Important Information!
5.8.2020
Hello,
I hope all is well with you and you have been enjoying the beautiful weather. As an update, there have been 590 unique student users in the last six days. This is a slight decrease from previous weeks. I think the great weather may be luring students away from their Chromebooks. I wouldn't worry about it too much now. We'll have to wait and see if this is an anomaly or becomes a pattern. Either way, please continue to find creative ways to stay connected with your students.
Those 590 students viewed Schoology just under 35,532 views this week. Those views still resulted in over 2,700 Schoology discussions and a little under 1,900 assignment submissions. This along with over 1,500 assessment and quiz submissions has decreased the view to submission rate from 18%, last week to 17% this week. If you would like a closer look at these stats just click on the picture in the upper right-hand corner.
Please make sure to also review all the information below, and if ever you need to access previous important information emails, please click here. This link will take you to a Google Doc that contains previous weeks' information. Enjoy your day, please wash your hands, take care of each other, and don't forget to exercise.
- From Bledsoe: Shout out to Kay Evers for helping me with online scavenger hunt. Your tabulation skills are incredible!
- From Bledsoe: Shout out to Rachel Anderson, the sixth-grade staff and many others for their work on the 5th grade virtual preview night experience. The site and videos within it look great! if you would like to take a look at it, click here.
Do you have a message of congratulation, support, or appreciation that you would like to share? If so send it my way and I will include it in the staff shout out section of the important information email.
Information For All
Family Newsletter
In this issue families were provided with:
- A mixed tape message from North View staff.
- Information about Schoology Supports for Parents.
- End of the Year Celebration
- Resources to support our students and your families.
- Information about attendance.
- Who to contact for support.
Virtual Conferences:
If you are interested in reviewing the feedback we received from families and staff about last week's virtual conferences, please click here. If you haven't yet had a chance to share your perspective, please click here.
Message from EL:
The district is developing Facebook pages in different languages in order to inform and support multilingual parents during this time of distance learning. The page will provide information and give guidelines to parents so that they can support their children better. Click here for more information.
Summer School:
Due to the negative financial impact of COVID-19-related school closings on Community Education fee-based programs, the district will be unable to offer the Targeted Services middle level summer programs in 2020.
Parent Request:
- "We get emails from individuals with district279 addresses for both children. It would be helpful to easily identify which school this is coming from, which is not generally provided. Possibly you could ask teachers to identify their location in their signature line?"
- Request: Please include the building, grade level, and subject area in future correspondence to families. Many of our families are navigating requests from multiple schools and I believe this is a reasonable accommodation for them.
Reminders For Non Licensed Staff
Virtual Reppin’ Knight Pride Certificates:
- The form found here has been created to provide you with an opportunity to positively acknowledge our students who are showing Knight Pride in this distance learning environment. Students who are acknowledged by staff will be sent a certificate, a sweet treat, and will receive a positive phone call home to share this acknowledgment with their family members. Please consider nominating a student next week.
During the closure, the following is expected of all NVMS ESPs:
- Complete NVMS Daily Work Summary every day by 2:30 p.m. This will require you to be logged into your Osseo Area Schools apps account.
- Complete online professional development from HR and your union representative. I have included the instructions for Safe Schools Courses and Online Professional Development courses with this email. The instructional guide for accessing materials can be found here.
- Complete your performance evaluation form for your end-of-year meeting. Ms. Dale has sent out a copy.
NVMS Distance Learning Links Hub:
If you’re like Mr. Berg it is very possible that you have struggled at times to keep the various links, spreadsheets, and docs we are now using on a daily basis organized. As a result, he put together this hub of various links to help you stay organized. If there is something you would like included send it to Mr. Berg, and he will add it.
Reminders For Licensed Staff
Virtual Reppin’ Knight Pride Certificates:
- The form found here has been created to provide you with an opportunity to positively acknowledge our students who are showing Knight Pride in this distance learning environment. Students who are acknowledged by staff will be sent a certificate, a sweet treat, and will receive a positive phone call home to share this acknowledgment with their family members. Please consider nominating a student next week.
Student Attendance:
- We are currently using an opt-out process; this means that unless a parent calls in to report his/her child’s absence, we will assume they are in attendance. Mary Anne Maurer will be checking daily attendance calls and recording that information into Synergy. If you know that a student is absent due to illness or for another reason, please forward that information onto Mary Anne Maurer as well.
Teacher Expectation for Attendance Monitoring:
- Per the district's flex learning plan, licensed teachers are expected to be making daily contact with students. This can be done either via phone or through Schoology discussions or a Google Meets class session, etc. This does not have to be one-on-one contact and it does not have to be synchronous to your Google Meets office hours or your duty day. You just need to see students engaging with class materials at some point during the day. If you do not have contact with a student for two days in a row, please attempt to call the student and notify Mary Ann Maurer, your grade level SMS and counselor on the third day.
Reporting Expectations:
- During this time, as long as you report a summary of your daily work using the form found here by 3:50, you will be paid your regular salary or hourly wage according to your regular work schedule. This will require you to be logged into your Osseo Area Schools apps account.
- Licensed staff- your duty day will be from 8 am to 3:10 pm.
NVMS Distance Learning Links Hub:
If you’re like Mr. Berg it is very possible that you have struggled at times to keep the various links, spreadsheets, and docs we are now using on a daily basis organized. As a result, he put together this hub of various links to help you stay organized. If there is something you would like included send it to Mr. Berg, and he will add it.
Resources For Staff
CONSCIOUSNESS DEVELOPMENT
Tech Tidbit: Sharing Google Drive Assignments with Other Schoology Course Admins
Click HERE to access this information.
Flex Learning Resources & Supports
Fitness with Ms. Gross
Ultimate Scavenger Hunt
Final Totals
Hello Everyone,
I’m officially calling the 2020 Scavenger Hunt closed! Thank you so much for helping me out with the scavenger hunt. To be honest, I mostly wanted to send something out that would generate something positive, and seeing all these photos and submissions did exactly that. I hope you had some fun too.
And here are the scores, winners, and prizes!
- 3rd place: Champions
PRIZE: Work from home for a day! Just kidding… too soon? Your team gets a ten dollar donation in your name to the charity of your choice and one day pass from dismissal duty when school reopens. - 2nd place: Spedacators
PRIZE: $200 for each of you! Haha, only kidding again. Your team gets a twenty dollar donation in your name to the charity of your choice and one 3 day pass from dismissal duty when school reopens. - 1st place: Social Distant Scavengers
PRIZE: Well here it is, the big one. The one everyone has been striving for. The first-place prize, in the 2020 Scavenger Hunt is…. Drumroll, please… Your team gets a thirty dollar donation in your name to the charity of your choice and one 5 day pass from dismissal duty when school reopens.
Overall Totals
- Social Distant Scavengers 250
- Spedacators 245
- Champions 228
- Pandemics 220
- Evolved Explorers 198
- You can unmute now 181
- SWEDYS 168
- Formerly known as guidance 102
- Swizzle sticks 24
Best of the Last Week:
Take on Me submitted by the Champions
Team Member Working Out
New Challenge submitted by the Socially Distant Scavengers
A virtual experience recommendation, and your creative reviews to go with it.
Brush Strokes and Buzzed Folks- Virtual wine and painting party. Submitted by the SPEDucators
Masked Singer (alonger) Parody
Down on the Corner submitted by the SPEDucators
Sentimental Photo
Favorite Social Distancing Meme
A picture of something in your neighborhood; stalker style.
More fun photos
Masked Singer (Alonger) Parody: Click Picture for Performance
Important Links
You can manually add the links below to your desktop. If you do not how to do manually add these links to your desktop, please watch the video found here.
Pacific Interpreters
- Interpreting services information can be found here.
If you have questions about:
- Your work responsibilities between now and May 4: contact your direct supervisor.
- Your pay: contact Payroll at payroll@district279.org.
- Your benefits: contact Human Resources at HR@district279.org.
- How to access confidential support during these challenging times: take advantage of our Employee Assistance Program.
Flocabulary Login Link
Click here to access the district Flocabulary account.
BrainPop Password:
The BrainPop user id and password are below and case sensitive.
- User Id: NVMSBRAINPOP
- PW: knights6
Google Nods
If you haven’t already done so you might want to add Google Nod to your list of Chromebook extensions. It provides quick emoji reactions for muted team members during virtual meetings. It is also very helpful to the facilitator because it allows us to gauge real-time feedback as were are speaking. This is just a suggestion, not a requirement.
Professional Development Articles for Staff
If you would like to use this time for professional development consider visit the site found here using the log included below. This site is filled with a variety of information on a wide variety of topics that impact educators.
- User Id: bledsoed@district279.org
- PW: nvms279
Virtual Reppin’ Knight Pride Certificates
The form found here has been created to provide you with an opportunity to positively acknowledge our students who are showing Knight Pride in this distance learning environment. Students who are acknowledged by staff will be sent a certificate, a sweet treat, and will receive a positive phone call home to share this acknowledgment with their family members. Please consider nominating a student next week.
PBIS Distance Learning Incentives
Looking for a way to positively recognize your students during distance learning? If so click here for more than seventy-five incentive ideas.
COVID-19 Resources
I am worried about COVID-19. What resources are available to me?
Here are some of the specific resources included in the HR FAQ (the most updated FAQ is posted on my279).
- District 279 website: https://www.district279.org/covid-19/
- Employee Assistance Program: https://www.district279.org/human-resources/51-services-departments/human-resources/573-employee-benefits?start=7 (24 hour, anonymous employee access for general needs or concerns)
- Tips for dealing with the Coronavirus: https://www.district279.org/human-resources/51-services-departments/human-resources/573-employee-benefits?start=7
- Education MN: Coronavirus resources
- National Education Association: http://neatoday.org/2020/01/06/schools-and-coronavirus/
- National Alliance on Mental Illness: https://www.nami.org/getattachment/Press-Media/Press-Releases/2020/COVID-19-and-Mental-Illness-NAMI-Releases-Importan/COVID-19-Updated-Guide-1.pdf?lang=en-US
- Minnesota Dept. of Health COVID-19 public hotline: 651-201-3920; open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Mon-Fri.
Our Commitments:
We, the staff at North View Middle School, commit to…
- Providing challenging academic opportunities that are relevant, engaging, culturally responsive, and rigorous.
- Providing a meaningful, encouraging and safe environment that fosters the whole child, and focuses on student strengths.
- Including data driven best practices and instruction that meets the academic and individual needs of our students, improves student achievement, and promotes growth.
- Engaging in continued professional development to ensure that we are aware of our students’ racial perspectives, challenge our biases, and include practices that serve our diverse student population.
- Providing effective collaborative partnerships with the entire school community by ensuring that we encourage multiple opportunities for involvement, communication, and access.
- Modeling and implementing daily engaging multi-level reading and writing strategies within our classrooms.
- Accepting responsibility for each student’s success and celebrate that success with our school community.
Our Mission!
Committed to furthering the lives of each student by using the best practices available.
Email: bledsoed@district279.org
Website: http://schools.district279.org/nvms/
Phone: 763-585-7200
Facebook: www.facebook.com/nvmsknights/
Twitter: @NVMSPrincipal
Report Reminder
- From March 18-27, unless otherwise directed by your supervisor, you will work remotely.
- During this time period, as long as you report a summary of your daily work using the form found here by the end of your duty day, you will be paid your regular salary or hourly wage according to your regular work schedule. This will require you to be logged into your Osseo Area Schools apps account.
- You are required to be available and accessible for either on-site or remote work during your regular work hours. You must be ready to report to work on-site or remotely at any time.
Your favorite quarantine song. You'll get 5 extra points if you're singing it for us.
Untitled by Ms. Stanton
Virtual Experience Recommnedations
- Stuck during quarantine? Need a new car, but social distancing prevents you from test driving it? You can do what my roommate did & just buy it anyway, hoping for the best (palm to forehead). Or, you can use Volvo’s Virtual Reality experience to test drive the Volvo you’re looking at. They’ll even let you “take the car” for a weekend getaway with great 360 views of picturesque places. Even if you’re not in the market for a new car you may want to look into the weekend getaway!
- Virtual yoga from Yoga Sol! A great excuse to rearrange your living room. Plus you’ll be drenched in sweat after 7 minutes. Yoga not your thing? Try the Kira Stokes fitness app, where you’ll be left in sweat for a full 7 hours.
- A virtual experience recommendation, and your creative reviews to go with it. San Diego Zoo - cute animals without the smell.