Distance Learning @ Home
Distance learning during COVID-19 can happen in one of four ways:
- Families can opt-in for distance learning from the get-go.
- If an on-campus learner needs to quarantine at home for 14 days, they can automatically switch to distance learning.
- On-campus learners could potentially decide to switch to distance learning after speaking with the principal.
- If the governor and/or the health department recommend a soft-closure of the school, all students could potentially transition to at-home learning (just like in the spring of 2020).
What does distance learning look like campus-wide?
Google Classroom
- Each teacher on campus has been asked to set up a Google Classroom.
- This will be a place for each class to house and track assignments and due dates.
- In the older grades, it will also be a place to turn in assignments.
- Live-streamed videos from the classroom will be recorded and (in some cases) will also be housed in the Google Classroom.
- Google Classrooms will provide consistency across (and within) grade levels.
What does distance learning look like in kindergarten?
Join our Google Classroom
Watch Mrs. Hadsell Teach via Google Meet
Student Instructions During Our Google Meet Live-Stream
In Case of Technical Difficulties
Specials & Recess
Group Time
Packets & Supplies
Attendance
Keep in Touch
- Joining our Google Classroom is technically optional. It’s simply going to be an online space where we can store our live-stream link as well as a list of this year’s assignments. There is no expectation for students/families to join my Google Classroom if they don’t want to.
- To join, visit: classroom.google.com
- Enter our class code. Rather than posting the code here in a public space, I'll just have you contact me if you don't have the code.
Watch Mrs. Hadsell Teach via Google Meet
- Daily lessons will be live-streamed using Google Meet.
- There are two ways to easily access the link for our Google Meet:
- Go to our Google Classroom. The link for our Google Meet is posted on the home page.
- Or you can simply type the web address into your browser and then save it as a favorite.
- We will use the same Google Meet link every day (for as long as Google will let us).
- I will let you know if our Google Meet link changes for any reason.
Student Instructions During Our Google Meet Live-Stream
- Please have your student mute themselves while I’m teaching. This will help the audio be crisp and clear for everyone who’s tuning in to watch.
- If your student has a question during a lesson (or wants to answer one of the teacher's questions), have them raise their hand. As soon as I call on them, they can unmute their microphone. Then they can mute themselves again when they’re done talking. If, for some reason, I’m not noticing that their hand is raised, please unmute your microphone and get my attention by saying something like, “Mrs. Hadsell, I have a question.”
- Principal Kirk is asking our distance learners to still wear dress code (at least from the waist up). The reason: Teachers may decide to project your student’s image onto the screen for the class to see (in cases where your student is answering/asking a question).
In Case of Technical Difficulties
- Technology is great, but sometimes it acts up. If there is ever a day where we’re hitting technical snags on campus, please be patient with us. I’ll communicate any changes to the day’s distance learning as quickly as I can.
Specials & Recess
- Your student does not need to be logged into Google Meet for "specials" and recess. ("Specials" are our classes like art, music, PE, and library.)
- Please give your student a break from screen time during these portions of our school day. You’ll have access to our class schedule (handed out on Back to School Night), so you’ll know what time we’ll be returning to class (and returning to our live-stream on Google Meet).
Group Time
- On a normal year, group time would be held at the end of the day. It's a time where students rotate to different stations for different small-group activities.
- At this point, we won’t be able to do groups in the traditional way. We will use this time for other activities that will help us review concepts that we've recently learned.
- This portion of our day will not be live-streamed. Distance learners at home can use this time to work on homework or review/practice other concepts and skills with a mentor at home.
Packets & Supplies
- In addition to live-streamed lessons, your student will have access to daily packets.
- Packets will include all the hard-copies of the work we’ll be doing in the classroom.
- Packet Pick-up: Stay tuned for details on when to pick up your student’s packets from the classroom.
- Packet Drop-off: Please bring your student’s completed packets back to campus on a regular basis so I can grade their work, track their progress, and stay connected to their academics. Ideally, I would love to see work come back every 1-2 weeks. We may be setting up more structured dates/times for packet drop-off. Stay tuned for more details.
Attendance
- Students will be marked absent if they are not logged in to participate with the live-stream of our daily Google Meet.
Keep in Touch
- Please let me know how everything is going on your end.
- Reach out anytime if there are things we need to tweak or change.
- I think my tag line for the year will be: “Please be patient with me.” :) All of this is new and different -- not just for families, but for teachers as well. There will undoubtedly be a learning curve for all of us. But I’m glad that technology will keep us connected in new and exciting ways.
- Thank you for all you do at home. ♥