information you hear at the same time I do, though.
Morning Meeting
We have morning meeting every day from 8:45 to 9:15 in Discord. If your student needs a Discord invite, please reach out. The students share their good news and bad news, and I ask a daily question, to which everyone can respond.
Below is this week’s learning calendar, and it is also available in Google Classroom:
Grades
The District has reopened grade books (our primary grade books were closed until very recently) to provide opportunities for students to make-up work, provide missing assignments, and demonstrate mastery of the learning standards taught prior to school closures. Any improvements to an existing grade will be included in the cumulative grade within each subject. Standards/strands not taught during the second semester should not have a newly assigned grade.
How will I handle this? If your student is completing the weekly work and would like to be reassessed or make up work I’m glad to work with a student to help toward that end. But, if your student is not working on distance learning classwork and completing it, they are less likely to make progress on work we’ve previously completed in class. If your student would like to make up work, they must communicate that to me, and we will create an individual plan. The plan will include an assessment to demonstrate mastery of the graded standard upon completion.
State Floats
We chose states during a live lesson. If your student would like to participate, we will research and complete a STEM project for a chosen state. Students will complete a float for their respective state after completing the research portion of the assignment. There is also a speaking/listening component to this and students can present their project via video. Since we have previously graded speaking and listening, this can be used to improve their grade, should they chose to present it. Please reach out to me with any questions.
Live Lessons
This week I will continue small group lessons as scheduled. I will also engage in WebEx live lessons on the following days and times:
Tuesday – 10:00 a.m. – Students will need paper and pencil
Thursday – 10:00 a.m. – Students will need paper and pencil
Friday – 11:00 a.m. – Let’s have a virtual picnic. I’d love for all students to participate by bringing their lunch and their device outside (if possible) and eating a picnic lunch with their friends. This will be a time when they can talk just like they are at the lunch tables at school.
As always, if you have any questions, please reach out!
Did you know that Mr. and Mrs. Higashi are creating distance learning lessons on YouTube? They have been working really hard to keep art in your students’ hands. I think I’m going to have to make a bird feeder. Here’s a link to their lessons: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCvF-HNbNCRGXOfZcLfR7rg
They’ve done 15! They will keep you busy for days:
Here’s a link to their latest lesson.
I enjoyed these recycled planters as well!
I’ve also had a few parents reach out about the STEM float requirements. I wanted to remind everyone that until your student submits the completed research form to me (they can just write down the items from their state on another piece of paper if you don’t have a printer), they shouldn’t start building. I haven’t shared the requirements yet, because I’ve not received the research yet. 🙂 This is done to make sure they complete the first part before starting the second part. I have a procedure for redesign after their initial design as well. These are not due until the end of the school year. I’m working on mine, too!
Last night, Governor Sisolak informed us that we would not return to our building, Stuckey Elementary School, this year. I want you to know that we are not done yet. Please grieve the loss of the rest of this year. Help your student grieve the loss of their time with their classmates and friends. Let yourself feel and process this emotion, which is an extreme sadness for me.
I know we deserved more time together. I know we deserved that comfortably sweet and fun-loving time of the year where we’re firing on all cylinders, your students are confident, and those smiling faces are walking around the classroom with the end of 3rd grade swagger. But know this: we are not done yet.
We deserved more. It is April 22, not May 20, and I am not giving away the days I have left with your students. This virus has taken much from us, but it will not get the rest of this school year. We are not done yet.
Some of you know that my home is my safe place. I’m a bit introverted, unless talking with students, but I have opened it to you and your families. My camera is on almost every day, and I am sharing my safe place with you and your students. We may not be sharing a physical room together, but we are not done yet.
We still have amazing things to see, experience, and learn. Our buildings may be closed, but we are not done yet.
Following the directive from Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, the Clark County School District (CCSD) will continue to implement distance education for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year to include the following: food distribution, professional learning, and device deployment.
Details on the plan to close out the school year will be shared with the School Board of Trustees at the next scheduled meeting Thursday, April 23.
Attached is this week’s at home learning calendar. This is also located in your student’s distance learning section of Google Classroom.
I am attempting to set up small group reading and math lessons. I will email you a google calendar invite, and if the time works for you, I will work with a smaller group of students on a specific reading or math program for that time. If it doesn’t work, please let me know and I’ll schedule your student for a time that works for you. I may also do one-on-one sessions, but until we all get the hang of the programs, I’ll probably do small group. Setting up and connecting to a program can take 15 minutes when we’re first learning the program.
I am going to do a live lesson on Tuesday – Friday this week at 10:00 a.m. We will do either a daily math, reading, or grammar lesson as a warm up, and students will need some sort of paper and a pencil or pen for the beginning of each activity.
I will be in Discord every morning from 8:45 to 9:15 so students can come in an share good news/bad news and answer the daily question.
If anything is overwhelming, please let me know. I appreciate that you are working incredibly hard right now. I know many of you are trying to keep your students on track while working from home. Do what you can. Know I am supporting you as you work with your student through this process.
I’ve also scheduled a WebEx for 2:00 on Wednesday so I can help you parents, if you need anything from me, or if you’d just like to say hi to the other parents.
I miss you all, and love you all.
Events for the week:
Tuesday – 10:00 a.m. Live Lesson – Building Floats
Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. Live Lesson – Math
Wednesday – 2:00 p.m. – Parent WebEx Meeting
Thursday – 10:00 a.m. Live Lesson – Story and Q&A
Friday – 10:00 a.m. Live Lesson – STEM
I created this video to help you navigate Clever/enVisions if this is your first time using it:
Ms. B. in Class 