MCCHS ~ We Remain Strong!
Updates on School Closing & Remote Learning as of 4-23-20
Updates on Remote Learning at Marian
**NEW!
A Continuation of our Remote Learning Plan to the End of the School Year
As the Governor closes schools for the rest of the school year, we needed to develop a continuation of our Remote Learning Plan to the end of the year. Please click here to read what will be going out to our families tomorrow, addressing grades, final exams, cleanouts and pickups, and other end-of-year events.
Teachers, please be aware that end of semester grade meetings will be between May 21 and May 22 (more information to follow). More information will also be coming on arrangements for the end of the year when all of you to be able to come to school to check out and clean out your rooms. Stay tuned!
Governor Pritzker Closes Schools for the Rest of the 2019-20 School Year
As you may have heard, today, April 17, 2020, Governor Pritzker announced the closing of Illinois schools for the rest of this school year. This is very heartbreaking, not only for our staff but more importantly for our students. Our students need us even more so now than ever... not just continuously providing the curriculum, but making connections and supporting all of our students socially, emotionally, and spiritually.
Please know that Administration will be making very difficult decisions about how to approach the typical end of the year celebrations... but are looking to approach this decisionmaking in the most creative and innovative way possible in order to best support our entire Marian Community during this unprecedented time.
This plan lays out a clear and consistent schedule for pushing out your lessons so there will be no conflict with any other teacher/subject, revised guidelines on student submission and attendance times, and important guidelines on how to provide a balanced lesson delivery that will help you provide the best possible instruction to your students.
This plan (the parent/student portion) is going to be pushed out to Marian families at the end of this week so they are aware of the changes.
Thank you for continuing to provide a strong curriculum, holding your students accountable for their education, and keeping the needle of education moving for all your students!
In addition, please note the various meetings on the schedule... We will begin these virtual meetings, as per the schedule starting next week. You will be receiving the meeting invites via your email.
School Closing and Access to School
Building Availability:
As of Saturday, March 21, Governor Pritzker declared a Shelter in Place for the state of Illinois, which means in-person instruction will continue to be suspended through at least April 7, per the ISBE. Although personnel who are ensuring that students have access to remote learning instruction are performing essential functions that are exempt from the "Stay at Home" mandate, we would still suggest that you limit your time at school to running in and out for something you need to do your job (is at all)... but nothing more. The school's alarms will still be off (allowing access) between 7 am - 7 pm Monday through Friday... but please, only come if there are no other alternatives. Please remember...NO MORE THAN 10 people grouping together...which means that if you need to meet with someone from your department, you can, but keep it small and keep it short!
PROVIDING INSTRUCTION THROUGH VIDEO CONFERENCING
**NEW!
Video Conferencing Etiquette Tips (This will be pushed out on the Friday Focus today as well as being under the "remote Learning" tab on the Marian website)
Video Conferencing Security Steps This document gives tips and video links on how to ensure your video conferencing is secure.
Remember, GoToMeeting, Zoom, and Teams great video conferencing platforms!
>>GoToMeeting: On Friday, March 27 you should have all gotten an email with the subject heading of Join a team account for LogMeIn products
from:
LogMeIn <noreply@logmein.com>
This is a Diocesan License for the video conferencing tool "GoToMeeting" and the Diocese is requesting that teachers to use this tool.
If you did not see or respond to this email, please look in your spam or even trash folder and once you find it, please create your account. In case you can't find it, the Diocese has requested another push out of the email should have been done just a few moments ago for your convenience. Gotomeeting allows teachers to video conference with students. They are doing 90 day free accounts for schools. Here is a video that shows how it works.
Click here for updates to GoToMeeting security features.
Microsoft Teams for video conferencing!
This is a great short video from Alice Keeler which explains Teams meetings with students. Alice Keeler actually has a lot of short You Tube videos on getting started with Teams.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDU9ezNAipw&list=PLqa7N83LLptyHiUNIrdFB11tacCLcvVpy&index=42
Faculty FAQs about Remote Learning
Q) When should teachers post assignments?
A) By 9:00 am each day
Q) How should teachers send assignments to students?
A) Teachers will be pushing out assignments via their chosen Learning Management System (LMS) such as Google Classroom, OneNote, etc. Teachers will (or already have) communicated this to their students.
Q) When should teachers be accessible via electronic means?
A) Teachers should have set “office hours” and posted them on their LMS. Teachers should provide students with the various ways in which you want your students to reach you (e.g.: email, message on your LMS, etc.)
Q) What is the procedure for attendance?
A) A student’s “submission” of their work indicates to the teacher that the student was “present” and has participated in the class. Students should submit their work to each teacher by 9:00 pm daily for attendance purposes. Teachers are then expected to submit the attendance for all of the class periods and study halls by 8:30 am the following day. Mrs. Johnson will then turn over the day in Rediker by 9:00 am.
Q) What if a student does NOT participate in my video conference?
A) You as the teacher need to set the expectation for your class. If you feel that participating in a video conference is part of the expectation for the day, you can build it into your overall day's expectation. Remember, though, that if you want all students to be in VC and a student has communicated with you that they could not participate due to a work or family issue, please be flexible.
Q) If students have until 9:00 pm to submit their work, does that mean the teacher has to wait up until it is submitted?
A) Teachers are given the flexibility to check in student submissions whenever they choose to, as long as they submit attendance by 8:30 am the next morning. Extending the students’ submission provides them more flexibility to complete the work, similar to them having to complete an assignment for homework after regular school hours. This does NOT mean that you provide more work… but we are providing this flexibility for students who are working, taking care of siblings, experiencing anxiety, have ISP, etc. as we know that these times are unprecedented.
Q) What if a student does not complete all of the learning activities?
A) A student’s grade will be the same if they were in school and did not complete all of their work. It will be marked as “incomplete” (I) in the place of the grade and "me" in the annotation (if they did nothing) or the earned grade (eg: 2/20) and an "I" for the annotation until the student has completed/corrected the assignment. Because of the requirement from the state that a student’s grade should be based on “learning and not compliance.”
Q) What if a student is taking too long to complete the activity that is assigned?
A) Assume that students may complete tasks at different rates, similar to when they are in school. Please instruct them not to spend more than 30-40 minutes per subject on the independent work that you assign.
Q) What if I am sick during this Remote Learning time period?
A) Please communicate with your Department Chair and your Principal. Please work with your Department Chair to develop a process to ensure assignments and activities are pushed out for your students with a message that you are not available due to illness.
Q) How should I plan my lessons?
A) You should always plan for students who take the longest and work backwards, because as we know students work at different rates. Also, be flexible with your students based on their individual needs. Please refer to the section titled, Key Elements of All Remote Learning Lessons from earlier in this document.
Q) Do I have to teach via Video Conferencing every day?
A) Though you are not expected to use video conferencing EVERY day, you should find a healthy and reasonable balance between Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning. You may choose to do it once or twice a week, and record lessons ahead of time for other days. Either way, the key is to ensure that students receive some form of actual “instruction” daily. Do not just assign busy work or worksheets/problems that either do not have any connection to your learning objectives or have not otherwise been taught to students.
Q) How often should I input grades?
A) As stated in the 2019-20 Faculty Handbook, “Teachers are to enter at least 2 formative grades in this system on a weekly basis. This should be besides any summative assessment grades. It is strongly encouraged that there be at least 5 summative opportunities provided each semester grading period, given the heavier weighting of summative grades.” This remains the expectation during Remote Learning.
Q) Where can I get technical support for my device?
A) If you need technical support during the Remote Learning day you can always reach out to Julie Houk at jhouk@marian.com or complete the following form and you will receive a response as soon as possible. Technology Assistance Request Form
Q) The ISBE and the Remote Learning Plan states that grades can't go down since we started e-learning, but how do we ensure that happens?
A) Administration ran a report at the beginning of all of this which shows all of the students and all of their grades. We have been monitoring them through the weeks... most grades have gone up.
When we get to the end, we will do a final comparison and either...
1) the students' grade is improved and they earn that grade
2) the student has too many incompletes and therefore is not considered as having completed the class yet, and will be notified of such... and the grade will remain incomplete until the assignments are submitted and graded
3) the student's grade is worse than what it was before March 16, and therefore I would be overriding it before publishing grades.
At this point, we really want the students to stay focused on just continuing to improve their grade... and then they will be fine!
Resources & Professional Development
Are you using Albert? If so, please complete the following survey. Link to Albert Survey
This will go a long way in helping them to continue to meet the needs of teachers going forward.
The Boone/Winnebago ROE has created a self-paced, online book study for your staff to get some needed PDC's during this time of no face to face professional development. Click here for more information!
Stay in Touch with your Department Heads & Administration
Email: dnovy@marian.com
Website: www.marian.com
Phone: 815-338-4220