There are a few things that we should be thinking about:
1. If you have frequent fliers regarding masks, please let me know who they are on this form: Unmasked This is for students who are continually reminded, and as soon as they walk past, they take it off again. This is NOT for kids who request mask breaks or frequently forget, but will leave it on when asked.
2. What if we have to close... Are students prepared to use Schoology to find their work? A reminder... you can see what Schoology looks like from a student's perspective. Can they actually do the work without printing it? If PDFs are uploaded to Schoology, students will not be able to write on them. If you want them writing on the form, it should be done in Google Docs. If students aren't using Schoology to access their work during the day, they won't know how to access it from home. Also, if you are having them access their work with you in the classroom, you will be able to see the glitches at a time that you can fix them because they cause too much confusion. Hint: There WILL be glitches. Students might not do the work. And, if they don't, they will have to retake the class; however, we need to give them every opportunity and all the support we can possibly give them.
3. Assigning work in a global pandemic:
This is not a good year to do extended projects. This is a year to have a laser focus on specific skills and knowledge that will help fill gaps and move students. along. When deciding what kinds of work to assign, think about the really important things they need to know in your class. Assign work that aligns with those most important ideas. One thought that we have talked about is to use Schoology assignments to sharpen skills that have already been taught.
When visiting classrooms, I see students engaged with important ideas. Time on task has been excellent. Kids are generally busy right up to the bell. Venture teachers and staff are doing the right work. We need to continue what we've been doing while planning for the possibility that students might have to work on their own. We hope that won't happen, but the preparation is essential if we find ourselves in that situation again.
4. What do you need and how can I help? With teaching, I usually feel like I've walked in your shoes and have a good sense of your struggles, but I've never been in the classroom during a pandemic, so you need to tell me.
5. Thanksgiving break is around the corner. We got this. No matter how much you think we may be missing, nobody is doing this any better than we are. Nobody cares more about our kids than we do. Nobody has more insight into their needs than we do. And... Thanksgiving is around the corner.
From Mrs. Eastman's Literacy class. Thank you Max B. for putting student slides to music:
Bus/Parking lot duty: Cooley and Gonzalez
Monday 11/16:
Friday 11/20:
