Virtual Instruction

 Don’t forget to monitor student behavior when they are on their Chromebooks using GoGuardian using the CLEVER tile. From there select your class and you will be able to view all students’ screens. Please reference Steve’s video for more features.

Please make sure you complete the mock virtual week survey by Sunday letting me know which subject you will be teaching virtually next week.

Virtual Instruction Preparation

 

During our staff meeting, you were informed that we want to be proactive in case an entire class has to quarantine. As a reminder, please make sure the following is done by September 24.

    ·      Google Classroom has been created.

    ·      Synchronous schedule and student groups are saved on the U-Drive à 2021-22 Teacher Documents à Virtual Instruction à Grade Level folder.

·      To ensure we are still providing high quality instruction, Y5s-5 should have two sets of student groups:

1.    ELA and math: students are divided into 3 groups for math and ELA instruction.

2.    All other subjects: students are divided into 2 groups.

    ·      K-5 synchronous schedule must include the following:

1.   3-30 minute ELA sections, 3-30 minute math sections, Workshop (ELA and math), specials, office hours, and two sections of science, social studies, and writing. See the many examples on the U-drive à 2020-21 Teacher Document à Remote Model à Trimester 2 folder.

Please see your team lead for assistance with this task because all team leads have created synchronous schedules last year that were approved meeting the criterion above.

Lastly, please make sure your dean approves your synchronous schedule.

Synchronous Lessons

 

Please make sure that you record your synchronous lessons on Monday for those students who are unable to attend. We want to make sure all students have access to learning regardless of their home situation.

Digital Platforms

 

In-person teachers should continue to use digital platforms in their classrooms. Please create a lesson each day utilizing one. This will keep students familiar with the platforms in case we have to go remote again unexpectedly. Please continue to have students take their Chromebooks home every day.

Preparing for Remote Learning

 

Just a few reminders as we prepare to launch into remote instruction…

     1.    All students should have their cameras on for the entire synchronous session. We need to know that they are present and engaged in learning. If you have concerns about the background or the living situation of the child, you can have them blur out their backgrounds.

     2.    Although we are running a schedule similar to a regular school day, some parents may have to make arrangements for childcare that will not permit consistent virtual participation within the school day. Not all our families are fortunate enough to have a family member at home and, in some cases, children will be placed into daycare or with an elderly family member. If you notice a student is not attending regularly, please reach out to the family to offer assistance. Furthermore, you should plan to record your lessons to allow ALL students access to instruction.

     3.    Morning assembly will continue on its normal schedule. Please continue to submit your presentations to Robyn.

     4.    Please be sure to communicate your office hours to parents and explain the purpose of office hours. 

     5.    While we are teaching remotely, engaging our students can be challenging. A group of principals were brainstorming ways to engage learners from home and we came up with the following list of ways you can engage your students and check for understanding without just one to one calling on students to respond to questions / provide answers.

·      Use dry erase boards or a piece of paper inside a plastic sleeve and have your scholars write out their answer and show you.

·      Use hand gestures to physically engage your students (thumbs up, etc.).

·      Use manipulatives they can find around the house ... crackers or noodles make great counters, small toys/blocks, etc.

·      Take brain breaks! Who doesn't love a "Go Noodle" dance video?!?

·      For phonics and the alphabet with younger students - have them do a scavenger hunt and search for something with the proper sound/letter.

·      For older students, use online resources like Kahoot to engage your students in meaningful review.

No Contact List

If you have a student that you have not been able to contact, although you have made several attempts, please click on the No Contact list  and complete it by Friday, May 1. Your dean will be calling those families next week.

Our purpose for this call is to ensure that everything is okay (especially those families who have disappeared on us since school got out) and encourage them to get involved with the learning taking place. Deans will be using the No Contact Google sheet to document these contacts so we can track them.

Chromebook Distribution

We are planning on doing our second Chromebook distribution for families who need to borrow technology. We are in the process of working through details with families and devising our distribution plan. Jamie and Sarah will be sharing the "official list" of families who need to borrow a device by the end of this week. If you have any families who have communicated to you that they need a device, please plan to check the list and ensure that they have signed up. This will be our final distribution, so it is important that we get them to everyone who needed one.

Please keep in mind that due to limited quantity, we are only offering one Chromebook per household. So, if a family received a Chromebook during the first distribution, they will not be able to participate in this distribution.

Documentation Tracking Tool

A tool has been added to Gradebook in myNHA where the designated homeroom teacher should enter data on a weekly basis. Two fields-‘Teacher Connection’, and ‘Student Participation’ – are to be completed for each student each week.

Documentation of this activity will be useful for several audiences. First, for teachers and admin–schools will be able to see which families are not participating in learning activities and be able to reach out proactively to engage them. Second, for NHA as a system of schools–NHA will be able to analyze the usefulness of our current home learning strategy and continue to make adjustments and improvements as necessary. Third, for our authorizing bodies–NHA can assure states and authorizers that our intended learning activity with scholars is happening with fidelity.

The tool is intended to be simple, straightforward, and not time-consuming – and at the same time provide valuable and timely information on the status of remote learning.

Below are some common questions and answers related to this data tracking tool. Thank you for helping us all track activity and continuously improve our practice.

    1.    Is the use of this tool required?

a.    Yes.

    2.    I am a specials teacher. Am I supposed to fill this out?

a.    No, not directly. Only the homeroom teacher will have access to this tool. But similar to planning weekly lessons for students, you should be collaborating with the homeroom teacher so that the homeroom teacher has full insight into student participation in learning activities.

    3.    What do you mean by “teacher connection?”

a.    Teacher connection is defined as any action the teacher takes to reach out to the student or parent regarding that student’s learning. Examples would be an email, a phone call, a text message, a connection via Google classroom, or similar items. The column allows for three possible entries – blank, meaning that the teacher was not able to initiate any connection to the student; attempted, meaning that the teacher initiated a contact but received no response; or successful, meaning that the teacher received a response to their outreach. The required weekly email from teachers to families outlining the scope of work for the week does not count in this column of teacher connection. For reference, hovering your mouse over the blue circle in the column title will show the column definition.

    4.    “What do you mean by “student participation?”

a.    Any evidence the teacher has that the student engaged with the learning material can be counted as student participation. Examples can include student work viewed through Google classroom, a student/family-generated photo of a completed worksheet, verbal confirmation on a phone call that a student completed work, and similar items. For reference, hovering your mouse over the blue circle in the column title will show the column definition.

    5.    When should this be completed?

a.    Data will need to be entered into the tool weekly. Ideally, that would be completed by Friday afternoon each week. Data can be entered at any point during the week as long as it is finalized by the end of the week. Staff will have to go back and track Student Participation and Teacher Connection beginning the week of April 13.

    6.    I don’t see this tool in my gradebook. I am team-teaching with another staff member.

a.    In the case of two teachers in a class, only one person has been assigned to the tool to track progress. Although the myNHA team has been working to ensure team teachers are represented in myNHA equally for common in-person school situations  (same access, both names display in course lists, on report cards, etc.), they were intentional to only give one teacher access to track remote learning due to the requirement of only having one teacher responsible for communicating with families and tracking this information.

    7.    Am I supposed to be entering grades for students during this closure period?

a.    No

Live Meeting Schedule

If you are conducting live meetings with your students, please adhere to the schedule below. This schedule was created to take into consideration:

     1. Families that have children at multiple grade levels

     2. Families that may only have one device for students to utilize

In addition, new security features in Google Meet do not allow students to create their own Google Meet sessions. However, students could rejoin a teacher-created Google Meet session up to 3 minutes after the last person leaves the meeting, then the meeting locks. For this reason, teachers should be the last person to leave a live meeting and check back in 1-3 minutes to ensure no students have rejoined.

Master RL 2.0 Live Meeting ... by embryjd on Scribd

Remote Learning 2.0

Does this work count?

Work is not required but recommended so kids can actively be engaged in learning during this time. The learning packet work really has a focus on participation and effort rather than a focus on grades due to the inequity in homes across our system of schools. The standards covered in the learning packets are the most important, priority standards that will make the biggest difference for students’ success in their upcoming grade level. No grades are being entered into the gradebook. Instead, NHA is developing a tool for teachers to track participation and contact with students.

Instead of spending time grading work, teachers should provide feedback as well as correct misconceptions as needed. Rather than earning a grade, ask parents/kids to take a picture of one completed assignment each week (their best work, their favorite assignment, etc.) as a check-in on who’s participating.

Please do not hesitate to speak with your dean during your grade level/PLC meeting this week if you still have lingering questions.