PIONEER TRAIL NEWS
APRIL 13, 2020 - APRIL 17, 2020
WEEK AT A GLANCE APRIL 13 - APRIL 17, 2020
- 8:00 - 11:00 Reserved for Office, Specials, Special Education, Title I Reading to work at school
12:00 - 3:00 Reserved for First Grade and Fourth Grade to work at school
1:00 Schmitz/Strutton IEP
3:00 PBS Leadership
TUESDAY, APRIL 14
8:00 - 11:00 Reserved for Kindergarten and Second Grade to work at school
12:00 - 3:00 Reserved for Third Grade and Fifth Grade to work at school
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15
- 8:00 Packets due in office to be mailed
- 9:00 K/1 Pod Google Meet
- 9:30 2/3 Pod Google Meet
- 10:00 4/5 Pod Google Meet
THURSDAY, APRIL 16
- 9:00 Art, Music, PE, Library Google Meet
- 9:30 SPED, ELL, Title I Reading Google Meet
FRIDAY, APRIL 17
- 9:00 Principal Meeting (Zoom)
SOME NUTS AND BOLTS......
- If a student earned an 'F' at the end of third quarter, the teacher must follow up with that parent/student on ways to close the learning gaps that led to the failing grade. This support will need to continue until May 28. Again, no grades will be assigned, but continued feedback toward progress is expected.
- Certified staff can begin completing and submitting their professional growth plans. It must be submitted through TalentEd prior to Scott viewing it. Email him with your ending score. A guide with proficiency levels for each indicator was attached to the original PGP email sent to you. See Scott for specific questions.
- The district is currently in discussion on how to handle several items. For now, just sit tight. As information is given to administrators, it will be disseminated to you. Current discussion items include: return of Chromebooks, library materials, gathering of student personal belongings at school, rescheduling of events like Fifth Grade Promotion, Kindergarten Open House, opportunities to re-connect with students once deemed safe, closing out the year with staff, and what summer school is going to look like this year, etc.
STAFF EXPECTATIONS THROUGHOUT THE CLOSURE
Communicate with your students weekly - this can be done through Google Meet, FaceTime, Phone Calls - have a method in place to record your contacts / communication. If you do a Google Meet and 12 of your students join, you can count that as your weekly contact/communication with those 12. You would just need to follow up with the remainder of your students via a different format or time.
If you are setting up a Google Meet, please remember to invite other adults (specials, reading, counselor, BXI, etc.) from the building to join the conversation by sending them an invite, code or adding them to your classroom.
Check iReady several times a week for locked domains.
Utilize the district template format for disseminating instruction (create your own copy of the template first) - you must follow this template. We are not teaching new concepts. We are giving them opportunities to engage in learning opportunities. The items we give them are for one week at a time. In some cases, they may be doing or continuing some of the activities sent previously. Remember - these opportunities are not for a grade - KEEP IT SIMPLE.
The completed template must be uploaded to your website page on Friday afternoons by 3:00 PM. We will continue to send copies home each week.
The completed packet must be in the office ready to mail by every Wednesday morning at 8:00 A.M. ANYTHING THAT WOULD REQUIRE A PARENT TO DOWNLOAD A DOCUMENT MUST BE PART OF THE PACKET MAILED HOME EVEN IF THEY CAN ACCESS IT THROUGH THE LINK.
All staff are expected to continue meeting the guidelines set forth for them throughout the closure as listed below in the link…….
Instructional Packet Creation and Website Update for the Week of April 13th - 17th
Instructional templates with instructional opportunities for the week of April 20th - April 24th must be uploaded to individual website pages by 3:00 PM Friday, April 17th.
All packets must be completed, ready to mail, and in the office by 8:00 AM on Wednesday, April 15th. Envelopes and labels will be left for classroom teachers in the office by noon on each Monday.
Special Education - Any links teachers want included must be shared with the classroom teacher. Required copies will need to be made and placed in teacher’s mailboxes by Monday at noon.
Specials (Art, Music, P.E., Library) - Any links teachers want included must be shared with the classroom teacher. Required copies will need to be made and placed in teacher’s mailboxes by Monday at noon.
Counselor/Behavior Interventionist can include links/information for SEL activities - Any links teachers want included must be shared with the classroom teacher. Required copies will need to be made and placed in teacher’s mailboxes by Monday at noon.
Paraprofessionals - contact the special education teachers and the grade level teachers in which you work most with to see when and how they can best use you to assist in getting materials together - come only if essential. I would encourage you to consider reaching out to your students that you work with as well just to say hi and let them know you are thinking about them.
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES - APRIL 13 - APRIL 17, 2020
Classroom teachers must track all conference contacts made - make every attempt to reach 100%. You will need to submit your total number to me after next week. For example...14/20 phone conferences, 6/20 FaceTime/Google Meets/Zoom, etc.
Talking points during conferences....
- Do you have any questions about the grade card?
- Remind that no grades will be given for fourth quarter, but that we highly encourage them to still maintain a schedule of "learning time" for the students with the daily reading/writing, online assignments, iReady, packet work, etc.
- We will continue to send packets and instruction through May 28
- Make sure parents understand iReady - the value in having the students complete the assignments and how it targets their learning (for sure 2nd-5th and K-1 if accessible)
- Do they currently have internet accessibility in their home? If not, please report to Scott. The district is working on a plan to get MiFi to homes without and that have students second grade and up. This will not be available for homes of just Kindergarten and First Grade students.
- Summer school is still being planned, but a final decision has not been made on how that will look. It may not be the traditional program. If they would like to sign up, they can scan the form to you and you can forward it to me.
- Encourage them to do the online enrollment for returning students. It is extremely important for us to get everyone registered as soon as possible. If they complete the online enrollment, they will be notified of teacher at the end of June
- Remind them of the breakfast and lunch opportunities available to them.
FROM THE DESK OF TERRI MILLER.....
From the Curriculum Coordinators Office:
In order to streamline communication and sharing of resources with teachers...Dana, Jessica, Stacey, and Julie have collaboratively created the JC Schools K-5 Math & Literacy Support Resources Google Doc. This will be the one-stop-shop for sharing math & literacy resources and support videos for the remainder of our school closure. They have added everything they have shared previously as well as some additional resources. They will continually update this document across time. There is a lot of information/resources for you to help lighten the load.
iReady Online Instruction
There are several students that have not been utilizing iReady at home. Please make sure that parents know this is available and ask how you can support them with this.
Make sure that you are checking your students’ iReady lessons. Check for alerts to see if lessons are too hard or domains have been shut off. The yellow alert is showing that the student is struggling and the red alert means the student has failed 2 consecutive lessons. The domain has been shut off. Please go in and adjust lessons and turn domains back on.
Literacy
Audible~ free books
Math
Math Facts games- Here is the information that I received back from Jessica and Dana about your questions…”We understand that mailing these items is not realistic and that families might not have them at home. We have provided paper dice that can be cut and taped together within the document for the new games and also linked paper dice on the game document. In addition, if a teacher would like there is a document with circular "game pieces" that teachers can print and copy on colored paper or ask a family to color different colors. Any at home items will work for game pieces or manipulatives. A family could use pieces from a game they have, use small pieces of paper or even food.”
Science/Social Studies
Use books to research something you are interested in. Write down three new things you learned.
Create something using recycled materials.
Covid-19 Time Capsule activity
Other Resources
Try and learn origami: http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-for-kids.html
REMINDER…
Please have your JC Instructional template with instructional opportunities uploaded to your website page by 3:00 PM each Friday.
Google Hangouts Meet is a great tool for teachers to connect with students in a video conference, for instruction, questions, presentations, and more.
However it is understandable that many schools would prefer not to have students in a school-provided video conference without the teacher present. That is, schools may not want students to be able to join a Meet before the teacher gets there, or be able to rejoin a Meet after the teacher has left. Thankfully Google has provided an option to manage this. Also, when being used through school, it is common for schools to not want students to start their own Meets or record a Meet. Thankfully Google has settings that can manage these concerns as well.
How to Keep Students from Joining or Rejoining a Google Meet without You
How to Keep Students from Starting or Recording a Meet
Note: See all of the Google Meet help videos here:
"Video Series: How to Use Google Meet"
Contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Let me know how I can further support you and your students.
DISTRICT PLANNING TEMPLATES FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
Kindergarten Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1maBxzCGitOwC-zRBLEWOr_illci6Zsjn2e1s6M6VZk0/edit?usp=sharing
Grade 1 Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q1frNChyUl309OSC4rcmxbGIYllOhUnckDRTYJcZ3SE/edit?usp=sharing
Grade 2 Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lO1-w1JhMspDR6T9DPLGgIASnQyr9bbg_cf5yvzr_-M/edit?usp=sharing
Grade 3 Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FQIz76MZWY4kQCpJFxzbzJogwV8sTE_a51XSaPJ8s3E/edit?usp=sharing
Grade 4 Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZWdhFwyTRlIsZveqkbBXYyuwvdZixgGuBZ7EURt5naY/edit?usp=sharing
Grade 5 Template (Make a Copy and Download to Edit)
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_msSlAUm54AIsIpZuv_aqnFRETh-08Akcl9TXTqW0ck/edit?usp=sharing
REMINDERS ABOUT BEING AT SCHOOL.....
When making copies, please adhere to the following preventative measures.
Wash your hands prior to starting and/or wear gloves (located by copy machines).
Wipe down the copier and keypad with sanitizing wipes (located by copy machines).
Upon completion of your copies, wipe down the copier and keypad with sanitizing wipes (located by copy machines).
REMINDER ABOUT HOW TO COMMUNICATE THAT A CLASSROOM/WORK AREA NEEDS TO BE DISINFECTED: Each time you leave your classroom/work area for the day, make sure you place your blue tape strip in a vertical position on the door jamb so that custodians know they need to disinfect that room again. They will be checking daily.
BOOK DISCUSSION FOR HELP FOR BILLY
April 20 - April 24: Claire, Christina, Hannah, and Ashlynn will post the Google Slides presentation for chapters 7-9 and the discussion questions to respond to for those chapters.
April 27 - May 1: Read chapters 10-12 if you have not already.
May 4 - May 8: Claire, Christina, Hannah, and Ashlynn will post the Google Slides presentation for chapters 10-12 and the discussion questions to respond to for those chapters.
HaPpY APRIL BiRtHdAy!!!!!
3 - Jesse Oswald
9 - Devon Bueker
10 - Ashley Angle
15 - Katie Krauch
17 - Joni Reinkemeyer
If we missed you, please let us know!