Bobcat ROAR

April 10, 2020

Teachers,

Below you will find updates. Please pay close attention to #1 as there is an action you must take before new lessons are pushed out.

1. Please DELETE days 5-10 from the PLANS in your science course. That will clear everything that is in there so the new content can be pushed to you. Directions on how to delete are #4 on the Troubleshooting Guide. Please delete PLANS 5-10 by Friday at 4:00pm. You may also want to delete any duplicate plans for days 1-4.

2. Be sure you are using the Cyber Security measures that were shared during your training when utilizing Zoom with your students. The tips and measures to put in place can be found here to jog your memory.

3. Many parents, students and teachers have expressed concerns over the amount of material that is included in each day’s plan. Students should focus on completing the MATH and LITERACY lessons each day. The other subjects are there for students who would like the extra activities. PLEASE COMMUNICATE THIS TO YOUR PARENTS. We will modify the set-up of the lessons next week so this is more clear.

4. Thank you for the input many of you have provided about the lessons. We will be making adjustments to the lessons for next week based on the feedback. The major ones will be: boxes for students to provide an answer or indicate they completed the task anytime they are asked to complete something, CORRECT links the first time for any videos, Spanish translations for all math and literacy PLANS, changing the name of the plans to correspond with the day of the week, clearer directions in more kid/parent friendly language, and more clear directions about what must be completed vs. activities that are optional. We intend to push the lessons over the weekend once all changes have been completed.

5. If teachers know how and want to replace the district provided Heggerty or Fundations videos with videos of themselves conducting these lessons you may do so. This would also allow you to modify the week in the program to be more appropriate for where your students are. If you choose to do this, you will need to replace the district provided video link with the link to your video in your PLAN.

6. If your students are having issues with the Heggerty/Fundations links, the correct links for Friday’s videos can be viewed here.

7. Message from Dr. Routen: Art and Music lessons are embedded in the classroom teacher’s lesson plans and are being activated by the classroom teacher daily. Art and Music Lessons have been assigned to Tuesdays and Thursdays and can be found under the “Plans” tab located underneath the Science assignment. Any questions can be emailed to the student’s art or music teachers who will be happy to provide assistance, encouragement and they will be happy to help answer any questions you may have.

Thank you again for all you do! TGIF!!!

April 8, 2020

Teachers,

If you have not been told so today, you are appreciated! We know this move to online learning has not been painless for you, your students or their parents and I thank you for your continued patience in the process. Below are some updates for today.

Grades – We have not sent out much guidance on grades thus far because we knew this week would be a lot to absorbed with moving to online learning. Remind your students and parents that this is a learning week for everyone and a child’s grade will not be affected during this transition. We will be sending more information about grading through your principals next week, but you do not need to record any grades this week. If students are struggling to complete all parts of the lessons have them focus on completing the math and literacy lessons. There are science, social studies, art, music and PE lessons built in throughout the week for those who can complete them.

1. Attendance – I’ve received a lot of questions about attendance also. Remember that many students will be completing work in the evenings when a parent may be home or at odd times due to home schedules. You can monitor who has logged into itsLearning by clicking on 360 Reports. You do not need to enter attendance at this time, we will send further guidance through your principal next week.

2. Math Lessons – Again thank you to those who reported the issue with the math assignments not having a new box for today’s lesson. (we are learning every day!) We will fix this issue in the new lessons that will come next week, but for this week, do not grade the assignment or give feedback in the platform until Friday. The students will add their answers from each day, like a journal, and you can review all answers in one place on Friday. We do have a fix for next week and there will be a box for each day’s answer.

3. Videos for K-2 Literacy- The “push” of videos did not work last night, due to a function of the system. If your students are having issues viewing the literacy videos you can send them the direct links from this doc. We do have the issue fixed for the new set of lessons coming for next week. Some YouTube restrictions have been lifted so the videos embedded from YouTube should not be an issue any more.

4. 1st Grade Science Lesson for Thursday – the 1st Grade science lesson for Thursday is asking for a password when you click on the link. Have students use the PDF found here instead.

5. Troubleshooting – If you have created a troubleshooting guide of any type (paper or video) you don’t mind sharing, send it to me and I will include it on the itsLearning Troubleshooting Guide.

6. Teacher input – If you have suggestions on how to make the lessons better please send them my way. I’ll be forming a teacher panel in the next few days to help review and enhance lessons for next week, so any suggestions are welcome!

See the attached letter to K-5 Math teachers below. It explains the reasoning behind the development of the math content in itslearning.

Good Morning Teachers,

The video links have been updated in your lessons and pushed out to your SCIENCE course overnight, so you shouldn’t have the issue with blocked content or too many views. Let us know if you are still having this issue today. Also, disregard lessons 6-10 at this time, we have started on them but they are not finished. In order to push the videos we had to push everything . Lessons 6-10 should be updated by tomorrow for you to view.

April 7, 2020

Teachers,

Again, thank you for patience, understanding and grace during this time. We are all trying this move to digital learning a good experience, although I know today has been bumpy in many regards. Please see updates below that center around FAQ’s from today. We will continue to keep you updated as we move forward.

· If you need technology support the quickest avenue is a help ticket. Please use the help ticket so we can streamline support to all. Parents can also submit a ticket at the same link.

· Videos – We are working to correct the issue with the videos. We will update you once a fix is in place.

· Due dates – there are no set “due dates” on assignments from the district level. Work with your principal on specific expectations here. Our intent was to leave as much flexibility as possible since this move will be a struggle for many. Remember to day was DAY 1 for EVERYONE, yourself included. This will get easier as we figure out the kinks. Also, remember, many parents will not be able to help their students until the evening.

· Printing Materials – the materials in the lessons were not intended to be printed. For example the Fundations packets are provided for reference, but the activity can be done on any paper the students have around. I have added an explanation of the symbols you will see within the PLANs in the Troubleshooting Guide. This will help you see what is expected to be turned in and what is just an activity to complete.

· Adding Teachers to Your Course – See steps in the Troubleshooting Guide for adding specialty teachers to your virtual classroom. Note that the speciality teacher follows the steps, not the homeroom teacher.

April 5, 2020

Teachers,

We have discovered we left out a critical step in the process of using itsLearning – ACTIVATING the PLANS. You will need to ACTIVATE your plans each day. In order to do so, please see steps outlined here. I do apologize for sending this so late and not catching this sooner, but I wanted you to have this first thing in the morning. You do not have to complete this tonight, you can ACTIVATE plans in the morning, which will allow your students to see all the content for that day.

Also, the district created content has been loaded into your SCIENCE course, not Social Studies. All content is within there – Literacy, math, science, ss, fine arts and PE. You can have students complete their lessons directly in the SCIENCE course, copy the lessons into a different itsLearning course you have created or pull the information over into GoogleClassroom. If you are going to pull into GoogleClassroom then make sure students login to itsLearning first to get there. The training modules will remain open until the end of the year if you need steps on how to do this.

Please continue to share issues you are seeing with us so we can help find fixes. This is a learning curve for us all and I truly appreciate your patience in the learning process.

April 9, 2020 UPDATES:

Please be reminded that for this week, teachers are not to grade any assignment. For attendance, teachers should be monitoring which students have not logged in and attempt to make contact with those who have not to encourage them to do so. We also received information from DESE (formerly ADE) yesterday with additional guidance. I have pasted some highlights from the DESE memo below.

Highlights from DESE Memo

Remote learning is learning that happens outside of the traditional classroom because the student and teacher are separated by distance and/or time. Remote learning can occur in real-time or occur independently at flexible times, and it may or may not involve technology. It cannot be assumed that every family or every student has access to the necessary devices and appropriate internet connection at their home. In many cases, students categorized as “at risk” by schools are the ones without access to devices or reliable internet. Local school districts should investigate the technological resources and realities of the community and determine what type of remote learning makes the most sense in the context. Real-time, technology-infused remote learning may be appropriate for District A, while flexibly timed instruction without technology is the right choice for District B. District C might find that a plan including a blend of real-time, flexibly timed, technological, and non-technological options is the best fit for its students and families.

In planning lessons for the continuation of AMI by remote learning, districts should keep in mind that students may have:

• Multiple classes

• Other responsibilities

• Personal or family illness

• Limited access to devices and internet

• Difficulty focusing due to added stress and possible trauma related to the current ever-changing situation

• Limited English language support from family members at home

• Different schedules of students/instructors/schools/parents

Grading

The emphasis for schoolwork assigned, reviewed, and completed during AMI days is on learning, not on compliance. Grading should focus on the continuation of learning and prioritize the connectedness and care for students and staff. All students should have extended opportunities to redo, make up, or try again to complete, show progress, or attempt to complete work assigned prior to and during the remote learning period. When determining a standard for passing grades, make sure to take into account that students are receiving different and often reduced levels of support than they are accustomed to, and that they may need time and help to adjust to remote systems of learning.

Grading decisions should be based upon the principle of no educational harm to any child. This pandemic and the statewide suspension of in-person instruction has impacted education in ways that we’ve never experienced; therefore, we would strongly encourage districts to think about grading options, and how remote learning has impacted students’ grades. The expectation is that during the extended closure there should not be a negative impact on students. We ask that districts consider allowing students make-up assignments, extended time, etc. to help improve grading when possible. Individual student engagement or disengagement should be addressed locally. There are factors outside of the control of the school system with learning being moved off site; therefore, the aim is that student grades are not lowered as a result of remote learning.

Time On Task

There has been much discussion regarding how students are held accountable for learning and what is the expected amount of time for students to spend learning each day at home. The 6 hour instructional day has been waived for schools and students. School districts should provide flexibility regarding “time on task” and the focus should be on the essential standards within core content.

The DESE will issue additional guidance soon with recommendations for maximum time on task for different grade levels

April 6, 2020

The 10 day AMI packets that were completed from Phase I will be placed in your box after this Friday. We will make arrangements for pick-up for grading later this month. As a reminder, these assignments will be used for 4th quarter and should be based on (at minimum an attempt at) completion more so than accuracy. See the most updated information below about Phase II AMI work.

There have been a few questions about grading and teacher-student contact requirements.

Teacher-student Contacts (Interactions)

We are asking teachers to have at least 3 student contacts (interactions) per week per student. What could that look like? A teacher has a student that she/he works with in a small group on Monday, has a Class ZOOM meeting on Wednesday, and sends an email or text to the individual student. That would be that student’s 3 contacts (interactions) for the week. Be flexible in this, there is not a set "right" way to do this. The intent is that teachers are making an effort to connect with students regularly.

Grading requirement

For grades K – 5th, teachers are required to give one grade per week for Mathematics and Literacy ONLY. The grade will be based on the completion of the activity. That makes each assignment basically a pass/fail. If students are not completing that assignments, teachers must document attempts to communicate with the student and/or parent before the final grade is submitted.

We will remove the deadline of April 30th on all assignments which will enable students the opportunity to complete assignments before the end of the quarter.

In summary, teachers are asked to be flexible. The requirement is one grade per week for both literacy and math.

• Additional parent informational sheets available through the following link: Elementary This information will also be on lrsd.org also. The link below contains "How To" info for parents/students with logging in and navigating the platforms. Spanish version can be found in the Word Document below.
• If you have parents that have specifically requested to pick up a device because their child does not have one and they couldn't get here Monday, you may share with those parents ONLY that I can issue their child's device Tuesday, April 7, 2020 from 10:00 - 11:00 am ONLY. That is THE ONLY OTHER TIME/DAY AVAILABLE. They will need to call the school when they arrive to let us know the child's name. A hand receipt can be completed upon arrival.

The C & I lessons are still being tweaked, but will be released to you by 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, April 4th. What will those lessons look like? Uniform. Will they be perfect? No. We know that this week will pose some challenges and your student contact time this week will probably be spent helping students to learn how to complete the lessons, turn in work, etc. And we know that you may need tech support as well. Be patient as there are only a few people currently equipped to help you with technology issues, but their time is solely dedicated to this task now. In the event you need tech support please submit a help ticket here. We will also hold regular support sessions for teachers throughout the week, information will be out soon.

Literacy

For literacy, our goal was for students to continue within the same programs and type of lessons that they are accustomed to and that they will continue with in the fall. Ms. Chambers surveyed teachers prior to spring break regarding which Fundations unit you were on. Those responses had a range of up to 8 units, therefore the information for the units included in the AMI work came from where the majority of teachers in the grade level were on: unit 4 for K, and Unit 11 for first through third. If you were far behind that Unit, you will need to monitor student progress in the platform and provide small group instruction to support students who are not able to be successful on Unit 11.

Here is the structure of the literacy lessons in AMI Week 1:

K-3

· Heggerty (Unit 18 for K, Unit 15 for 1-2, No Heggerty for 3rd) Literacy facilitators recorded videos of these lessons with wait time for students to follow along and actively participate in the lesson.

· Fundations (Unit 4 for K, Unit 11 for 1-3) Wilson has been adamant about videotaping and sharing of lessons. We have included activities from the Home Support Pack. Literacy facilitators have recorded videos for students to watch each day for correct demonstration and practice of the sounds introduced with wait time for student participation. Students will play the videos and echo after the teacher. Other videos will be recorded that will support the science of reading - such as the steps to reading a single syllable word, open, closed, and vowel team syllable types. You will recognize these from your RISE training. Daily activities for 1-3 will be the dictation components that are included in the Homework Guide of the Home Support Pack. There is no instructional components this week in the Fundations lessons other than the sound warm up for new sounds. On Fridays, students will be given an activity out of the HSP that they can type into the assignment box and you can check their work. K and 1 students are directed to do it on paper and then ask an adult or sibling to type it in for them - really quick and simple activities.

K-5

· Wit and Wisdom Module 0- we will use the Knowledge on the Go lessons provided by Great Minds. The first five lessons are geared toward helping students learn and understand the content stages and the instructional routines of Notice and Wonder, Stop and Jot, Quick Write, Knowledge Journal Entry. This is done with the Module 0 lessons using a piece of art that most students are already familiar with from Unit 3. Students will have an assignment to "turn in" one to two times each week in W & W. Again, they will have to type their response or have it typed for them to turn it in. It is perfectly acceptable for parents to help students enter their answers or for them to show you the work when you video conference with them.

Two part lessons in W and W - in the Welcome Module (Module 0) the videos are short. Students will watch both parts of the video on the same day. In Module 4, which starts on Day 6, some of them get a bit longer. The videos in Module 4 will be split over two days (e.g. Lesson 1 Part 1 on Monday, Lesson 1 Part 2 on Tuesday, Lesson 2 Part 1 on Wednesday, Lesson 2 Part 2 on Thursday, etc.)
Watch the videos! This is great opportunity for us all to learn more about what is intended with the delivery of W & W lessons. This could be very helpful to you.

· Small Group - small group in AMI will not look like small group in your classroom on a daily basis. You are only required to meet with a small group once per week (not to say that you couldn't do more). This doesn't mean you have to meet with every student in every small group once per week, but that you have to provide a small group meeting each week. This may be based on the activity of students in the portal; it might be a supplemental phonics lesson for those who need it; it might be a group on combining sentences using conjunctions because you saw they didn't get it in their W and W assignment. Teachers are required to make contact with every student three times per week. Your contact each week may be different. If you are equipped to deliver a whole group Fundations lesson to your class three days per week, you are more than welcome to do so for your own class. Remember not all students are going to have full parent support at home and may have difficulty being online when you expect them to be. Be flexible and provide options where you can. Talk with your principal about further expectation.

· Reading Log - every student in all grades will be asked to keep a reading log of books they read or listened to.

• Recommended Reading List - The LRSD Recommended Reading List from the website is linked in each lesson for a reference for appropriate level of books for parents.

• News broadcaster read alouds - Currently, channel 4 and channel 16 are working on You Tube videos of read alouds to be posted as resources for the reading log. We have delivered all the titles that we could locate from the recommended reading lists and from Appendix D Volume of Reading texts. We will begin to upload these as well to the lessons as soon as they are made available. They are also recording the titles that will be used in Social Studies lessons.

  Math

  Math AMI lessons are structured with the following components: Math Mindset, Working With Numbers, Story Problems/Math Games, Writing About Math. The math activities included each day will allow students to continue working on the foundational math ideas for their grade level. Each daily plan provides approximately 45 minutes of math activities with options for student choice built in.

  Science and Social Studies

  Sixty minutes of social studies and 60 of science instruction are scheduled each week. Students will complete activities that provide opportunities for rich discussions related to real world topics. Beyond the weekly instruction, parents and teachers are asked to consider the value of engaging students in ongoing conversations about timely current events, the impact of these events on our lives, and what it means to be a responsible citizen.

  Fine Arts and PE

  Students will get one music and one art lesson per-week and two PE activities per day. There are no grades to be taken for these lessons.

  Services: GT, Dyslexia, SPED pull-outs, speech, OT/PT

• Gifted and Talented support is provided through enrichment lessons provided weekly for all students K-5. K-2 students may enjoy a weekly enrichment activity related to the literacy curriculum each Wednesday and students in grades 3-5 are invited to participate in a study entitled Fitness Pursuit. All students may choose to complete these activities. GT specialists will be in contact with identified GT students to provide support as needed.

• Dyslexia services will be provided once a week via video conferencing. Ms. Carpenter will be the direct support for teachers providing this service.

• SPED pull-out/Speech, and OT/PT will be provided virtually as well. Ms. Steele will provide directions to affected teachers on how they should provide these services.

This may answer some of your questions and may spark a hundred more. Again, know that this week's lessons are not perfect and you will have an opportunity to provide feedback on how we might improve them for all students. We have to step back and consider this as a more global issue than any one class. This is tens of thousands of kids and we need them all to have some consistency. This will help us to know where we need to make up lost ground when we return in the fall.

itsLearning

1. Teachers can still access the itsLearning training session at any point. The expectation is that everyone will be providing virtual learning beginning Tuesday, April 7th.

1. Teachers are expected to engage in itsLearning every day. The hope is that teachers will be able to do more supporting during this time and not have to worry about lesson plans for students. Remember, you may use Zoom, Google Hangouts, email, calls ect. with students. Teach and support students the same as you have engaged over the last few weeks.

Further Clarifications:

1. There have been several questions around the requirements for small group as well as the three contacts home per week. Here's an example : An email to the entire class can be used as contact home #1, small group Zoom session can be contact #2 and a phone call/text/1-on-1 video conference can be #3. Don’t make it too complicated. Be flexible with students, not everyone will be able to logon. Be certain to keep track of the attempts to contact home and who attended. The Communication Log is attached below. Tip: Save in a Google Document and share with me. I will send feedback weekly.
2. Spanish versions of the Fundations parent packets that are part of the lessons loaded are coming soon. Please continue to be patient.
3. Spanish version of the parent letter is here. All communications (parent letters, how to guides, etc) from the AMI days can be found here.
4. Lessons are now loaded for all teachers in itsLearning. The lessons had to be loaded in the SCIENCE course rather than SS. When teachers login, click "Courses" then "Science" and all the lessons will be there.
5. Tech Support – Inevitably, teachers are going to need support throughout this process as well parents. Zoom sessions are being set up for support as well as C&I team members to include our LIF and MIF who will provide support. More updates will be posted in this section as they come.

In case you missed it, this afternoon, Governor Hutchinson and Commissioner Key stated that we will continue AMI until the end of the year! Governor Hutchinson stated during his daily briefing that schools will remain closed for the rest of the 2019-202 school year and districts will continue to instruct through the use of AMI. Secretary Key asked for everyone to be flexible and understanding during this time period.

After today's successful technology roll-out, let's hope for the best that we are ready for online learning. This week will be a lot of trial and error and then things will smooth out in the coming weeks. Please be patient and accommodating to our students/parents.

Respectful

On-Task

Ambitious

Responsible

Email: roxie.browning@lrsd.org
Location: 6501 West 32nd Street, Little Rock, AR, USA
Phone: 501-353-5534
Twitter: @RHBrowning