April 20, 2020

By gaston_e  

Week 1 is in the books! As we continue to adapt and change to fit this new normal, our most important focus is on our students’ and our own well-being. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all of this, the kids are too. What you teach is important, but our health and wellness are even more so. My continued message is it is okay to do less. It’s okay to give smaller, easier assignments. It’s okay that we’re not going to cover everything. Next year, we will do what we always do. We’ll dig in and we’ll figure it out. Our goal right now is to do what we can to make this time manageable, and hopefully, a little positive for kids. Their connection with you and their ability to feel successful will keep them coming back. You all are amazing educators. You’re doing incredible work in an impossible environment. 

  • Repeat: Schedule – Below is our schedule for this week. 
    • Focus = Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:30-10am
    • Monday
      • Focus Class = 9:30-10am
      • Period 1 = 1-1:25pm
      • Period 2 = 1:40-2:05pm
      • Period 3 = 2:20-2:45pm
      • This time counts as your office hours for the day.
    • Tuesday
      • Period 4 = 1-1:25pm
      • Period 5 = 1:40-2:05pm
      • Period 6 = 2:20-2:45pm
      • This time counts as your office hours for the day.
    • Wednesday
      • Focus Class = 9:30-10am
      • Please set your office hours and publish them to your students. This is not a time to wait on Zoom, but instead a time to be available to answer questions, respond to parent emails, or make phone calls to families.
      • The following times are open for office hours: 9am-10am and 12pm-3pm. You may also choose to do office hours in the late afternoon or evening, but it is not required.
    • Thursday
      • Please set your office hours and publish them to your students. This is not a time to wait on Zoom, but instead a time to be available to answer questions, respond to parent emails, or make phone calls to families.
      • The following times are open for office hours: 9-10am and 12-3pm. You may also choose to do office hours in the late afternoon or evening, but it is not required.
    • Friday
      • Focus Class = 9:30-10am
      • No office hours required today. Please use this time to take and enter attendance and engage in any PD of your choice.
             
  • Repeat: Reminder of Student Work Time – Please aim for 20ish minutes of instruction and work per class period per day. It’s perfectly fine to assign less. It will take many students a lot longer to complete the work you might normally assign in class. Consider asking kids to let you know about how long the assignment actually took so you can gauge if how long you thought it would take matches up with how long the assignment actually took. 
         
  • Chunking Assignments – When you assign work for the week, please consider offering a breakdown of how much time kids should spend each day on the task. For example, if students are asked to research a topic and create a slide show, breaking it down with tasks to complete each day that take about 20ish minutes each will help kids prioritize their time, hopefully take a breath and not try to do it all in one day, and help map out the task for them in a series of small, manageable pieces. I spent the past week writing lessons for elementary school and mapping out each part of the task also helped me realize when I’d overassigned and what I thought would be a shorter assignment would take the average student longer than I originally thought.
         
  • Repeat: Meeting Schedule – We have agreed upon the following times for meetings or “non instructional” time. Please note you won’t have meetings daily at this time, but they’ve been protected so staff is available at these times. 
    • IEPs/504s: 8-9am and 3-4pm
    • Building and District Meetings: 10-11am
    • Student Lunches: 11-12pm 
            
  • Updated Attendance – Starting this week, we will need to keep track of students’ engagement online. By Friday at noon (starting April 24), students need to engage in at least one two-way connection with you to be counted as “present” for the week. A two-way connection includes joining a Zoom call, submitting an assignment, or sending you an email. If a student fails to do one of those things by Friday at noon, they are considered absent for the week.
    • Attendance runs from Friday at 12:01pm to Friday at noon, so any two way correspondance in that time counts for the week. Please communicate this with students so they understand when and how they need to engage to be considered present for each class. Attendance for this week runs from last Friday afternoon to this Friday at noon. 
    • Linked here is the guidance, with a link to a video for taking attendance in list view, for attendance procedures. It also includes a few recommendations for how to track attendance, although Tyler’s idea of marking everyone absent, and then changing them to present might be the simplest solution.
    • Attendance should be submitted by 4pm on Fridays.
    • We will also be keeping track of these students so Anne, Peter, or I can continue to reach out to those who aren’t engaging. 

          

  • Zoom Security and Zoom Bombing – This has happened already in 4j and the district is currently re-evaluating Zoom as a platform for synchronous learning, but in the meantime 4J is sticking with Zoom. However, remember that asynchronous learning is the recommended method for teaching. If, on Monday and Tuesday, you are teaching lessons live or providing guidance for assignments on Zoom, kids who cannot join your live class must receive the same information or lesson in Google Classroom either through a recorded video or a deeper explanation of the assignment. Being able to attend Zoom shouldn’t offer students a “leg up” on their assignments. 
         
    When using Zoom, keep in mind the Safety and Security email sent to staff earlier, some highlights of which include:
         

    • Use your 4J email to set up your Zoom account
    • Do not make meetings publicly accessible
    • Require a password
    • Create a “waiting room”
    • Confirm participants’ identity
    • Be present from start to end in every meeting
    • Do not record video meetings with staff or students
    • Mute participants upon entry
    • Keep control of the screen share settings
    • Hosts can “lock” a meeting
    • Hosts can remove anyone by hovering over the ellipsis (…)
    • Accept software update prompts from Zoom (these can take a while to download, so making a habit of logging into Zoom 30 minutes before you need it will help.)

For more tips on Zoom meeting security and safety, see:

4J Technology: Zoom Privacy Considerations – Guidelines and step-by-step instructions for Zoom settings
Zoom: Best Practices for Securing Your Virtual Classroom
Zoom: Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event

  • SSD on Student Discipline – If you encounter discipline issues during a Zoom, SSD is advising that banning a student from Zooms counts as a “suspension” and will need to be documented as such, so contact me or Peter if someone is creating issues on Zoom and needs to be removed from Zoom calls.
         
  • LaneESD Paper Packets – 4J is not producing any more work packets, and teachers will not be expected to create paper packets for students who are opting out of our online content. Instead we will use Lane ESD’s 10-day project based learning supplemental learning packets. Linked here is the first unit. 4J has released Analog Distance Education Guidance which explains how the ESD packets will work. If we have a student who is going to use this route for their learning, Peter, Anne, and/or I will work with their family and create their learning plan. Please let us know if you hear from a student or family that they would prefer this option.
         
  • Who Do I Contact?
    • Usernames and passwords = Rechelle
    • Technology (staff) = 4jdesktop@4j.lane.edu
    • Technology (parent/kids) = sts@4j.lane.edu or student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu or call (541) 790-7770
    • Para obtener asistencia técnica en dispositivos propiedad de 4J, llamaré al 541-790-7731 o enviaré un correo electrónico a student_techsupport@4j.lane.edu
    • Tech Trainings = Visit the new 4J Tech Google Site for tutorials and guides for online tools including Google Classroom, Flipgrid, and digital assessments.
           
  • 4J Wraparound Resources – Anne, Peter, and I are your contact for families in need. The 4J Wraparound Team email included a link to their Wraparound Resources for Staff Doc, which can help you locate what families need and continues to be updated daily. Please know we’ve heard from families who have no food because they are scared to leave their homes. Peter and Anne have been delivering food boxes to families either based on their request or simply because we know they could likely use the help. 

Some highlights added this week:

    • More food sites and a food box locator. Casa de Luz is one site open this Saturday where Spanish is spoken and they offer foods that are more familiar for many Latino families.
    • Info for families who receive SNAP benefits – increased emergency benefits and ability to order delivery from Amazon or Wal-Mart
    • Easier ways to apply for OHP
    • Links to tech support for parents in English and Spanish, including videos.

And linked here are the following flyers:

  • Repeat: Job Expo – Rob Hess sent an email yesterday detailing the Job Expo process. The email opened with this info: “Eugene 4J will hold a virtual (ZOOM) Job Expo from April 28th to May 14th. The Job Expo dates for all secondary level vacancies will be held on Tuesday 4/28 (round 1) and Tuesday 5/12 (round 2). Elementary level vacancies will be held Thursday 4/30 (round 1) and Thursday 5/14 (round 2). Interviews will occur via Zoom from 4:00 to 7:00 pm on the scheduled dates. EEA members who have been displaced, who are returning from a leave, or who wish to transfer to another building will have the opportunity to interview for open positions for which they are endorsed to teach or willing and able to obtain the endorsement.” Please let Peter know if you have any questions about the expo.
         
         
  • Teaching Through a Pandemic: A Mindset for This Moment – In this article from Edutopia, author Stephen Merrill shares what other educators from around the world, who have been distance learning for months, have learned and their suggestions for staying grounded in this difficult time. Teachers from Italy, China, and Hong Kong share their experiences. Their suggestions include:
    • Expect trial…and plenty of error
    • Acknowledge the extraordinary
    • Respect the workload (for yourself and your students)
    • No person is an island
    • Everyone thinks they can’t – before they can
    • Mind the Gap     
             
  • Schedule of Upcoming Events:

April 20 (M) 
     9:30am, Focus Class meeting
     11-12:00, Student Lunch 
    1-2:45pm, Office Hours on Zoom with periods 1-3

April 21 (T) 
     11-12:00, Student Lunch
     1-2:45pm, Office Hours on Zoom with periods 4-6

April 22 (W) 
     9:30, Focus Class Meeting
     11-12:00, Student Lunch

April 23 (H)
     Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day (easy!)
     11-12:00, Student Lunch

April 24 (F) 
     10:00am, Staff Meeting
     11-12:00, Student Lunch

I hope you have a wonderful week and please don’t forget to take care of yourselves!


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