@ Alta Vista
March 20, 2020
It is time for us to come together and be a support system for each other. Please check in with friends, family, and colleagues. A Zoom chat, FaceTime smile, or even a text or phone call may be just what someone needs to make it through a difficult day. If you need help -- let us help you. We are stronger together.
I'm going to return to sending out our weekly newsletters. The goal is to share it with you on Friday, but if I'm waiting for additional information, you might see it on Saturday. If you have resources or fun pictures to share, please send them to me and I'll include them in our newsletter. We want to keep our Team Alta Vista connections.
Today's newsletter has an overview of our @Home Learning program, a list of resources, lots of info bits and pieces, and of course a fun video. If you have someone who would benefit from anything in our newsletter, please share a link with them. We're all in this together.
@Home Learning Begins Monday
Ready or not, here we go ...
For the last few weeks, days, and hours, staff from across Union School District have been working to get ready to provide our students with at-home learning. We've spent hours in Zoom meetings (who would have thought that just a week, most of us had never used Zoom), poured over slide decks, and even reconnected with students through bedtime stories. Earlier today, parents received an email with an overview of the program. Hopefully, you received the email too. If not, here's a portion of the communication:
Beginning on Monday, March 23rd, USD will shift to a flexible at-home model of learning for students. At the elementary school level, teachers have been preparing lessons and learning ways to connect with their students for Monday’s start. Please note that, in an effort to best support our students while they adjust to this new model during the next few weeks, we will be primarily focusing our course content on review material. The goal is to familiarize our students and teachers with this new format and structure of learning before shifting into new academic course content. This will also give you time, as parents, to adjust to an @Home Learning environment.
For TK, Kindergarten and 1st grade students, lessons will be posted in a weekly format, allowing students and parents the flexibility to adjust routines and schedules to what works best for you each day. We recommend students spend no more than 40 minutes a day on the lessons, with an additional 15-20 minutes reading every day.
For 2nd-5th grade students, lessons will be posted daily through Google Classroom. For 2nd and 3rd grade, ideally students should spend no more than 30 minutes per English language arts and mathematics, per day, for a total of 1 hour per day. For 4th and 5th grade, ideally students should spend no more than 45 minutes per subject, per day for a total of 90 minutes per day.
Our spectacular special education staff will be reaching out to collaborate and coordinate with you. Let's do everything we can to support these wonderful people as they create individualized plans for each of their students.
If anyone needs some extra support, let us know. We're here to help everyone to be successful in this new adventure.
THIS AND THAT
- If you have things that were left behind at school, this weekend would be the time to stop and pick them up, but only if you are feeling well and maintain all of the appropriate health and safety measures. If you are not feeling well, but need something, let me know.
- If you need to get into an alarmed area this weekend, reach out to me ASAP.
- Classified Staff - If you need a tech device, please let me know so that Lisa can get the items and the loan agreement ready. This is especially true of our instructional assistants, as we may be looking for your support in the coming days and weeks. If you have internet accessibility issues, also let me know.
- You might want to check out the new @Home Learning website for parents. You can find it at https://athome.unionsd.org/
- If you have questions about school closures, please add them to this document.
- If you have questions about @Home Learning, please add them to this document or reach out to Cathy and Christy.
- Some teachers asked about sending Google Forms to parents to get feedback on the @Home Learning experience. We've been asked to hold off on this until the end of the week. I'll get forms out to you as we get closer to next Friday.
RESOURCES
Zoom Resources for Teachers and Students
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vB_WS14noKaSbgNB3wqsR4UBVOORjQ9M-SJBq83tSD4/edit?usp=sharing
Remote Learning with SeeSaw Tutorials
https://web.seesaw.me/remote-learning-for-teachers
Loom - A free program for creating videos
https://support.loom.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006579637-Loom-Pro-Free-for-Students-and-Teachers
Audible is offering free access to books for children of all ages. Multiple languages available. Great screen-free option. No sign in required.
https://stories.audible.com/start-listen
Comcast is offering free wifi hotspots during the shutdown. The hotspots will be available with no data caps, disconnects or late fees and speeds will increase to 3 Mbps. This allows parents and students to have access to news and educational content. Once at a hotspot, select “xfinitywifi” network name from the wifi menu, then launch the preferred browser. You will need to accept the terms and conditions to use the free service.