Dear all,
You have made it to the end of the week! Since parents have been actively involved through SeeSaw this week, there is no need for a long or detailed end of week post; a simple close to the week will be sufficient.
Thank you for taking care of each other and supporting yourselves online with ideas, common assignments, chats, WhatsApp groups, Google hangouts, Zoom, and a plethora of ways you have found to connect, virtually. It was great seeing so many of you drop by during our office hours - feel free to even drop in for ‘coffee!’ if you just want to say hi!
Remember that this is new for everyone; please be forgiving to one another and to us as we all work through this together. We are always open to feedback and suggestions for improvement - try as much as you can to funnel this through your team leader so we can make sure we are hearing it all in a streamlined way :)
One question you may ask yourself over the next couple of days when you will, hopefully, not be online is: am I posting too much or too little within the virtual learning environment and what kind of interactions and reflections have I built for my students? Keep pondering this as you are screen free this weekend so you can share ideas within your teams next week.
Our ES section office has also continued to function and has also been creating a different working environment. Please do remember to submit your attendance by 4:00 p.m each day to make Hazel and Padma’s life easier :) This needs to be submitted to Andrew shortly after, so please don’t be late with this!
Some of you have also had to accommodate your partners/spouses offices at home or wear the dual hat of home school parent also. Remember we are here, and again will have office hours this coming week too.
Some of you have also had to accommodate your partners/spouses offices at home or wear the dual hat of home school parent also. Remember we are here, and again will have office hours this coming week too.
ES Virtual Social Gathering
Knowing that we are all missing each other and needing more connection, we would like to invite you to an ES Happy Hour via Zoom next Friday at 5 p.m. Grab your favorite snack and drink and let's meet up and chat. Here is the link for the get together and we will also be sending out an invite next week.
Planning for Virtual Week 2:
Flexibility with schedules:
As you are aware from yesterday's email, we are moving towards offering more flexible learning schedules from next week. The complete weekly plan will be shared on Monday by 8:00 a.m, with a modified specialist schedule. All the children in a certain grade level will have their (e.g) music class on the same day.
Flexibility with schedules:
As you are aware from yesterday's email, we are moving towards offering more flexible learning schedules from next week. The complete weekly plan will be shared on Monday by 8:00 a.m, with a modified specialist schedule. All the children in a certain grade level will have their (e.g) music class on the same day.
Remember not every lesson needs to have a SeeSaw post; in fact think about alternatives as much as you can!
VERY IMPORTANT!!! For this week, if using SeeSaw, please schedule your activity to go out on the day it is needed instead of releasing them all on Monday.
- Scheduling an activity
- Approving posts; please try to only approve those posts made by yourself or your own students
- Homeroom teachers - please avoid “bulk approve” posts of specialists.
- Specialists - Please approve your own posts within 24 hours of your lesson, as much as possible, to support home room teachers in keeping tabs on posts.
** Please communicate with Priya if you need help with scheduling or approving posts!
Paying attention to social/emotional needs and connectivity
Homeroom classes will hold live morning meetings to facilitate both child-child and teacher-child face time, conversations and connections.
All teachers will be asked to include at least one video of themselves as part of their weekly lessons
Homeroom classes will hold live morning meetings to facilitate both child-child and teacher-child face time, conversations and connections.
All teachers will be asked to include at least one video of themselves as part of their weekly lessons
What does that mean for homeroom teachers?
- We will be keeping with the existing weekly template planner
- The whole week lesson plans will be shared on Monday morning (by 8:00 a.m)
- All SeeSaw posts ready on Monday and scheduled to go out the day they are needed
- Each homeroom class will host a live morning meeting/morning message which will look slightly different by grade level
- Subject lesson plans for the week should include at least one video of the teacher teaching/demonstrating/offering instructions or providing an overview
- Attendance will still be completed by 4:00 p.m each day, using the same criteria
What does that mean for specialist teachers?
- The whole week lesson plans will be shared on Monday morning (by 8:00 a.m)
- Each specialist subject will be assigned one day per grade level for lessons and for classroom/office hours
- All SeeSaw posts ready on Monday and scheduled to go out the day they are needed
- Specialist lesson plans should include at least one video of the teacher teaching/demonstrating/offering instructions or providing an overview
- Specialist teachers will only have 1 x classroom/office hours for students via live chat/hangouts per grade (assigned days in tables below)
- Specialist teachers will have a second office hours block per grade for reviewing learning students have submitted, giving virtual feedback etc
For all of us, this means, although we will still be using the weekly planning template, should families start to engage with the learning on a different day in the week, we need to be flexible and allow this.
**Here's a short video from Priya on how to set up for zoom.
SeeSaw
Below are some additional links to support your use of Seesaw and sharing the weekly plan with parents.
*Dance/Library will alternate weeks. This week’s lesson is in bold
Wellbeing
At these times, it is even more crucial to pay attention to the well being of both ourselves and our families and those of our students.This great Wellbeing during CoI document compiled by Jack and Ryan is a fabulous place to start and encourage families to engage with. This Wellbeing for teachers document, put together by counsellors, is aimed at our teacher audience.
At these times, it is even more crucial to pay attention to the well being of both ourselves and our families and those of our students.This great Wellbeing during CoI document compiled by Jack and Ryan is a fabulous place to start and encourage families to engage with. This Wellbeing for teachers document, put together by counsellors, is aimed at our teacher audience.
ES/MS LibGuide
Want access to e-books or audiobooks? Need to use online tools for research? Wondering what digital resources are available to us at home? Forgot the password to log in to a database? Check out the 'Books' and 'Research' tabs on the ES/MS LibGuide and let Ms. Babs know if you have any questions: bbarbara@aischennai.org.
Advice from Virtual Experts ‘If I had to do it all over again!’
Lots of really nice-to-read advice about Virtual Learning
General Philosophy`
- Don’t expect that it will be perfect and accept that the amount of learning won’t be the same as usual.
- Be willing to learn alongside the kids. This is a new situation for everyone.
- Pace yourself.
- Depending upon the age level that you’re teaching be realistic in your expectations.
- Have patience! Just because it doesn't work the first doesn't mean it doesn't work
- Expect the unexpected!
- Don't be afraid to ask for help
- Realize that things might take a bit longer with the learning curve
- My mantra has been “ Be comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
- Plan less. It’s all daunting for the kiddos and everything will take 3 x longer.
- Borrow where necessary. There are some great videos that can help supplement the course material in any subject.
- Allow for students and families to work at their own pace.
Keryn, Dave, and Calley
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