The WAVA Wave
November 1, 2015
A Message from our Principal...
It is difficult to believe that 4 weeks ago I was composing my WAVA Watch segment for the newsletter. I wonder if you feel this way as well, that time moves along, and before long, it is time to cycle through another routine? My challenge and hopefully yours is not to allow the routines to become unexciting or monotonous. There is purpose in all that we do, especially with the students, your children. Find ways to motivate your children in school. We, the teachers and I, have talked about the school experience as being both, high purpose and high play. When the work becomes too driven and loses it adventure, or, the opposite, too much adventure without drive, we need to adjust and bring balance. Both are good, especially together! This is making each day meaningful and remember, what you do and what you say matters every single day at WAVA! My best to you…
Bryant Mettler
The Counselor Connect
SOCIAL TIME!
Just like in a building school, an important part of being a WAVA student is making friends and interacting socially with other students. WAVA students are invited to participate in two counselor-led social opportunities through Class Connect:
Friendship Club!
- Friendship Club is an optional weekly meeting for elementary students. Students are grouped by grade level. The class takes place in Mrs. Martin’s virtual classroom
- Friendship Club is led by Mrs. Martin, the WAVA Elementary School Counselor. This is Mrs. Martin’s 9th year working for WAVA.
- Sample discussion topics for Friendship Club are: friendship, personal strengths, problem-solving, study skills and cooperative games.
- Friendship Clubs begin in November. Date and times are still being determined, but these classes will not conflict with required academic classes.
- Please tell your WAVA teacher if you would like to participate or would like more information, or send a k-mail directly to Janelle Martin under the “teacher” tab in K-mail.
SOCIAL HOUR!
Another great social opportunity for WAVA students in Grades 2-5 is SOCIAL HOUR, occurring every other week on Fridays in Mrs. Martin’s virtual classroom. SOCIAL HOUR allows supervised, unstructured time for WAVA students to play games, draw, and interact with other WAVA students. There is no teacher-led discussion during SOCIAL HOUR and participation is optional. Please send a k-mail to Mrs. Martin (Janelle Martin) if you would like to participate.
Mrs. Janelle Martin, WAVA K-5 Counselor
920-931-2686 or through k-mail
Issaquah Salmon Hatchery Tour
Limited Space available. Please RSVP via kmail to Natalie Dobson or Michelle Lind. Siblings welcome.
Friday, Nov 6, 2015, 12:45 PM
125 West Sunset Way, Issaquah, WA, United States
(K-2) Elephant and Piggie at Seattle Children's Theater
When Gerald and Piggie get together, anything is possible. They might get invited to a fancy pool costume party, learn a crazy new dance, or decide to spend the day skipping and playing ping-pong in silly hats. These two pals and their devotion to each other through ups and downs will remind you of how good it feels to put friends first. Based on the wildly popular, beloved book series, this lively musical features Gerald and Piggie and the delightful back-up singers, the Squirrelles, discovering the fun of being in a play and making the audience do exactly what they want. Bring your “bestus” friend and share the laughter.
$12.00 per person
(This is a great school deal - normally tickets run $25-$40)
* Please pay by calling SCT directly at (206) 441-9244 (This is the School Shows phone number, reference tickets under Jodie Davis/WAVA)
Please make sure to secure your ticket today, as seats are limited.
Tuesday, Nov 24, 2015, 12:15 PM
Seattle Children's Theatre, Thomas Street, Seattle, WA, United States
RSVPs are enabled for this event.
Brand new to WAVA?
K-8 Strong Start Welcome Orientations
Every Tuesday and Thursday you will see a required class with this title. It is mandatory for you to complete this orientation. You only need to attend once.
Welcome to Online Learning
This course is a series of 5 short lessons. You can login under your student account but the information is intended for both the student and the learning coach. Please complete this course before starting any new lessons.
Required Class Connects
If you see the word REQUIRED next to the title of the Class Connect, it is a mandatory class that you must attend. If you know you are going to miss a class please contact your teacher to see how you can make up the missed work. Sometimes, you will need to watch a recording.
To view the recording of a missed Class Connect Session, click on the “Go to Class Connect” link, search the date of your missed session, click on the link of the session, watch recording. ALWAYS send your teacher a Kmail to explain why you missed attending the LIVE session (unless previously arranged).
Time Zone
Make sure your OLS is set to PST (Pacific Standard Time) so your Class Connect times are correct. Click on -> My Account -> Time Zone Settings.
Attendance
Coffee Chats!
This is a chance for WAVA Learning Coaches to connect with other WAVA Learning Coaches to talk about a specific topic for 30 minutes every Friday. Check your schedule on your Learning Coach account. If you don't see it on your schedule, click on the links below.
Every Friday at 10:00am!
TOPICS:
November 6th: Making Learning Fun
November 13th: Teaching Styles
Click here to join this session.
November 20th: Holiday School Survival
Click here to join this session.
Advanced Learning Circles
For gifted and advanced students:
November 5th
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
Topic: Make and Take
http://tinyurl.com/LearningCircles
November 12th
Time: 12:00-1:00pm
http://tinyurl.com/LearningCircles
November 19th
Topic: November Student Presentations
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Outages in the O.L.S.
It can be really frustrating and such a drag when you try to login to the OLS and you receive that dreaded error message.
The best thing to do when that happens is to make sure it’s not something on your end such as your internet being down or a problem with your computer, restart your computer and walk away for a few moments.
Be intentional about what activities you do during these times. Look at the objectives in the teacher guides that you can teach to and work on those. When you get back online, go to those lessons and mark them off or have your student go straight to the assessment in order to demonstrate their mastery. You can printout the weekly plan or anything that you can use to see the topics and objectives that your student will be learning throughout the year. For most courses, you don’t need to go in order, so you can skip ahead and work on a writing project, novel unit, or something else that you can do offline. If you don’t have a printer, or want to keep these resources digital, you can create PDF’s of these by using a freepdf writer such as http://www.cutepdf-editor.com/. Use other online resources to find educational activities.
Here are a few favorites:
• https://www.khanacademy.org/
• https://www.youtube.com/t/education
We have a choice as people who work, live, and educate in the virtual field, as to how we can react to things like this. When systems go down or out, it is not limited to only education – it happens everywhere!
What tricks do you have for keeping calm during an outage? Please share at the bottom of this newsletter.
~Denise Roberts
Family Engagement Coordinator
We need parent volunteers!
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/volunteerWAVA
Does your student struggle with typing?
K-12 Mobile Apps
Have fun learning on the go! Enjoy educational mobile applications from K 12, available for Apple and Android users through iTunes Store, Google Play, and Amazon Appstore.
Check them out here: http://www.k12.com/mobile-apps.html
WAVA Photo ID Cards are now Available to Purchase!
https://drive.google.com/a/wavawave.org/file/d/0B3w6GIRsUmTiZDhYbjltWjZzbGs/view?usp=sharing
Follow us on Pinterest!
Join our WAVA Facebook Page for Learning Coaches
Follow us on Twitter!
Washington Virtual Academies
Email: deniroberts@k12.com
Website: wava.k12start.com
Location: 2601 S 35th St Suite 100 Tacoma, WA 98409
Phone: 253.964.1068
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonVirtualAcademies?fref=ts
Twitter: @K12_WAVA