Claggett's Corner
OVCA Elementary ~ August 17, 2020
First Week Success
The first three days of the school year are in the books and WOW, what a SUCCESS!! Mrs. Campbell & I were able to visit many classrooms and see so many returning faces as well as new faces. We were so excited and energized by the eager learners that are filling our classrooms this school year. OVCA is filled with students ready to say "Aloha to Learning"!
Today is the final day of Bison Bootcamp for elementary students. These four days give students an opportunity to get to know their classmates as well as their teacher, learn how to navigate Newrow and the all new redesigned OLS platform for students, and start to find that daily schooling routine after a summer of FUN!
Beginning tomorrow, our 3rd - 5th grade students will begin their NWEA MAP Skills screener in both math and reading. I'll be sending out a letter later this morning about it but your teachers have shared about it as well. Parents, be sure that your child gets plenty of sleep tonight, has time to wake up and have some breakfast - or at least a glass of milk - and is ready to work in a quiet environment during their class time this week.
Upcoming Dates
August 18th: NWEA screener begins in live classes for students in grades 3 - 5
August 25th: NWEA screener begins in live classes for students in grades Kindergarten - 2
September 7th: Labor Day holiday, No School (the OLS will remain open and accessible if needed)
The 2020-21 school calendar is available for download below.
Preparing for the Beginning of the Year Screener
At the beginning of each school year, all students participate in a screener. Think of it in terms of an eye screener - we want to see each student's "level" and adjust their instructional needs accordingly to create a personalized learning plan for your student. A prescription for their learning. Our goal for every student at OVCA is to make one year's academic growth.
Our students will participate in the NWEA screener. Because this is a web-based program, pop up blockers must be allowed for this safe site in order for the screener to work successfully. Please take a few minutes to log in to this practice site to make sure your computer is prepared. Chrome is a great tool for NWEA!
Practice website: https://practice.mapnwea.org
Username: grow
Password: grow
You will know you've successfully entered the NWEA practice site when you have the option to choose a grade level for the practice test. I encourage you to have your student sit down and explore this practice test. Kindergarten & 1st grade students will spend several days taking the reading screener (in about 10-15 minute increments) while 2nd - 5th grade students will take screens in both reading and math. Students are expected to complete this independently - we need to know what they know in order to provide the best "prescription" for their growth this year.
Bison On Track Calendar
To make sure students know what assignments to complete each day, each grade level team creates a Bison On-Track calendar. This calendar can be found within each grade level newsletter sent out each Friday by the homeroom teacher; I've also included them at the bottom of this week's Mrs. Claggett's Corner for you download if needed.
Teachers are working to align the Bison On-Track calendars to the daily plan found in the OLS. They cannot do this until the first day of school so it just takes a few days to complete. We are about 90% of the way done and anticipate having things aligned by Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. If you are unsure of which lesson(s) your child should be completing each day, please contact your child's homeroom teacher.
#K12Unbox Contest
We’re giving 1,000 t-shirts away to K12-powered students! It only takes a minute to enter!
We are asking all families to share pictures and videos of unboxing their K12 materials on their personal Instagram or Facebook accounts using #K12Unbox and tagging @K12Learn.
You can also submit directly on the site https://www.tintup.com/t/k12unbox!
All submissions must be received by 5 PM EST on August 31, 2020.
Winners will be selected by randomization on 8/31/2020 and will be notified by social media or email if they win a t-shirt.
***EXPLICIT CONTENT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any entry for any reason, in its sole and absolute discretion.
We’ll feature entries on the #K12Unbox page for all to see.
~The K12 Social Media Team
Introducing Newrow
For the 2020-21 school year, OVCA's new Class Connect collaboration platform Newrow is launching. When your student logs in for their first class connect session, they will still enter thru their OLS account but will experience our new collaborative platform integrated into all of our Class Connect Sessions.
Newrow will continue to allow teachers and students to engage with one another using microphones, tools, as well as the chat box. One of the enhanced features is that it is Web-based, meaning you can access Newrow thru any laptop, Chrome book, iPad, or even a smart phone. Simply log in to your OLS account and click on your scheduled class connect session to come join the fun!
Best practice tips: Note that we are recommending Chrome as the best browser to run Newrow so be sure to download this today to be ready for your first official day of class. Families should shut their computer fully down on a regular basis (at least every other day) as well as clear their cookies & cache weekly to help keep Newrow running smoothly.
Redesigned OLS for Students
Elementary students also have the opportunity to see an ALL NEW Online Learning System (or OLS) this school year. When students first log in to their account, it will look normal. Scroll down to the lower right-hand corner to find this guy, Knox the Fox, and he'll lead you to a whole new OLS!!
The new OLS has been redesigned with our youngest learners in mind. It's focused on making it easy to find out what required classes should be attended each day and what lessons should be completed. It will show students if they are on track with their lessons or if they have some lessons they need to try again, or what we call unmastered. As an added bonus, it shows up to the minute grades.
During the fall, students will have to choose to enter the ALL NEW OLS each time they log in. There will be an option coming later in the school year for students to make that their default option. This is a great learning opportunity for students to become more independent in navigating the OLS. Check out the attached PDF to see what all the fun is about!
Online Learning K-5 20-21 Open Now
One course assigned to all OVCA elementary students is called Online Learning. This four-lesson course is designed for our Learning Coaches to help you understand how to navigate the OLS as well as features within the lessons as you are supporting your student this year. Log in today to complete all four lessons - and the quiz! - so that it's one thing marked off your to-do list!
Media Release Form
OVCA is focused on providing a safe virtual learning environment. With this in mind, we ask that a legal guardian complete the below survey for each student enrolled with OVCA. The media release form includes two sections: Photograph, Testimonial and Interview Release, and Face to Face Platform (webcam) Usage School-Guardian-Student Compact. You will be given the choice to accept or decline each opportunity.
Together we can help students reach their full potential through personalized learning this year! Thank you for taking the time to complete this form.