Arctic Light K-8
Do Good Work, Be a Friend, Every Day - August 17, 2020
Upcoming Events:
- August 17th - All Staff Present PD (All ESSA)
- August 18th - Meet n' Greet 5:30-6:30pm
- August 19th - Teacher Work Day
- August 20th - first day of Remote Learning
August 17th...Thank You.
For all that we accomplished last week, and all the stress that we had on our plates, it was an amazing first week. Your professionalism, work ethic, creativity, and care for one another was wonderful to watch.
It's time for students.
We have Kindergarteners visiting, devices being picked up, teacher materials going home, and all staff greeting our new students 5:30-6:30pm outside.
By next Monday your scheduled learning times need to be posted on our website: your synchronous, online learning, and additional learning schedule. Use the Recommended Instructional Minutes chart below to help guide your times. We'll talk more about this during our Monday PD.
All staff will be in the building on Monday.
We'll MEET at 10:00am.
- Google Classroom - Monday at Arctic Light https://classroom.google.com/c/MTI2MzAxMjUyMDI2?cjc=yoxxgpe
- Open Google Meet link in the Classroom Banner
- Agenda - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RKcfd_EAzK3OLr2-OsVBeh7e0MwnyziNjyojTs2jwts/edit?usp=sharing
During the meeting we'll also engage the Mandatory Training: Blood Bourne Pathogens.
I'll put the acknowledgment form in the chat box at the end of the video. Please complete the form and email it back to training@k12northstar.org.
We also have FERPA and Title IX videos. We'll see how it goes with the first video. You should have received your list of Mandatory Trainings which are due the end of September.
Monday at 1-3pm we'll begin handing out Chromebooks and iPads to families in need. Teachers can bring student instructional material to the Gym for families to pick up.
Tuesday is our Meet n' Greet. For many families they are wanting to pick up a device and your materials in the same trip. Your student materials should be brought down to the gym.
Tuesday evening is our Meet 'n Greet for new students: 5:30-6:30pm. All certified staff need to be present.
Wednesday is a Teacher Work Day. Share your teaching schedule and links with Nick and myself as soon as you can.
Please send your thoughts, concerns, or needs.
Be safe,
Thad
Counselor Corner
For EASEL, let's count week 1 as starting August 24th: https://sites.google.com/k12northstar.org/easel/home/august/week-1
Send me feedback please.
Thanks,
Kate
Can teachers video record virtual classes and share the recording to students who were unable to attend the class?
The DOE has now answered the $100,000 question: yes, it is permissible under FERPA to record classes and share the recording of the virtual class to students who were unable to attend. As we discussed previously, the teacher must take care not to disclose personally identifiable information (“PII”) from student education records during a virtual lesson unless written permission has been provided to do so. Pullman & Comley - School Law
Where will you eat lunch?
When we have In-Person Blended Learning, consider another room besides one that had 17 students all morning.
We have open rooms besides the Staff Lounge like Mrs. Turner's, Art/ Science Breakfast room, IEP Conference Room and more.
Stay Safe!
Instructional Coach Corner
Social-emotional activities can truly support distance learning at home. Use the array of resources on the easel site that Kate created to support your lessons online and encourage families to make SEL a priority at home.
Everyone can use strategies, tactics, and activities that address social skills. Some are communication, cooperation, emotion regulation, empathy, and impulse control. Your students are cooped up at home for an extended and unknown length of time. Therefore, there's no better time than now to explore and practice social-emotional learning (SEL).
One item to think about (while your students are remotely learning) is self management, which involves managing impulses, emotions, and stress. Discipline, motivation, resilience, and perseverance are also part of self-management. Help kids continue to build self-management skills at home with the following activities.
Help Others – Remind children that they can offer to do a favor or perform a chore for someone in their family. Make it a goal to work towards – once per week, or perhaps every day!
Morning Meetings – Use strategies from the Welcome section of the SEL Playbook (beginning on page 10) to guide students in a virtual morning meeting to start your online class. Kids will enjoy connecting and sharing with their teacher and peers online. There are even more games on the easel site.
Self-motivation, perseverance, and resilience – Work with the kids to learn that they can overcome challenges with persistence and hard work. Remind families to resist immediate assistance with rushing to help so their child can learn on their own. Ask them to use empowering language such as “you’re hanging in there, I’m proud of you,” and “You’ll get through this and be so happy with your progress.”
Nick Hoy
Instructional Coach
Arctic Light Elementary
907-356-2038 X28017
Pictures I found during the Summer of 2020
Skookum Creek, Nabesna Alaska
Rural village in Guatemala - 1978
Mom and 88 year-old boyfriend
There are lots of informational sheets out there.
Let me know what you need and we can probably pull one up.