Kleckner's Korner
Week of July 20
Welcome Back!!
I hope everyone is staying well, healthy and enjoying their summer! I had two weeks off and took advantage of every single minute! A week at the beach is EXACTLY what I needed!
I am so proud of the way our staff handled school closing abruptly in March. Our campus came together as one and supported our families, students, and each other. This year will be no different. As educators, flexibility is instilled in us and we are used to changing lessons, schedules, and plans at a moments notice. Remote learning will be no different. If anything, it will be better because we can plan for what's in our control.
We are going to hit the ground running on August 3rd. Our PD will look VERY different this year because a lot of your time will be setting up your digital classrooms using canvas! We want to make sure we are 100% ready to engage our students on August 10th!
Jocelyn and I are here Monday-Thursday from 8-4 if you want to come up please just text us letting us know you're coming. Masks and social distancing required.
Park Crest Faculty Town Hall Information Meeting (Voluntary)
During this voluntary meeting, I will go over a presentation that will be presented to our parents. A few weeks back, I sent a Q&A Document to ask any questions you might have about the 20-21 SY. Just this week, the district sent out the GISD Reopening School Instructional Guidebook. Please preview the 60 page document and add questions to the Q&A if you would like them answered. As we all know, decisions are made and changed quite frequently; we will do our best to answer the questions. If we don't know the answers, we will find them!
Again, this meeting is not mandatory. I wanted you to see what will presented to our families.
To join the video meeting, click this link: https://meet.google.com/kpo-nfbe-vbx
Otherwise, to join by phone, dial +1 484-430-1554 and enter this PIN: 442 183 109#
To view more phone numbers, click this link: https://tel.meet/kpo-nfbe-vbx?hs=5
I am looking forward to seeing your smiling and happy faces. I miss seeing you!!!!
Flex Day must be completed by August 3 to get credit for January 4.
The Department of Teaching & Learning Development is pleased to announce that the Learn One, Earn One- Flex Day opportunity will return for the 2020-2021 school year. This year’s flex day will be January 4, 2021.
The training will consist of a total of 7 hours and all hours must be completed by August 3rd to earn flex day credit. The training will be housed in our GEO platform and there is no need to pre-register.
All professional employees on 187-215 day contracts are eligible to earn this flex day (paraprofessional staff members should contact their direct supervisor about their Flex Day options).
This year’s Flex Day training will highlight Virtual Pedagogy and our new learning management system, Canvas. In the absence of face-to-face and in-person interactions it is imperative for teachers to leverage existing practices and adapt to new strategies that support effective virtual learning. This eLearning Training will focus on guiding teachers to combine the traditional instructional methods previously utilized in our physical classrooms, with the incorporation of virtual pedagogy and best practices within the support of an online learning management system. At the end of this training, teachers will be equipped with new strategies and approaches to experience optimal success in the 2020-2021 school year, in the following areas:
- Differences between (a)synchronous teaching and learning
- Best practices and common challenges in a virtual classroom
- Components of a well-designed (a)synchronous lessons
- Digital content creation tools
- Design for engagement and differentiation
- Monitoring online progress
- Preparing to launch the use of Canvas for teaching and learning
Important Dates to Remember
July 23 - Staff Town Hall - 3:00pm
July 28 - Parent/Family Town Hall - I will offer 2 meetings each in English and Spanish.
August 3 - Mandatory Return to Work Safety Training due prior to August 3.
August 3 - Due Date for Flex Day Training
August 3 - Professional Staff Back to Work (in person with social distancing guidelines in place)
August 3 - 7 Staff Development
August 4 - Paraprofessional Staff Back to Work (in person with social distancing guidelines in place)
August 4 - District Canvas and Curriculum Training Day
August 6 - Virtual Porch Party 5:30 - Still working out details
August 10 - First Day of Remote Classes
September 8 - First Day of Face to Face Classes for students that choose face to face