April 12th

On Friday, the new packets went in the mail for this week.  In case you didn't see the letter from me, I am posting a copy below:

 I wanted to let you know of some changes starting next week.  

1.  Each week classrooms will be holding two class meetings.  Our class will use Zoom for these meetings. On Monday, our class meeting will be from 10:00 to 10:30, followed by a short literacy lesson (from 10:30 to 10:45).  On Friday, our class meeting will be from 10:00 to 10:20, followed by a literacy lesson (from 10:20 to 10:30). Teachers have been asked to take attendance during these meetings.  If for some reason a student cannot attend, I will check in individually with a phone call about the lesson covered. The focus of the class meetings will be social and emotional learning.  They will be similar to a morning meeting and will include greetings, sharing, news, etc. These meetings will be for my homeroom students (grades 5 and 6).
2. On Tuesdays, I will hold a similar class meeting for 5th graders only.  This will include students from Mr. Willard’s classroom.  This meeting also starts at 10:00 and will go until 10:40.  During that time, we will begin with a 20 minute class meeting and then have a 20 minute math lesson.  I would also like to try a second live math lesson on Thursdays from 10:00 - 10:20. Again, I will be taking attendance at these meetings and will touch base with anyone who is unable to attend.
3. Additionally, I will be holding office hours twice a week for students to check in with me live if they have questions.  The first session will be on Tuesdays from 10:45 to 11:15. The second session will be on Thursday afternoons from 1:30 to 2:00.  Each day, I will send an invite to all of my students (homeroom and grade 5 from Willard’s class) by email. These sessions are not required, but are there if students have questions.  As we have done in the past few weeks, students may also email me at any time.
4. We will now have a EMES Remote Learning Resource site.  This will include a glimpse at the big ideas for each week, a schedule of meetings, a recap of daily expectations, etc.  It is our hopes that having one site for families to find information, will make things easier. It is my understanding that this site will go live on this Sunday evening.
5. Students have been doing a great job posting their work and I am hoping that from this point on, most work will be done online. Beginning Monday, April 13th, I will be posting all assignments on Google Classroom.   If working online doesn’t work for your child, please let me know. Thanks to all of the parents that have sent scanned work, photos through email, etc. of hard copy assignments.
6. I’m sure there will be more changes, but these are the main ones at this time.  I want to thank all families for being flexible, providing feedback, and doing such a great job working through this challenging time.  I hope you and your family stay healthy.

April 6, 2020

Good Morning,

I am writing to give you some updates for this week.  First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their hard work in these challenging times.  This transition to distance learning has not been easy for anyone.  I want you to know how much I appreciate the feedback and work that everyone has put into making this a smooth transition.

As you saw in the recent letter from our superintendent, Debra Taylor, this week teachers will be getting ready to implement continuity of learning plans which will start for everyone on April 13th.  In the letter from Debra Taylor, she outlined that "students will be expected to find time to read and move their bodies every day! They should also continue to work through the packets and online learning materials that have been previously provided and be ready to start new learning on Monday, April 13th." 

I want to add to her comments that this is a week for students to finish anything that they haven't been able to at this time.  Students should continue to read each day.  Although I will not be giving a new assignment, I would love to receive an email from any student that would like to keep me posted on their independent reading.  I just heard on the news that the next couple of days are going to be beautiful - warm and sunny.  I would echo superintendent Taylor's statement that students should get outside and move their bodies.

To keep you informed on what teachers will be doing this week, today (Monday), we will be working individually to identify Performance Indicators that we have and have not addressed this year.  Teachers have been asked to consider which PIs are the most important to address during the final quarter of the school year.  Teachers have also been asked to check in with students, something that I will try to do today.

On Tuesday, WCUUSD teachers will meet through Zoom in grade or content-level teams to share the work from today and develop common agreements about which PIs will be taught and assessed at each grade level for the rest of this school year, and those that will be tabled until next fall. This work is necessary to ensure common expectations across the district. I will not likely be able to make my Tuesday phone calls as I will be in meetings planning and preparing with colleagues.

The remainder of this week will be spent developing a schedule, preparing lessons and materials that support the teaching of the identified PIs.  I would like to have this schedule posted and communicated with families by Friday.  I hope you and your family enjoy the beautiful weather and stay healthy.

                                                                                    Sincerely,

                                                                                    Ellen