Google Classroom Happenings - April 29

Hello students and families of room 11!

As you've probably noticed, I have not been posting on the blog daily this week. I don't want to overwhelm families with information and I am posting most updates on Google Classroom. However, here's some things for you to note this week in case you haven't been checking the classroom posts:

• Tomorrow (April 30) is the last day to submit the classroom feedback survey. Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to respond as it really helps me figure out how to best support the students and what kinds of things are working or need tweaking.
• There is a wrap up review/quiz on 2D and 3D shapes that will be posted tomorrow. Students have until May 4th to complete it.
• This week is Hats on for Mental Health! During our regularly scheduled Google Meet on Friday at 10 am, make sure you're wearing your best hat! I will be looking to take some photos of students in their hats for the year book during this session. I will always ask for student permission before taking a photo and these photos are meant to be used for the school yearbook only. If you're uncomfortable having your photo taken for the yearbook, please let me know and I will not take your picture.
• Make sure to submit your monthly reading tracking sheet tomorrow. I may be working on getting some prizes for students who complete their calendars.
• I am currently taking class name suggestions! Students are encouraged to submit their suggestions through the question assignment. Once I have gathered enough suggestions, the class will vote on what they want to be called.
• Finally, and most importantly, I have made a special video for the students to view over on the classroom. Everyone who submitted a video of their Rube Goldberg project was included. I am so proud of all your hard work with this!!! It is also my first time creating and editing a video, so I would love if you could watch it and leave a comment underneath letting me know what you think. I will not be posting the video to the blog as it has the students in it and is meant only for our class to watch. I have taken a screen shot of where you can find it on the classroom, so give it a look!

As always, email me with any questions or concerns. I miss working and learning with the students and I really value hearing from you! Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and keep reading!

Wrapping up week 4

I know I say this almost every week, but I can't believe we're here. I can't believe the schools are still closed and that we have made it through 4 weeks of online learning. It has certainly been a journey! Here's a few things to note from this week:

• I have put a survey on Google Classroom for the students to fill out about their experiences so far. If we were in our regular classroom, I would be asking students for suggestions for how we can create our learning space together. I know this is a very different kind of classroom, but I still value having a classroom community and I would like if all students could fill out the survey as it will help guide me in creating content and learning experiences for the students. I have asked the students to get help from a trusted adult to fill out the last section in order to help them get their ideas down. This survey will expire on April 30 @ midnight. I really value your feedback, so I hope to hear from everyone.
• Today we had our Show and Tell where we introduced our furry friends or shared some art that we were proud of. I made sure to disturb Mr. Crowley from his regular routine of sleeping all day and he was not impressed. However, I told him that if he wants to keep living in this household he needs to contribute somehow and he could consider this a rent payment. 
• The staff at Capitol Hill School put together a short video to tell the students how much we miss them and to talk about things we are grateful for during this crazy time. I will post the video below so you can take a look as well. Let us know what you think!

Although this is never how I imagined I would be teaching in 2020, I am immensely grateful for the time I get to spend with the students and learning how to navigate this territory together. I miss their laughter and their stories. I miss learning together and from each other. I miss our community. But I also refuse to give up. I am working hard behind the scenes to see what I can do to make this a better experience for everyone.

Enjoy the weekend. Stay safe, stay well, and keep reading!

CHS staff grateful video

Returned work

Hello students and families of room 11!

I am slowly making my way through assignments and returning them with feedback. Here are a couple of things to note:

• some assignments may be returned with no feedback (such as Google forms). Unless I specifically leave a comment in the feedback that the work is incomplete or needs to be redone, I have recorded the students' answers and marked the work as completed.
• I intend to read through each student's work and provide a comment or suggestion of what could be improved. It is up to the student to revisit the work. If students would like to redo the work, they need to unsubmit the assignment on their end, make their corrections, and then re-submit it. Students are not obligated to do this. However, it is a great way to improve their skills by reviewing their work and correcting it. It is strongly encouraged, but not required.
• I know that some families are not engaging with the work on Google Classroom and are instead using this time to maintain mental health and overall wellbeing. I strongly support this approach. I will be sending follow up emails to check in about missing assignments and to ask how you're doing overall, but if you tell me that this is currently the focus for you and your family, I have no problem with that. However, because I was unable to spend significant time with the students before the school closure, I will be basing my report card comments and making recommendations based on the work they complete in Google Classroom. Marks will not be lowered as a result of incomplete work. 

Thank you to all the parents who have reached out to ask questions and let me know how I can help. Please continue to contact me with any comments or concerns as it helps guide me in what kind of information to provide to parents on the blog.

Stay safe and stay healthy.

Reminders for next week - April 20 to 24

That's a wrap! Can you believe we have already been through 3 weeks of online learning? Here are some reminders and highlights from this week:

The students have overwhelmingly voted to have all assignments posted on one day and I am happy to accommodate that. So, going forward, all assignments will be posted on Monday for the whole week. These assignments are meant to be completed throughout the week, so please take your time and don't rush. Again, we will still accept work that is submitted after the deadline. Just remember to click Turn In on your assignments so I know it is ready to be reviewed.

During our class meet today, we discussed what kinds of activities we can do during our next meet. Capitol Hill School will be undergoing renovations all of next week, so I will be working from home. So, on Friday, April 24 at 10 am, we will be doing our weekly class meet with a special appearance by Mr. Crowley (my cat who is a butt) and everyone else and their pets are invited! Once everyone is logged in, we will introduce our furry friends. I will call on students one at a time so everyone will get a chance. If you don't have a furry friend, then please feel free to share an art project that you have created or a favorite toy. Afterwards, we will play Heads or Tails and do a short sharing circle to review the week.

Finally, the teachers have been busy making a video surprise for the students, which we are planning to post to our Google Classroom next week, so keep an eye out for that one.

Thanks for all your hard work

Google Meet tomorrow at 10 am

We will have our weekly class meeting tomorrow at 10 am on Google meet. Nickname is posted on Google Classroom. Looking forward to seeing everyone and doing a small sharing circle!

Novel study has started on Google Classroom!

The teachers are busy learning all kinds of new technology! We have finally got our copy of Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman and we are busy reading and recording parts for the students to listen to and enjoy. There will be a few short answer questions for each section. The first part is posted on the Google Classroom under ELA and is read by Ms. Seaman. I will be reading part 3 and part 6, so stay tuned for those in the next few weeks! As this week is a short week, there will be no new assignments uploaded on today.

I can see on my end that most students are having success with navigating Google Classroom and have been turning in assignments. I have posted a reminder on the class stream for students to double check that they are clicking the Turn In button once they are finished so I know they are ready to have their work reviewed. Again, do not worry about turning in work late as I will still review it once it has been submitted.

I hope everyone has been keeping busy and has lots of good books to read. According to my GetEpic account, our class has already read 14 books! That's amazing. Keep going! I know some students are not using GetEpic and are reading through Read Theory or paper copy books, and that's great! Students can keep track of their reading in the Reading Tracking spreadsheet on Google Classroom and submit it at the end of the month. For those of you reading on GetEpic, let's see how many books we can finish by the end of the month!  Here is a screen shot from Get Epic showing how many books we've read so far!

As always, please email me any time with questions or concerns.

Week 3 of Online Learning

I hope everyone had a good long weekend and found a way to connect with family and friends. We are heading into week 3 of online learning and this week's assignments have been posted to the classroom. All assignments are due Monday, April 20th by 4 pm. However, if students need more time for assignments, do not worry about the deadlines. I would rather students take their time and demonstrate their understanding than rush through things. I am available by email any time for questions or if students would like to book a private meeting to get some help with assignments. I will also be working out a schedule to do a private meet with each student for 20 minutes in the next few weeks to chat about student assignments, progress, and to discuss any questions. I will email parents and students the date and time in advance and parents are welcome to sit in as well.

This week, we will have our class checkin meeting on Friday, April 17 at 10 am to 11 am. The students have requested a show and tell meeting where we can introduce our pets or show something the students have created and are proud of, so we will discuss the ground rules for that this Friday and schedule the Show and Tell for next week (April 20 - 24).

Capitol Hill School will be undergoing renovations that requires no staff be in the building from April 18 to April 25, so I will be working from home that week. I will still be available during regular hours and by email, and assignments will roll out as usual.

Until tomorrow, be safe, be well, and keep creating!

Important dates and assignment due dates

Can you believe we have already made it through week 2 of online learning? I know it might seem overwhelming but just remember that we are all figuring this out together and it is totally okay if there are bumps in the road. Going forward, the grade 3/4 team has heard the feedback that multiple deadlines are confusing for the students and the families. After the assignments listed below, all assignments going forward will be due the following Monday by 4 pm. For example, assignments given on Tuesday, April 14 will be due Monday, April 20. I will continue to post reminders for assignments on both Google Classroom and the Blog.

I have posted an assignment reminder on Google Classroom for the students, but I will also post it here so everyone has access to the information.

Assignment reminders and upcoming dates to note.
Friday, April 10 - Good Friday
Monday, April 13 - PD Day, no new assignments
Tuesday, April 14 - assignments posted for the week

Please remember to check your Classwork tab on Google Classroom to see if you are missing any assignments. Here are some assignment reminders:

Due Friday, April 10 at midnight
1. Novel study predictions
2. 3D shape and space
3. Rube Goldberg Investigation Task 1

Due Monday, April 13 at midnight
1. Learn about the author: Neil Gaiman
2. 3D shapes - Geometry Task
3. 3 Step Rube Goldberg Machines - Create you own!

As always, please reach out to me via email if you have any questions or concerns. Enjoy the weekend and I will be back to posting on Tuesday, April 14.

New Assignments Uploaded

Hello families of CHS room 11

We have posted some new assignments today for both literacy and numeracy that are due Monday, April 13, 2020. These assignments are just building upon things we introduced on Monday. Please take a look and let me know if you have any trouble with them. Please note that the video that is posted in the Google slides document may take a minute to load and might not play right away when you click on it. I have also included it as a separate attachment that can be viewed. This video has no sound. I will be hosting our weekly Google Meet tomorrow from 10 am - 11 am as Friday is a holiday and we will not be hosting our regular Friday meeting as a result. The classroom nickname is listed on Google Classroom, along with a reminder for students to join me tomorrow!

I have received some concern about the deadlines attached to the assignments on Google Classroom. Please note that these deadlines are more for the teachers so we know when we assigned things and we will still happily accept late assignments without penalty. If you are feeling overwhelmed, please email me at any time so that we can connect and I can do what I can on my end to address your concerns. This situation is new for all of us and we are doing our best to face it together. I am happy to help in whatever way I can to support you and the students.

I put out a quick survey on Google Classroom asking about access to technology to figure out how I can best support the students. It seems that the majority have access to a laptop but that some students are accessing Google Classroom from a Smartphone or an iPad/Tablet. For those of you who are accessing from a Smartphone or iPad/Tablet, please note that some features of the Google Classroom may not be available (such as accessing multiple tabs on a browser) and students may find it helpful to download the applications to access all the features. I will include the links below for ease of access for both iPhone and Android users.

iPhone users:
Google Classroom Access - App Store
Google Meet - App Store

Android users:
Google Classroom Access - Google Play
Google Meet - Google Play

We are all in this situation together. Let's do our best to take things slowly and be kind and gentle with each other as we figure it out. That includes be gentle towards yourself. Parents, I know you are doing your best to help your children learn and understand this situation. It is totally okay to feel overwhelmed and to take a step back from the classroom if you need to. Your mental health and overall wellbeing are more important than any work I could assign. Please know that I am here to help you however I can and I am not here to judge you. If you need help, please ask, and I will do my best to support you.

Stay strong, stay safe, and be well.

Quick Post

I was able to touch base with some students today about login difficulties and I was able to answer some questions. I will be available on Google Classroom from 10 am to 12 pm tomorrow for any questions. I am working my way through the student's letters and making comments and returning them as I finish them.

I will be posting a questionnaire on Google Classroom tomorrow that will help give me an understanding about what kinds of technology students have access to and how I might be able to help students access assignments. This quiz will not be graded or shared with anyone else and is just for me to learn how I can best help students access technology, so please be honest so I can figure out how to help.

Please encourage the students to log on to Prodigy and try out a few math tasks so that I can get an idea of what they might need help with. Get Epic is a new service for students, so feel free to create an account and get started. As always, email me any time you need help or clarification.

Google Classroom is up and running!

The grade 3/4 team has been busy learning all the bells and whistles of Google Classroom. We had to re-upload the reading tracking assignment so that students could access it, so apologies for the confusion there. It seems like most students have figured out how to navigate through the classroom and upload assignments. However, if you are having difficulties, I will be available online from 10 am to 12 pm tomorrow on Google meet. The meet code is available on Google Classroom. Please let me know if you need any tech support or clarification about assignments.

Our D2L shell is updated with all of the additional practice work for ELA, Math, Art, PE and is meant to provide some guidance if the students are looking to practice various topics. This is optional work and will not be graded, but please feel free to share it with me!

I have uploaded a reduced clip from our Friday meeting to Google Classroom, so please let me know if you can view it. I had to teach myself iMovie and a whole bunch of other things to make it work, so hopefully you can see it on your end. Leave a comment under the video if you can see it.

I have also made a new account on Math Prodigy and uploaded all existing students to that account. If you did not received the invite, the students can join by using the following class codes:

Grade 3 Class Code: 674C0B
Grade 4 Class Code: A0BCAE

Please jump on and try out a few games so that I can see what the students might need more help with in the future. If you cannot remember your login, please email me and I am happy to send it to you.

Finally, please note that this Friday is Good Friday and the school will be closed. As such, I will have a Google Meet checkin scheduled for Thursday from 10 am to 11 am. This session will not be recorded.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, please don't worry.  Let me know if there is anything I can do to help. Take time for you and your family. We are all in this together.

Week 1 done

What a crazy week! It was so nice to connect with all the students who could participate on the chat today. The students asked if we could have a chat every week and I said absolutely YES! We decided that Friday at 10 am until 11 am would be our weekly checkin time. This first session was recorded and will be posted to the classroom soon. Subsequent checkins on Friday are optional and will not be recorded. Please check in if you can, but if not, no worries. I am always available by email.

The grade 3/4 team are still figuring out how we want to go about recording teaching sessions, so stay tuned for that. We are hoping to record live lessons and post them to the classroom afterwards. Once we figure things out, we will let you know.

We will have new assignments going live Monday, April 6 at 8 am on the classroom shell. Students have the week to complete them. I will be available online Tuesday - Thursday from 10 am - 12 pm, so if you have any questions, please email me and we can set up a private Google Meet session to discuss. These sessions will not be recorded.

I have also noticed that lots of kids are interested in art and I loved seeing your creations on the live chat today. I have created a separate section for art on the Google Classroom. The tasks uploaded to this section are encouraged but will not be graded as teachers are being told to focus exclusively on literacy and numeracy. That being said, I love seeing my students' creations! So if you make something really cool, please upload it and I will definitely look at it and comment.

I will still be updating the blog regularly next week. Friday, April 10 is Good Friday so there will be no update for that day. Parents, please let me know if you would like me to create a suggested schedule for you to follow or if you have any other suggestions, please let me know.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and we will see you next week!

Meet Ms. Ott Tomorrow! 10 am - 11:30 am

Hi room 11!

Oh my gosh, I am so excited! The team has set up and figured out how to launch Google Meet and I want to meet my students! I am hosting a meeting on April 3, 2020 from 10 am to 11:30 am. I have already emailed you the link, so please let me know if you can attend! I will be answering your questions live and letting you know a little more about me. The session will also be recorded and posted to our Google Classroom for those of you who cannot make that time frame.

Parents of my fantastic students, please make sure that your kids know how to mute their microphones on their end so that we don't have students talking over each other. I have included a How-To guide under classroom resources called Google Meet Guidelines, so please look that over and let me know if you have any questions. There is a chat feature where they can type their questions to me, but I will also be answering questions that have been submitted on Google Forms through our classroom. This is a very informal meeting so if you can't make it, don't worry! I will record the session and post it in our classroom.

I cannot wait to meet you! The building is so lonely without you and every day that I come into work I wish you were here. I hope you and your families are well and that you're keeping busy. Some of you have already completed your letters of introduction to me and I love reading about you. Please note that we have extended the deadline to Monday, April 6 for this first round of assignments. If you looked over my example, you may have noticed that I mention a pesky little cat named Crowley who I live with. I am including a picture of him and of myself so that you can see what I look like and so you know what he looks like when I tell you stories about him. Do not be fooled by his cute face! He is definitely a butt who likes to scream his fool head off at unreasonable hours for no reason.

Can't wait to see you tomorrow!

Mr. Crowley, professional butt

Ms. Ott

Google Classroom Launches Tomorrow!

Hello grade 3/4!

The team has been busy setting up and learning all the new and fun parts of our Google Classroom and we are set to launch! I have manually inputted all of the student emails into the classroom, so please have students check their emails for the invite from me. Please click accept and join in! Inside our Google Classroom, you will find a welcome message from me and tomorrow morning we have set a couple of assignments to launch at 8 am. Don't worry; it is nothing too intense and it is meant more to be fun and for us to test the platform. Assignment answers are due Friday, April 3 before midnight.

How to navigate the Google classroom guide can be found by clicking here. It has also been uploaded to the Classroom Resources Guide. You can also access a great link for virtual math manipulatives by clicking here. There is also a document called Google Meet Guidelines that I encourage parents to review with their children in advance of our first Google Meet. It is important that we still respect each others' learning and boundaries as we navigate this new platform.

Starting Monday, April 6, we will be uploading weekly assignments to the classroom. I will also be available online on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am-12pm if you have questions or need help. You can send me an email anytime outside or within those hours and I will get back to everyone the same day within working hours. I am also onsite at the school from Monday-Friday, so if you are really stuck you can send me an email and I will contact you when I am available.

The team is still busy figuring out how best to host a Google Meet and we will get back to you about times for live class sessions. We are aware that not all students will be able to participate at the scheduled time so we are trying to figure out a way to record the sessions and post them for later viewing. Parents, it is very important that you review the Google Classroom Parent Consent form that was send out by Mrs. Dalton yesterday as recorded sessions may include appearances by your children.

For students who may be struggling to type up assignments, you can write your answers using paper and pencil, take a photo with a smart phone, and upload the image on Google Classroom. Please make sure the image is well-lit, in focus, and has a high resolution. If you need help with this, please contact me and I am happy to walk you through the process.

Very excited to roll everything out tomorrow and continue building our classroom together!

Ms. Ott