Legacy At-Home Learning Update
From Dr. Walder 3.23.2020
What brought us here?
We are not asking you to be teachers, rather we are asking you to support students through learning as directed by teachers. At the end of lessons and units, teachers will direct students to show what we title "Evidence of Learning" to help us with District, State, and Federal compliance during this time.
What can I expect this week?
If this continues, each Sunday, you can expect a message like this from me with Legacy Weekly Announcements at about Noon. This message will be emailed to you and posted on our school Facebook Page. After 2:00 pm each Sunday, a message from your child's teacher about their At-Home Classroom for the week. We hope this will allow you to plan as a family how to schedule your week.
I will continue to post important information and tutorials on the Legacy Facebook Page to support you while you support your child.
- JK: Lessons will be delivered via email to you. They do not require technology access but technology could be used, if desired.
- K, 1st, 2nd: Weekly lessons via a Learning Board will be delivered via email to you. The Learning Board will also be on accessible on the school-issued iPad on a yellow app with the letters "LLH" on it. Students can tap on this app to access the assignments, videos, and enrichment. Your child's teacher will support the learning with you. Students will need to complete at least 4 of the 5 activities for each of the subjects (Reading, Writing, Math and Science or Social Studies) each week.
- 3rd, 4th, 5th: A weekly unit email will be delivered to you and students will complete assignments online. Teachers will open up the assignments in Google Classroom on the Chromebook for the students. Outside of work on the Chromebook, teachers will be asking students to read at least 20 minutes per day.
- If your child receives Special Education Services, the special education teacher will be working with the classroom teacher to help provide supports and contact you via email.
Just like when school is in session, your child's classroom teacher will be the first person to reach out to for support when there is a concern. The classroom teacher can assist with technical issues on devices and with learning plans.
On Friday, you will receive a "Wrap-up" email from your child's teacher from about 8:00 am to Noon. This email will contain final announcements for the week and a survey to help us to better understand how we can support you and your child.
If you would like, I am also available as well via email (samantha.walder@k12.sd.us). We are here to support you.
How long should an at-home learning day last?
If you have not done so, we encourage you to set up a schedule for learning based on your student's need to also be active throughout the day. If the weather is great, maybe even an extra recess!
- JK- 2nd Grade Students have lessons designed for about 20 minutes of work per CORE subject (Reading, Writing, Math, and Science/ Social Studies) each day. Each Special Class should be completed at least once per week.
- 3-5th Grade Students have lessons designed for about 20- 30 minutes of work per CORE subject (Reading, Writing, Math, and Science/ Social Studies) each day. Each Special should be completed at least once per week. Technology may be longer for our 3-5 students.
- All Students should also be reading or being read to at least 20 minutes per day. This can be accomplished in a variety of ways with applications online, local newspapers and magazines, or books.
How do I do this?
Here are some things my family is doing to prepare our house for At-Home Learning:
- Creating a "school area" in our home. The iPad and Chromebook will stay on the table. We will also have extra paper, pencils, and markers/ crayons for them to use. For us, this place will be the dining room table as we never eat there anyway.
- No food or drink will be allowed at our table. This is unique to our family as we have a LARGE cat that will knock things over and I want to keep my kids' work and devices safe.
- Create a schedule with breaks. Students love routine and familiarity. My husband and I are going to work on a schedule for learning with breaks. This is a challenge in my house as I have two different ages of kids so they are differently capable. Students will not need to do work from 8:00- 4:00. Martin (my Kindergartener) is really active and will only sit for about 15 minutes at best. Leah (my 5th Grader) can easily work for 45- 60 minutes on a project or assignment. As this develops, I will share with you what we come up with.
- Set boundaries. I plan to tell my children when we are in "school mode" and when we are in "fun mode" as the rules are different. Students at Legacy are familiar with our GOLD Expectations. Feel free to talk to them about this.
- Have fun. This is new and challenging for all of us. If it doesn't work out perfectly the first time, that is okay. Ask for help from your child's teacher or from me. We are here to help in any way we can and we want to help. We already miss your children being in the Legacy halls, playgrounds, and classrooms.
One day, many years from now, I hope all our children look back on this time and with gratitude for all the work that has been done to support them during this unprecedented time in history. We will all get through this together with a lot of grace and flexibility. #TitanPride #TitansTogether
Check out the resource below from Dr. Lowery:
Contact Dr. Walder
Email: Samantha.Walder@k12.sd.us
Website: https://www.teaschools.k12.sd.us/
Location: Tea, SD, USA
Phone: 6054892700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeaAreaLegacy/
Twitter: @swalder7