EAST PAULDING MIDDLE SCHOOL
March 23, 2020
FACULTY AND STAFF NEWSLETTER
UPCOMING EVENTS
Events Still Scheduled
3/30 - 4/3/20 - Sources of Strength Week
4/2/20 - Faculty Meeting - Time TBD
4/3/20 - Leadership Team Meeting - Media Center - 7:30am
4/6 - 4/10/20 - Spring Break
TBD Events
EPMS Talent Show
House Celebration
5th Grade Visits & 5th Grade Parent Night
May Events
5/2 - 8th Grade Formal
5/5 - Spring Band Concert and PTSA Meeting
5/11 - Spring Chorus Concert
5/18 - 8th Grade Olympic Day and Picnic
5/19 - 7th Grade Olympic Day
5/19 - 8th Grade Field Trip
5/20 - 6th Grade Olympic Day
5/21 - Awards Day
5/22 - Last Day of School - 2-Hour Early Release
Digital Learning - Week #2
I saw a tweet this weekend that said something along the lines of "there is no right way to do what has never been done...empathy and grace is the only 'right way' for now." I want us all to keep that in mind as we move forward on our current path. Just like us, our students and their families are emotionally and socially impacted by our world changing so suddenly. And we must realize that many of the parents of our students may very soon find themselves without jobs. The impact of what is happening goes far beyond our contents, our assignments, and our beliefs of what/how students should perform. However, we still have a commitment to our students, and I want to encourage you to move forward with empathy and grace.
I want to end with the message Dr. Otott gave principals on Friday during a conference call.
"Our 'why' hasn't changed; only the 'what' and the 'how'. As we continue to move forward we must be fluid with the ongoing changes; we must have patience; we must show compassion; and we must remain positive."
I am here to help you however i can. Thank you for all that you are doing to overcome and stand tall for our students!
Updates to Digital Learning
Last Friday, our Department Chairs and Admin Team met to discuss how we can adjust and make some adjustments to digital learning. Below, I have shared some updates for you as we continue to be fluid in our constantly changing world. Beginning this week, please follow these guidelines:
Length of Assignments
- Assignments should be scaled back to last no longer than 20 minutes each day.
- Consider chunking assignments over several days to give students an opportunity to complete one piece at a time.
- Rationale: What typically takes students 30 minutes to complete in a classroom with immediate teacher support is stretching to sometimes more than an hour at home.
Workload
- This is for students and teachers…
- Adjust this week’s plans to be paced over the next two weeks.
- Adjust the pace of future planning so that assignments are chunked and the time per content is reduced as mentioned above.
- Rationale: Students, teachers, and parents are overloaded in some of our homes.
Catch-up and Free Read Fridays
- No new modules should be published on Fridays.
- Students who have completed all assignments should be encouraged to read freely.
- If they have assignments to complete , this will give them the opportunity to catch up and complete any Missing work.
- Teachers should be available for office hours. (10am-11am and 2pm-3pm)
- Rationale: Everyone is working hard and deserves it!
Grading
- Each grade level content will grade and enter 1 formative grade into IC each week. This needs to be consistent for each grade level content area.
- Accelerated and HS courses will most likely have a different assignment but grade-level courses should be consistent.
- You can ask students to complete multiple assignments each week for a grade, but you determine which one to enter without “tipping your hand” on which one you will grade. This will keep them “on their toes” and hopefully force them to complete all work
- Any assignment not completed will receive a grade of “I” (incomplete) in IC. This will notify the parents that the student has incomplete assignments without punishing students who may not be able to complete the digital assignments. We can make updates to these grades at a later date if/when necessary.
- Please make sure that all grades of “I” are entered by Thursday. (see Friday information below)
- Each assignment should have unlimited opportunities to resubmit. Again, once you open a module/assignment, it remains open.
- Rationale: We don’t want to continue to wait and drop grades in all at once.
Work Packets
- Each grade level content area needs to provide a packet of work to me by this Thursday.
- This will be used for students who have no or very limited access to technology.
- I will make copies and place the packets in a container under the covered area.. Parents can come by and pick up the work as needed.
- The first set of packets should cover the 1st 3 weeks of being out.
- Rationale: We have a responsibility to support all students.
Devices
- I have sent an email requesting names of students who are not online.
- Please get these names ASAP.
- Rationale: We need to provide our community with every resource possible.
Parent Communication
Because we do not physically see our students as we would in the building, parent communication is more crucial than ever. If you are noticing that you have students who are "absent" from Canvas and/or not completing and submitting assignments, it is important that you are communicating with their parents. Communication is one of our most vital tools, and we cannot allow the fact that we aren't in the building become an obstacle
Continue to utilize email and phone calls to communicate with parents. There are several apps that help you keep your number private, and many of our teachers have used these prior to our extended digital learning. I also encourage you to keep a parent-contact log as well.
Also, don't forget that while Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences have been cancelled, we still have a great opportunity to connect with parents. I would like to encourage you to reach out to the parents of each one of your HR students over the next two weeks to share something positive about their student. If you do not have a HR, give a call to the parents who have students who typically fly under the radar. The conversations do not have to be about grades, behavior, or work ethic. You can simply call and let the parent know that you enjoy having their student and share something that makes their student awesome.
Milestones Update (EOG, GAA, and EOC)
Many of you are following State Superintendent Woods and Governor Kemp's comments regarding state assessments. We know that suspencison of the "state assessment window/administration (including Georgia Milestones EOGs and EOCs, the Georgia Alternate Assessment/GAA 2.0, and all other required testing) until further notice" has occurred, and we are waiting on final word of that decision. Once we know how our district will move forward (based on the state's decision) I will inform you.
Until then, we should continue to focus on things within our own control and work to be our best version of virtual teachers.
5th Grade Tour and Parent Night
Leadership Team Meeting
Important Note: If we have not returned to school, we will host our Leadership Team Meeting through Zoom. An invitation will be sent out for anyone to join.
Staff "Attendance" During Digital Learning Days
Below are some reminders regarding staff attendance during our Digital Learning Days.
1. Our normal work hours are Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm.
2. Your virtual office hours are scheduled by the district;10am-11am and 2pm-3pm. You should be available to support students digitally during those times. This may occur through email, Canvas, or other virtual avenues.
3. While your virtual location may vary based on the needs of your family, it is important that you are available by phone or email during normal work hours.
4. If there is a time where you will be unavailable during work hours (for whatever reason), please communicate this via email to Mrs. Suttles and Mr. Alverson.
Please continue to take care of yourself during this season of contagious illnesses. While there is a great focus on COVID-19, we are still in a season of other germs, and for our allergy sufferers, pollen season is upon us.
Digital Learning Days
I am just going to leave this here so that I don't delete it and forget to add it back. March hasn't brought snow (yet), but we are facing are greatest digital learning challenge. As we navigate through this challenge/opportunity, take notes about what worked, what didn't, what can be done better, and save your plans. If we have future events, you may not need to use the exact plans, but having a skeleton to build from will be helpful. This is also a great opportunity to gain feedback from your students as well. They can provide a unique perspective as the "consumer".
Please be prepared for the potential of inclement weather; often referred to as "snow days". While one or two days of enjoying opportunities the "devil's dandruff" provides can be exciting and fun, three or more days begin to add to the stress level of school districts. Because while we are enjoying the rare opportunities to build snow-creatures, sled on garbage can lids, sleep in, or binge on our favorite shows, books, food, and drink, we are losing very important instructional days.
Several years ago, to combat "snow days", the district implemented Digital Learning Days. This provided students an opportunity to continue their learning over an unexpected, extended time off and allowed us to "make up" some of our missed days without losing any planned breaks.
To be prepared, our district is asking teachers to plan 3 days of digital assignments in advance of any potential weather, prepared and ready to be published within Canvas in the event of an unexpected school closure due to inclement weather. Most of you probably already have these prepared and within Canvas somewhere, you will just need to pull them in to your current year's Canvas.
If you do not have these lessons prepared, please move forward with that process and have 3 days of digital lessons planned. These lessons should be housed in Canvas, but not yet published. If you need support with this or if you have questions, please let a member of our admin team know.
Absence Reminders - 2nd Semester Update
I am leaving this here, but please disregard the information below until we have returned to normal operating procedures. Please follow the guidance above.
Below are a couple of reminders regarding reporting absences and requesting time off.
Unplanned Sick Absence
1. As soon as you know that you need to be out, enter the absence into AESOP AND call Mr. Jacobs. His number is 678-779-9541.
2. If you are unable to enter the absence into AESOP, call Mr. Jacobs.
3. After 6am, you are no longer able to enter an absence in AESOP, please call Mr. Jacobs.
3. If a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
Planned Sick Absences
1. As soon as you know that you need to be out, enter the absence into AESOP AND inform Mr. Jacobs and Mrs. Suttles of the upcoming absence.
2. If a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
Personal Absences
1. All personal absences must be requested 5 days in advance. The request must be made to Mr. Alverson.
2. You can speak to Mr. Alverson in person or send him an email.
3. If you request an absence via email, please include Mrs. Suttles.
4. All personal absences will be entered by Mrs. Suttles.
5. If you have already arranged for one of our regular subs to work for you, please provide that information.
6. if a job fails to fill or if the sub cancels, there is a strong possibility that we will have to cover the absence from within that specific department or use other subs when they are on their planning.
It is important to remember that absences designated as sick days cannot be used for personal events or activities. If you have questions, please let me know.
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Contact Information for Tom Alverson
Email: talverson@paulding.k12.ga.us
Website: http://www.paulding.k12.ga.us/Domain/29
Phone: 678-350-8027