First Week of School

 The first week is complete!!! YAY!  It was a very, very hot one!  The kids did a great job keeping those masks on.  

On the first day of school we created our 5/6 Team Agreement of how we should act in our classrooms and did some team building activities.

5/6 Team Agreement:

1. Be Kind and Respectful

2. Work Hard

3. Listen to the Speaker

4. Stay on Task

5. Be Prepared

We have set up our binders and our computers are ready.  Starting on Monday, 8/30, they will go home with the students every night.  The computers will need to be charged each night at home and brought back to school the next day.  This is in case we need to go remote.

On Friday Dr. O'Dell met with all the 5/6 team students & teachers and talked about HHB&R which is Hazing, Harrassment, Bullying, and Retaliation.  We worked on our All About Me folders and played Newcomb Ball which is similar to Volleyball.

Students will have this homework sheet  (click on link) in their home/school folders each night.  After your child has read for 20-30 minutes and the computer is charging, please initial the sheet and have your child return it to their folders.  Please remember to check the home/school folders every night.

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.