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.