New Week of Assignments

Hello Families,
Hopefully the changes we made in the settings of our google classrooms stopped the students from getting bombarded with emails for every assignment posted for this week.  Mondays should be for looking through email and google classrooms and then seeing if there is any work that can get started.  Go through each classroom and look at the assignments.  Make a plan that works for your family.   (Remember the daily 2 to 2 1/2 hours of work time rule!)

I love to do lists.  I always show the kids my lists.  I have two neighbors come over everyday and on Mondays we look through the assignments on google classroom and then make a list of the assignments for the week.  Then we plan them out for the week.  Every morning after breakfast and TV time, we make a to do list for that day.  By the time the day is done, they have each spent about
2 1/2 hours on academics.  It helps for us to have the same schedule everyday because I am working as well.

But that might not work for you and that's okay.  Your days need to work for your family!!!  If you need help with anything, please reach out to us.

We will be reaching out to you about becoming a "guardian" on your child's google classroom.  It will allow you to receive summaries of the work that has been assigned and the work that has yet to be turned in or marked as done.  You set your notification preferences for daily or weekly updates.  You do not have to do this, but it is helpful.  My neighbor receives daily updates, and she emails them to me, so I am able to use that to help us with our daily to do lists.

Have a great Monday.  We are here if you need support!  Reach out before the frustration takes over.

How are you doing?

Hi Families,
How are you doing?  It's vacation week, so the kids don't have any assignments.  But, we still can't go anywhere and today (Wednesday) it's snowy, windy, and cold.  I am going to curl up and read for the rest of the day. 

I haven't posted in a while because I didn't want those of you who subscribe to get another email!  The past couple of weeks have been crazy.  Hopefully, moving forward next week to the end of the school year it will become smoother with every week. The technology will be worked out for remote learning and the students will find their new routine.  The week before vacation was a good run through using google classroom, google forms, Khan Academy, and video lesssons from the teachers. 

Although I have lots of resources I can send you, I am not going to do that unless you ask me for something.  I have been overloaded with online resources.  So, if you need additional or different work for your child, please reach out to us.  And remember... the well being of your family takes priority over everything else.

Take Care,
Stacey

Resources & Outdoor Learning Activities

Good Morning Everyone,
Things are going well in the world of online learning. The students are getting better at it everyday.
Below are some resources to help you at home for days that your child/children need something else do besides academic work.  You will need those days every once in a while.

https://www.vermontpbs.org/at-home-learning/

These are the topics the students would have done in 4 Winds.
Stream Life:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQEyFjI7FzPqhP8mAntUY7cJSmH9893OwYKFOu28A4lQGHt-o0qpWcTiWc56USMAi4Byw-dza08C6ER/pub
Stream Life nearby nature unit:
https://nearbynature908475479.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/teacher-resources-ecosystems-stream-life.pdf
Snags and Rotting Logs
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ_YNy_jR15HZnv0JrViOw4cyTMvp1DZYMLPihZ_3nJgk_DpGq-rfMjE9rdaKrXIt7hYti0499CSepk/pub

Flip Grid!!

So I learned about the coolest thing today!  Flip Grid!  I am going to create one for the 5th grade parents because I am testing it with the 5th grade first.  Once we are comfortable with it, I will try it with the 4th grade and 4th grade parents.  It's almost like a video email, except the videos only go from me and back to me.  There is no class share yet, or at least I don't think so.  If you want to explore it, go to flipgrid.com  It took me a while to figure it out once I created an account, but that's part of the fun of trying new technology.
flipgrid.com

What a crazy week!

I didn't post last night because honestly, I was shocked at the news.  I never thought we would get news to move completely to online learning this soon.  I still haven't processed it.   The 4th and 5th grades are in a good position to move to this kind of learning.    They have learned many online platforms this year that will help them adapt to this change. Two of the most important skills your child can learn are practical problem solving and adapting to change. The students are getting this in real time.  If you want your child's chromebook at home please contact your child's homeroom teacher and we will work to get it to you.  It will be easier for your child to have it at home. 

Have a great weekend and try to relax.  We are all feeling anxious.   We will enter this new world slowly and provide all of the support you need.  At the end of the day what really matters is that the students are safe and happy.

Universal Design for Learning UDL

So, for some crazy reason,  I decided to take an online workshop this week!  Because I'm bored? No! Because I'm crazy? YES!   Here are some pics from today's module that gives some insight to what it is all about.  I'm happy to see that I already use UDL, but it's always nice to get a refresher and validation that what you are doing is best practice. 

Engagement

Personalized education is important, but very hard to manage.

Examples of what it looks like.

Reminders and such...

Today was a bit better until I messed my 4th graders up by posting 2 different times for the same meeting. Message that I need to slow down!!!  The meeting for 4th grade on Zoom is Wednesday 3/25 at 9:00 am.  When I was in the room yesterday, I took some pics.  We need to remember our HR3 expectations at home.  When we are online, we need to remember that we are in the classroom.  When online, you are on your school account and the technology expectations we have in school are the same at home.   I'll see the 4th graders tomorrow! 5th graders, I'll send you an email tomorrow letting you know about our next meeting!

Tell your parents what THINK means!

Henrietta says hello!

Jackie O is still fabulous but is lonely!

Hard Day!!

Today was a hard day.  I started it by trying to do a Zoom workout session at 5:15 a.m. only to have it not connect!  I quickly moved to Facebook live and let my friends who were joining me know. We made it work.  I will be doing Facebook live workout sessions from now on because I can't deal with tech issues at 5:15 in the morning!

I went up to school around 8:00 a.m. to get any materials I would need to teach from home.  We are not allowed to stay in the building anymore.  It was hard.  I had planned to go to school every day and teach from there and work in my room.  I ran to the store after, since I was out, and got a text saying, "Your students are waiting for you..."!  OH NO!  I cancelled the google meet on the google calendar and thought it would email all the kids too.

So, Tuesday we will try a Zoom meeting for 5th and Wednesday a Zoom meeting for 4th.  I was going to use google meet but other teachers were using Zoom and I wanted it to be consistent for families.

Here are a few pics from today's visit to our classroom.  I took more, but will save them for other posts!  I miss you all!

Our book nook!  Zero level!!!!

Fish Tank

My "at home" teacher desk!

At home teacher area!

Trout and such...

The trout continue to grow! I will put a picture and video at the end of this post.
Today was the first day experiencing video conferencing. The first attempt found only a few able to connect, but then we worked it out and it seems as if everyone can connect with the Chromebooks now.  We will try again tomorrow morning.  I am getting so many resources sent to me about online learning that it is overwhelming.  I use online learning already, so will pretty much keep with what we use.  If I find anything that I think we could use then I will share that with you.  I am going to try to post every day, Monday through Friday!

Feeding

The Trout are Swimming Up!

The trout are swimming up! We fed them today and a few of them ate the food.  At this stage, they are called fry.

I will send home a letter Thursday about Run Like A Girl.  The Run for Jim is Sunday May 3rd. We will start practicing on Thursday March 19th.

Illustration Day

Thursdays are illustration days for the 4th grade.  We are illustrating the stories about Grady. Students are grouped by story but also by the job they have. Today, Mr. Raymond started working with the job groups teaching them specifically about their roles  They are character development, background/details, finisher, and colorer.  Cole came today and will join us every Thursday. The kids were so excited to see him!

Fish and Illustrations

The trout continue to grow.  We should be able to start feeding them soon.

The 4th grade has started illustrating a book called, "What Would Grady Do?"  It is a collection of stories about Grady Howrigan that his friends and family shared.  The characters will be bugs and the students are doing a great job!

More Alevin

We have had more fish hatch!  Some will be "swimming up" to the top soon and we will be able to feed them.  Here is a link to the website that explains Trout in the Classroom.  It's our first year doing it in 5th grade and I hope to continue next year since I will better understand the process.
Here is a video and a picture.

Our egg basket!

Egg Hatch!

We had an egg hatch today! Below is a video showing it.  We also had a plank challenge and V-Sit challenge! The kids had a good time with it, so we will be doing more challenges in the weeks to come.  This will help us to reach Gold Status for Rise Vermont.

I am out next Tuesday and ask that you talk to your child about the expectations we have when we have "company."  I always think of substitute teachers as company coming over for a visit.  We always expect more of our kids when company visits!

The 5th graders are doing great working with our Discovery Education tech book.  In the next week or so, we will start our Unit on "Patterns in The Sky."

Have a great extended weekend!

Discovery Tech Book

The 5th grade has started using a "tech" book from Discovery Education. The first unit we have explored, Energy for Humans and Other Living Things, has helped us with our Trout Unit. The students are exploring the concepts (like chapters) and working through different activities to become familiar with the structure.  We will officially use it for our next unit on Patterns in the Sky.  Go to the link and have your child sign in.  They use their emails and the password is Fairfield.
Tech Book 

2020!!

Here we are in January of 2020... unbelievable.  So much has changed since I began teaching in 1990.  One thing that has not changed though is the need for students to read daily, be responsible, and practice time management.

4th grade homework:
Students receive a homework sheet on Monday for math and sentence practice that is due on Fridays.
Lexia packets can be worked on at home either by timing the work for a certain amount of time or doing a page or two. These do not need to be done every night.  Reading for 20-30 minutes. Students received a "bookmark" that needs to be completed as they read the book or after they are done.  We spent a lot of time today discussing how you know if you need to do it while you read or if you can handle it at the end.  *** Encourage your child to fill a little out every couple of days or so and I will do the same while I take Status of the Class.

5th grade homework:
Lexia packets can be worked on at home either by timing the work for a certain amount of time or doing a page or two. These do not need to be done every night.  Reading for 30-40 minutes. Tomorrow, Thursday, students will receive a "bookmark" that needs to be completed as they read the book or after they are done.  We will spend a lot of time discussing how you know if you need to do it while you read or if you can handle it at the end.  *** Encourage your child to fill a little out every couple of days or so and I will do the same while I take Status of the Class.

There those who are for homework and those who are against it.  Homework is not to be a frustrating experience as the work we do send home or ask them to do is at the students' independent level.  However, if frustration does occur, reach out to the 4/5 team and let us know how we can help.