Cougar Connection
Oakton Student Services Newsletter: March 2020
As you know, schools are closed for the school year. With the closing of the school, it can be scary and alarming. We want you to know that we are in this together. By working together, we can reduce the worry that surrounds the virus. Oakton faculty will be doing everything we can to provide our community care and support outside the school environment. Our daily lives have been impacted by the Coronavirus but we will get through this challenging time. The health and well-being of all is the priority. This may be stressful. If you or your student are feeling overwhelmed by this situation, take a moment and breathe. Even though this is nothing that we have ever faced before, we will figure it out in due time. It will be a different approach then we have followed previously, but we will find the best solution.
In this newsletter, Student Services wanted to provide additional resources for our community as we navigate the next few weeks. More information is likely to continue coming in; therefore, please encourage your students to check their FCPS emails at least once a day.
One of our first initiatives as a Counseling Department is to provide our community a distance learning site that includes some of our curriculum and activities that students can access by grade level as well as specific resources for parents and students. Please check it out here.
For more information on Fairfax County Public School's Coronavirus Updates, check out the following links:
FCPS Plan on Grades and Graduation
FCPS Breakfast and Lunch Locations
Student Services Highlights
Distance Learning Site
In addition, school counselors will be available via email during school hours. If parents and students would like to discuss a specific concern, then the counselor can respond either by email, phone call, or a face-to-face discussion via a virtual space (this is still being worked on).
Virtual Junior Parent Night
In lieu of the school closure, school counselors hosted Junior Parent Night virtually. We created a voice over of our slideshow.
Please take a look - it's long (almost an hour) so you can pause, forward, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyDl5GYdjw8
After you view it, please complete our survey here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfnxe8okruMou5ZRckXqa75PQasbAWyZe4RmcOp2_Z8tUzSJA/viewform
Parent Resources
There is a lot of information out there about coping as a family with the COVID-19, which can be overwhelming and stressful to navigate. The links below can help you reassure and encourage your child at home. If you would like additional support, please reach out to your child's counselor for consultation.
Student Resources
Cougar Chill Spot: A Virtual Brain Break & Resource for Students
For last month's Flex Cougar Time, students had the opportunity to partake in a virtual brain break activity, which is a great resource for students to utilize at school or home. Counselors created a google site that contains multiple strategies on managing stress including Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation, Healthy Habits, and Coping Skills.
Students must use their google account to access the site: https://sites.google.com/fcpsschools.net/cougars-chill-spot/home
College Board Updates
Throughout this unprecedented time FCPS staff members are working closely with officials from College Board regarding our Advanced Placement program. On March 20th, the College Board posted an update regarding their response to COVID-19. The entire update can be found here. The FCPS press release from today regarding AP testing can be found here:
AP Exams
As schools and communities navigate the unprecedented challenges posed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the health and safety of educators and students are the AP Program’s top priorities. Here’s how College Board is supporting schools:
- College Board is providing free remote learning resources.
- College Board is investing in the development of a new online, at-home testing option.
Message from College Board: Through our members across the country, we understand the new time constraints on everyone in the education community. These solutions are meant to be as simple and lightweight as possible for both students and teachers — without creating additional burdens for school leaders during this time.
- Traditional face-to-face exam administrations will not take place.
- Some students may want to take the exam sooner rather than later, while the content is still fresh. Other students may want more time to practice. For each AP subject, there will be 2 different testing dates.
The full exam schedule, specific free-response question types that will be on each AP Exam, and additional testing details will be available by April 3. We'll also unlock any relevant free-response questions in AP Classroom for digital use so students can access all practice questions of the type that will appear on the exam.
Additional dates and scheduled communications you should be aware of:
March 23 – College Board will send an update to students via email.
March 25 – Students will have access to free, live AP review lessons, delivered by AP teachers from across the country. These optional, mobile-friendly classes are designed to be used alongside work that may be given by schools. Students can find the classes at youtube.com/advancedplacement
April 3 – The full exam schedule including the specific free-response question types that will comprise each AP exam will be published.
Counselor Spotlight
Mr. Quesuan Wigfall, currently in his 17th year in education, has a colorful background in education. By earning a full scholarship to Virginia Military Institute, it set the foundation of his career path. He earned a B.A. in Psychology and Minor and Leadership Studies from Virginia Military Institute; earned an M.A. in School Counseling Pre-K - 12 from Cambridge College; and earned a ED.S. in Counseling from Old Dominion University.
Mr. Wigfall began his career as a substitute teacher while playing in the Arena Football League and then became a Special Education/English Teacher as his AFL career was wrapping up. He has coached high school football at three different high schools in Newport News, VA. Mr. Wigfall's career path has taken him to both the high school level and to the collegiate level. Now, in his tenth year as a school counselor, Mr. Wigfall enjoys preparing students for the next chapter.
As a child of a military parent, Mr. Wigfall attended 5 different elementary schools including overseas and Nothern California, where he became a big Oakland Raider fan!
Mr. Wigfall's "Why" is to help students be the best they can be every single day. Being a role model that his 2 year old daughter would be proud of is his mission!
Upcoming Dates
Counseling Awareness Month
Community Service Month
Student can log their service hours into x2VOL, which is available through Naviance Student. Service hours are NOT a graduation a requirement; however, many service organizations at Oakton and the Civics Seal and Oakton Seal have requirements. Check out here for more info: https://www.fcps.edu/activities/service-learning.
Summer Learning Opportunities
Principal Lane's Town Hall Meetings
More information will be forthcoming about how to access the meetings.
Wednesday, April 1st
Seniors: 1pm
Juniors: 2pm
Thursday, April 2nd
Sophomores: 10:30am
Freshmen: 11:30am
Distance Learning Updates
Excerpt from Principal Lane's Email (March 30, 2020)
All teachers will be reaching out to their classes this week to reconnect as we get prepared for April 14, 2020. Our distance learning plan includes a combination of asynchronous (Monday/Wednesday/Friday) and synchronous (Tuesday/Thursday) learning opportunities. Please see the definitions below for your reference.
Schedule
The high school schedule is standard among all high schools. You can see the schedule below that is tailored to Oakton High School. Cougar Time will remain intact for students who wish to complete asynchronous assignments at that time, meet with teachers by appointment, etc. We are unable to move the time slot for Cougar Time as some of our students do have a 3rd period academy course that they need to be able to attend with teachers from other schools.
Further details will be forthcoming regarding set office hours for each teacher. Those will be communicated via each teacher’s individual Blackboard and Google Classroom by April 14.
Attendance
All students are expected to continue with their distance learning as we move forward to close out the school year. While nothing can or will be able to replace face-to-face instruction, the focus is to maintain academic momentum and ensure students are set up for success for their progression of courses. All synchronous learning sessions will be recorded so that students can access them at a later date to support their learning.
Grading
We are still waiting for set expectations and guidelines for grading, as established by FCPS. However, let me remind everyone that assignments completed during distance learning will only positively influence final grades for students. While students will have time to make up assignments that have not yet been turned in from the 3rd quarter, they will not be able to go back and revisit 1st and 2nd quarter assignments to improve grades. However, work completed during distance learning can positively influence final grades, even though a “no mark (NM)” will be given to the students for 4th quarter.
If students are worried about their grades, they can email teachers about how to best work towards improving their 3rd quarter or final grades. Teachers cannot predict what assignments will result in a certain letter grade. Teachers will be looking at the trends in mastery of content to positively influence grades.
Once grading expectations are finalized and released, Ms. Lane will send further communication.
Distance Learning Definitions
Definitions:
Distance Learning: A learning experience where teachers and students are separated by place. They communicate asynchronously through printed or electronic media and/or through technology that allows them to communicate synchronously.
Asynchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that do not occur in the same place or at the same time. The term is most commonly applied to various forms of digital and online learning in which students learn from instruction—such as prerecorded video lessons or game-based learning tasks that students complete on their own—that is not being delivered in person or in real time. Yet asynchronous learning may also encompass a wide variety of instructional interactions, including email exchanges between teachers, online discussion boards, and course-management systems that organize instructional materials and correspondence, among many other possible variations.
Synchronous learning is a general term used to describe forms of education, instruction, and learning that occur at the same time, but not in the same place. The term is most commonly applied to various forms of televisual, digital, and online learning in which students learn from instructors, colleagues, or peers in real time, but not in person. For example, educational video conferences, interactive webinars, chat-based online discussions, and lectures that are broadcast at the same time they delivered would all be considered forms of synchronous learning.