RMS Staff Wildcat Weekly
Staff Newsletter 4.6.20
Shout Out
Happy Monday and first day of Vista Virtual School!
We hope that Spring Break gave you an opportunity to relax, reflect, connect with loved ones, and find time for taking care of yourselves. As we move into this week and transition into our Virtual Learning environment, we will need to lean on each other and support one another as we determine best strategies and methods for connecting with our students and continuing their learning. I came across this brief article that shares a great message about giving ourselves permission in this interesting time... to not know what to do. Fortunately, we have an amazing team to work with, and we'll figure it out together.
In the meantime, please preview the important links, information, and tasks for this week that we will be discussing.
Reminder: All Staff Virtual Meeting @ 10 am today
Join Zoom Meeting
https://vistausd.zoom.us/j/7517470677
Meeting ID: 751 747 0677
One tap mobile
+16699006833,,7517470677# US (San Jose)
+13462487799,,7517470677# US (Houston)
Reminders for All Staff Zoom Meeting- please review if necessary before our meeting!
Virtual School Information and Resources
Virtual School Important Links:
NEW! Virtual Learning Handbook- this guide is for STAFF ONLY. Please use this as an important guide and reference, and note that changes may be made as we move forward with Virtual School.
NEW! Vista Virtual School Website
NEW! Vista Works For You Video #3
NEW! VUSD Letter to Teachers and Staff 4.2.20
Other Resources:
- Final VTA COVID-19 MOU
- Virtual Schooling Tips and Tricks
- RMS Virtual School Q & A
- Shared Folder- Middle School- Vista Virtual School
- VUSD Framework For MS Virtual School
- Teacher Implementation Checklist
Another Great Resource:
Important Tasks for Week One of Virtual School April 6-10
TASK ONE: Linking Google Classroom to AERIES
TASK TWO: Complete Form for Google Classroom Codes
TASK THREE: Check-in with 7th Period Students
Please fill out this Google Form for each student on your 7th period roster and indicate if you were able to speak with a parent or the student.
You can use the questions in the Google Form as your "script" for what to ask. This information will help us track each student's ability to access technology and make personal contact with each of our families. Administration, counseling, and support staff will be following up with students/families that you are not able to reach.
If you need support with interpretation, please let us know, and we will coordinate this support by grade level: Martha- 6th grade, Maidhya- 7th grade, Gabby- 8th grade.
To ensure your protection when calling families, you can set up a Google Voice number (see video tutorial below) or dial *67 before the number to make sure your phone number is blocked. To create a Google Voice number, you will need to use a personal Gmail account (not the district email) in order for it to work. You can use an existing Gmail that you have or create a new Gmail account.
TASK FOUR: Connect with your Pride/Department about Collaboration Structure or Plans
As we begin to connect and touch base with our students this week, connect with your Pride or Department to discuss the following:
1. Pride Hubs- discuss coordination of a shared space to use for communication of Pride info, school level info, counseling and admin announcements (such as registration, course selection, high school transition) etc.
- Week at a Glance
- Announcements/Check-ins- place for admin/counseling to disseminate info to all students
- Other ideas by Pride (organization tips, social emotional connections, emphasis on character ed, etc.)
3. Digital Citizenship- assignment through ELA or Social Studies (dependent upon Pride) to ensure all students engage in digital citizenship instruction/training
TASK FIVE: Decide on Office Hours and Record in Shared Doc
Holding office hours to provide guidance and/or feedback with students on submitted work. Office hours should be posted in the Google Classroom so that students and families know when they can reach the teacher/s. Office hours should provide adequate time for teachers to provide guidance and/or feedback to students and families.
Office Hours can be daily or weekly. One suggestion would be to discuss office hours with your Pride and/or dept to support collaboration and communication.
Please decide on your Office Hours and record them in this shared document: Roosevelt Virtual School Information/Office Hours. This is a document that we will be posting on our homepage so that students and parents can easily access the info. Please also input your email address, and content area.
VUSD Health and Safety Updates
Community Health Alert and Health and Safety Website
Counseling Corner!
Here's what was shared with families in the Wildcat Weekly:
Counseling: SD-Crisis Line-888-724-7240 Family Resource Center-866-262-9881
Hello RMS Families! Anyone needing School Counselor support and/or Social-Emotional resources in this difficult time is being directed to the “Counseling” page under the “Departments” dropdown on our RMS Website. We’ve created a short URL for easy sharing. bit.do/rooseveltcounseling (all lowercase). We have also created a “Student Support” slideshow for RMS families that has links to TONS of resources and links to fun stuff (CLICK HERE FOR SLIDESHOW). Lastly, our counselors have created a way for our students to request a virtual appointment with us. You can find it at bit.do/rmscheckin (all lowercase). It’s important students know they can make an appointment for themselves, or make an appointment to speak with us about another person they are concerned about!
PARENTS AND STUDENTS: Follow us on our new Instagram @rooseveltcounseling for daily updates:)
Attention all 8th grade families: Students should already have their course selection worksheet. It’s a perfect time to look at that with your students and finalize some choices. As of now our normal timeline for online registration applies. Refer to the HS Registration Timeline and our Counseling page for important dates and documents for high school registration! We just updated the linked website with a google slideshow for each school. Check it out!