2020/21 LCUSD Elementary Update
October 4, 2020
Dear Parents,
Did you get a chance to read this article from our last newsletter? If so, have you tried to practice stepping back to allow your child to make mistakes, grow in independence, and gain confidence? We hope it is going well, and we understand it must be difficult. Teachers need to experience students making mistakes and misunderstanding, because this helps them create individual learning plans. Since we haven't had the chance to be together in a traditional school setting yet, we are noticing that we are struggling with a getting full, accurate idea of what our students know and don't know. Don't worry if you are in the background and your child is making mistakes - teachers are not judging, and mistakes help them know exactly what kinds of questions to ask next or what supports to put in place.
Please make sure your child has a good spot to work that is free of distractions. In this newsletter, we will share a resource that may help our students who don't have an adult near (which is good!) but who may struggle with staying focused.
Parents, we appreciate you and everything you are putting in place to help our students during this time of distance learning. We appreciate our students and all of the efforts that they are making too! We hope, like you, that the day will come when we are back on campus, all together.
You recently received a message from Superintendent Sinnette. Here is a recap of that announcement:
On Monday, October 5th, the LA County Department of Public Health will open the school waiver program for in-person instruction for grades TK-2. LCUSD will submit waiver requests for all three of its elementary schools. DPH will grant elementary school TK - 2nd waivers if the application demonstrates that a school is able to open in full adherence to the LA County School Re-opening Protocols. LCUSD has all of the protocols developed and our LCUSD School Reopening and Safety Plan for 2020-2021 adheres to them. Once DPH begins accepting the waiver applications, it will approve 30 schools per week equally distributed through the County’s 5 regions and will prioritize the issuance of waivers to schools with higher percentages of students who qualify for free and reduced meals. We will keep you posted on new information and timelines as it comes to us.
Hang in there. We're all in this together!
Sincerely,
Emily Blaney, LCE Principal
Carrie Hetzel, PCY Principal
Cory Pak, PCR Principal
Resources for Parents
Webinar: Distance Learning Parent Workshop
Corwin is offering a FREE two-part series on supporting parents/guardians during distance learning. We highly recommend this for any parent who can attend. We have joined other workshops from Corwin, and they have been very helpful. Details and links are in the Upcoming Events portion of this newsletter.
Article: Using Covid-19 as an Opportunity to Help Kids Develop Independence
From Matt Albert's article: "It may seem counterintuitive, but now is the right time to get focused on raising adults, especially because we are in these strange times. Adult skills include not only independence but also responsibility and helpfulness."
Photo by Kiana Bosman on Unsplash
Podcast: Capable and Confident Kids
A Resource for Students Who Struggle With Focus During Distance Learning
DEI Focus: Hispanic Heritage Month
Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15th to October 15th. Hispanic Heritage Month began as a way to promote the history, culture and contributions of Hispanic-Americans. Communities mark the achievements of Hispanic and Latino Americans with festivals and educational activities. Among many great Hispanic and Latino Americans, we would like to highlight Roberto Clemente and Sonia Sotomayor.
Roberto Clemente
Most known for his stellar baseball career, Afro-Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente spent his time off the field involved in charity work. As a human rights activist, Clemente organized charities to provide much-needed media attention and funding to Latin American countries. Clemente died in a tragic plane crash while delivering supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake; he was determined to accompany the supplies himself after the first three flights were diverted by corrupted officials and never reached the victims of the earthquake. We encourage our families to spend time talking to their children about the generosity Roberto Clemente demonstrated in his work with organizing charities and being an activist for ALL people.
Sonia Sotomayor
In 2009, Bronx-born Latina Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice of the United States. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 68 to 31. Sotomayor holds a B.A. from Princeton and a Law degree from Yale University. Her long career includes time spent as assistant district attorney for New York County, being a judge to the U.S. District Court (appointed by George H.W. Bush), and serving as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Sotomayor has been outspoken about how her unique experience as a Latina has contributed to her work as a judge. “The Latina in me is an ember that blazes forever.” We encourage our families to spend time talking to their children about the work of our Supreme Court Justice and what it takes to become a Supreme Court Justice.
Digital Citizenship Week (Month) Information from Kristine Babish
Dear Parents,
I hope this letter finds you and your family well and that you are falling into a comfortable routine with Virtual Learning.
As I type this letter, October is just a few days away and with pumpkin spice lattes, spooky decorations and kids changing their minds regarding what they want to be for Halloween almost daily, comes a week that is a very important opportunity for guiding the students towards becoming great Digital Citizens. Digital Citizenship Week runs from October 19th-23rd this year. What does this mean? DigCit Week is typically one that we use to give our students a chance to amplify their voices and think critically about what they see online, understand the benefits and risks of keeping their information private and learn how to manage their own screen time. Please watch the video linked here.
I am a certified Common Sense Media Educator, which means that I am dedicated to teaching Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship to our students and have taken the necessary professional development courses to do so. Common Sense Education is a part of the Common Sense Media collection. Common Sense Media is a good resource for parents and for educators. Please click here to learn more. With our current learning environment, where each and every student is on a computer and learning through digital means, it is extremely important this year that we really bring focus to a strong Digital Citizenship curriculum, one that will teach your child about controlling their digital footprint, how to be an upstander against cyberbullying, how to keep their information safe, and how to manage screen time. These are just some of the topics we focus on within the Digital Citizenship curriculum.
I understand that everyone has their hands and schedules full with Distance Learning, and taking that into account, I have decided to spread out Digital Citizenship Week and turn October into Digital Citizenship month. All this simply means is that on Mondays throughout the month of October, your child’s Computer Lab lessons will be based on the Digital Citizenship curriculum and I will attach weekly family guides to your child’s Computer Lab Google Classroom for you to review at your convenience. You may also find Digital Citizenship based lessons popping up in the Wednesday and Friday Computer Labs as well. These lessons will begin on Monday, October 5th for our 1st - 6th Graders. There will be fun, games and activities all month long! These four Monday lessons will replace a weeklong event I typically host during Digital Citizenship Week and I encourage all students to check into the Computer Lab to check out these lessons and activities.
Should you have any questions or should you be interested in any of the resources I have available, please do not hesitate to contact me at kbabish@lcusd.net.
Here is a book recommendation if you are curious and want to learn more:
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Kristine Babish
Instructional Computer Specialist, PCY
Common Sense Media Certified Educator, 2019-2021