Daily Archives: April 15, 2020

Info and Updates

First and foremost, thank you for your emails. It helps to hear what is working, what isn’t, and what support you need.

Overall, it seems like the biggest source of frustration has been… you guessed it… math! While our weekly sheets are mostly review topics, they can be frustrating for students to navigate because they don’t always match the wording of our curriculum. Remember to breathe!

My biggest piece of advice is that if something seems sticky (AKA you or child have broken down into tears), take a break and try something else. At school, we have the luxury of approaching something from many different angles. At home that’s a bit tougher. If the weekly sheet is causing stress (and yelling or sobbing or comatose reactions), I encourage you to focus more on the topic of the week rather than completing the entire sheet. Students will always have access to MobyMax, StudyIsland, and Prodigy to practice math. I also have set up a Khan Academy class for us, which is new to students (and me!) but has soooo many helpful videos and little lessons to work through. If math is a struggle, I would check out Khan Academy first. Start with a video or two to refresh the topic in your kiddo’s mind, and if it’s still sticky, have them try out some of the work within that lesson. This way they are getting support in a consistent manner, with visuals, examples, explanations, and more and more practice!

Students have the link to Khan Academy on the Google Classrooms. You can also log in through Clever or join with their Gmail. Our class code is JK5M6QER

With all of that being said, I also added some videos of me explaining this week’s math on Google Classroom. As we go, I’ll add new videos to review topics that seem challenging for many of us.

Beyond that, many of you have asked about signing up for classes next, retrieving items from school, and camp information.

Here’s what I know: Camp money will be refunded. I do not know when but as soon as we hear the process from central office, I will let you know. Items from school will be collected eventually, sometime after the shelter in place order is lifted. Students will have a chance to sign up for classes for next year. I have not heard how or when or even when the course selections will be available for you, but hopefully soon. It seems that as we go, there are more and more questions and not so many answers. Thank you for your patience as we navigate and communicate within the team, building, and district.

Last update: I love and miss everyone so so so so so much! Please send my love to your kiddos. I can’t believe that it’s been over a month since I saw their beautiful faces in person. We will do another Zoom meeting soon (as soon as I hear when my upcoming meetings are scheduled, I will send out a time!)

Stay home, stay safe, and sending you so many air hugs!