Conquistador Corner
Arroyo Seco Junior High School -- March 27, 2020
Staff Stuff
Seco Family,
We made it through the first week of the fourth quarter! It was great to see everyone on Zoom this morning. Sorry for the technical glitches. Thank you for your continued hard work and flexibility.
As you know, the remote learning model will continue at least through May 4. The district continues to be in regular communication with the local elementary districts and the State and is in daily communication with the LA County Office of Education.
Check out Fayanne's email with reminders/clarification about instructional time. With everything going on and multiple stressors impacting all of our families, we don't want to overwhelm students. Less is more. Thank you for being reasonable and understanding.
Remember that the school is completely shut down and no one should be on campus. The district has created a protocol for teachers only to access campus this coming Tuesday, March 31, by appointment, if they need to briefly obtain materials or items from their classrooms. Please see all of the specifics below. I will share a sign up sheet for you to select a time slot.
Thank you to Team Aloha for providing the fun and inspirational daily emails this past week to help all of us stay connected. Thank you in advance to Team Extreme for taking it on this coming week.
Thank you for all of your hard work as the online instruction continues to evolve. Take care of yourselves and your families and have a great weekend!
Upcoming Events
March 27: 8:30 Zoom -- Faculty
March 31: Faculty signups to come on campus (see below)
April 3: 8:30 Virtual Faculty mtg
April 6-10: Spring Break (no school)
Teacher of the Year
Here's the link: https://forms.gle/BCtPbfVQVQTq4KMM9
Question of the Week
This week's winner is ... Heather Coo!
Tips and Resources
Be sure to check out the Seco Coronavirus folder for lots of great tips and resources.
Teacher On-Campus Prep Visits
Teachers only (no visitors or kids).
Each visit is limited to 50 minutes or less. No more than 10 teachers at a time. 10 minutes between groups of teachers to ensure social distance.
Gloves are recommended and will be available in the office when you arrive.
No face to face interactions with others.
I will share a sign up sheet today for you to select a time slot.
Questions? Call or email Andy. Thanks!
Weekly Wellness
March’s habit of the month is “Play and Create” and the disposition is “Courage”
Creative processes enable us to see the root of a problem or the situation in a different light; we can make connections between seemingly unrelated phenomena and gain new perspectives. Another argument for indulging in creativity is: It’s good for your brain. It gets your alpha waves going. Alpha waves correlate with states of relaxation, and scientists have found that when people are relaxed they’re more likely to have aha! Moments, those moments when impossible problems seem to solve themselves. Creative expression can also boost empathy and understanding for each other. And, because failures and mistakes are inevitable when creating, engaging in creative expression provides opportunities for strengthening resilience because setbacks and mini breakdowns offer us opportunities to get up and try again.
Not only is it important to get creative during this time, but it is also important that we focus on supporting ourselves in other ways. Check out this article for some evidence-based, social-emotional practices that we can use to help us now, through this time, and when we return to school.
One way to feel good is by helping others and spreading kindness. Here are some ways you can get creative by being kind and doing things for other people during the “Safer at Home” quarantine.
https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/coronavirus-help-small-nice-things-to-do-for-neighbors/
Sarah Goodwin shared information with me about free access, for students and teachers, to several wellness-related apps offered by Down Dog Apps, from now until July 1st. Down Dog offers apps for yoga for beginners, yoga, barre, HIIT, and 7-minute workouts. I spent the last week trying out their apps, and so far have enjoyed the different workouts available. If you are interested in trying any or all of these out go to https://www.downdogapp.com/ or https://www.downdogapp.com/schools to create your new account.
Question of the Week
Thank you to everyone who responded to last week's question about shows to binge watch or other strategies to keep our sanity while we stay at home. Here are the responses, verbatim:
Mad Men
Currently watching Brooklyn 99, but loved The Office, and This Is Us
Brooklyn 9-9, or Parks & Rec
So many!! Schitt’s Creek, Call the Midwife... I could go on and on! I’ve also been enjoying walks and taking my gym classes through zoom.
Watch Longmire on Netflix
Series: I'm not ok with this,100 humans, The Boys, witcher. Other activities, scrabble and settles of catan.
The Office
Anything on HGTV! Hug a goat! (Or a kid, or a pet, or your partner!)
The Office, Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore GIrls, Grey's Anatomy! Lots of walks and hikes, loving on all the pets, board games, reading, cleaning, sleeping in!
Anything I’ve seen before, since my children will distract anyway!
Lots of walks and board games! I haven't had time to binge watch any TV yet due to all the work to take my classes online. Maybe this will get easier? :)
Disney + (It keeps our family calm, we just keep it running & playing on the big TV in our living room all of the time. We are adults & teens but Disney is still the best. BUT for the Women who want a fun drama. "Cable Girls" you can get it in English on Netfix.
I think I've already watched Goodfellas on Netflix about 5 times. Other than that, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon. To stay sane, I try to cook or bake one fun thing a day, other than what we are eating for lunch or dinner.
Lots of Disney Plus over here and EXERCISE!!!
Survivor and Amazing Race! There's like 72 seasons total, so you won't run out!
The Wire on the treadmill
Snow shoveling is the other strategy to stay sane.
Coronavirus Help: 31 Small, Nice Things To Do for Others During an Epidemic | Fatherly
https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/coronavirus-help-small-nice-things-to-do-for-neighbors/
Arroyo Seco Junior High School
Email: akeyne@hartdistrict.org
Website: www.arroyosecojuniorhigh.org
Phone: 661-296-0991