Faculty NTI Update
Erpenbeck Elementary
Update for March 20th
From Your Principal, Mrs. Pass
Now it is time to talk about some boundaries.
This week was the set-up. You were creating content like crazy, learning new technology, posting, encouraging and answering. The kids were discovering, trying new things, learning in new ways, experiencing a new type of independence. We set our expectations for the students in this new environment. Now, it is time to reiterate my expectations for you.
Turn.it.off.
You will observe school hours. We all work our tushes off during school hours. Then, you will turn it off. Set a reminder to turn your notifications off from 4PM to 8AM. You DO NOT have to respond to parents every time they send you an email with homework at 7, 7:26, 8, 8:15, etc. They don't expect that. That is just when they can get the work to you after a long day. On a normal Thursday night, they would be putting it in the folder at that time, and the child would be handing it to you at the same time as his friends at 8:50 AM Friday anyway.
Build your schedule so at 8:30 you have some time in the morning to review the emails and work submitted the night before and organize them into groups before you are answering questions, etc at 8:45. (This is just an example). In this time of unprecedented teaching and learning, your students are depending on you to be able to sustain high expectations, patience and the ability to coach and teach through the screen.
You can't fill from an empty cup.
You need to create some boundaries and follow them. You do need to do your best to respond to caretakers and families within 10 minutes while you're working. You do not need to respond to something after the clock until the clock starts again. You owe it to yourself to stop. Jen, Jill, Janelle and Toni will be working together to help gather and communicate some tools for us to focus on our mental health through this new journey.
I know many of us grade papers, answer emails, plan lessons in the evenings on a routine basis. If this is part of your routine, follow it! If you want to do some work in the evening to help you feel ahead, I want you to do that! Sometimes, unplugging and being able to focus on doing something like that is really good for your mental health. But, you should not be doing it every night, every early morning, all the time.
You can sit back while reading this and say this just isn't realistic, but it is. It's real. It's a choice. If you are feeling overwhelmed, set boundaries outside of school hours and stick to them. Help your mind stay in the green zone this Spring. We are all in this thing together.
I hope you are able to rest this weekend and enjoy the peace of mind only a weekend with no activities can bring.
Important Info on Video/Picture Permissions
o If you have students without video/picture permission, I would recommend contacting the parent to ask if it is OK for the students to participate “in class” with their video on knowing that the lesson may be recorded and available to students to play back at another time.
o Reports have been made that students are entering meetings after the official meeting has ended and having their own conversations. To prevent this, teachers can remove the meeting link from their classroom, website or wherever it was posted.
o There is great importance in students seeing each other and having their video cameras enabled; however, we just don’t want to put ourselves in a bad situation when a parent has not agreed to video/picture permissions. We are most likely educating many parents on this online learning too!
A Message from Nurse Aimee
I hope everyone is staying healthy and washing their hands. If I can help you in anyway or if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to e-mail me at aimee.lind@boone.kyschools.us.
Here are some links with some good information. The youtube video is a good one and answers a lot of questions that our kids might be asking. Try staying off social media, it is overwhelming and not always the most up to date and accurate information.
CDC-https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
WHO-https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019
❤️❤️Kids questions answered https://youtu.be/vSsKQPqpS7A
Clip-ups or Items for the Parent Newsletter?
A Few Updates for NTI Days
Per district office, teachers and Staff should not discuss any health concerns with students during NTI, whether it be their own Covid19 health concerns or the health concerns of others. As more virus testing produces more diagnosis, we want to be clear with staff what is appropriate when talking with students. All specific questions about this should be directed to Kathy Reutman.
Google has heard teachers and made changes to Hangout Meet!
Technology Webinars
Daily Google Hangout Times
Kindergarten: AM Classes 10 AM
PM Classes 2 PM
First Grade: 2 PM
Second Grade: 2 PM
Third Grade: 1 PM
Fourth Grade: 1-1:30 and 2-2:30
Fifth Grade: 2-2:45
Mrs. K STEAM Hangout 11:00 AM (Link on your child's Google Classroom)
Specials Google Hangouts Schedules
Special Areas classes will be doing hangouts from 11:30-12:00 each day if you would like to join. They will post their link to their Google Classroom.
Monday- Music Hangout
Tuesday- PE Hangout
Wednesday- WL Hangout
Thursday- Art Hangout
Friday- SEL Hangout