Continuity of Learning – Overview of Plan
All IAA school work related to Continuity of Learning can be found on this IAA Learning from Home document. This is grouped by grade level and includes information on curriculum, online class meetings (via Google Hangout), school counseling, e-books, and more.
If you need help with this document or any of the information listed, please contact your teacher directly.
IAA Learning from Home Document
The following is from the Superintendent’s message on 4/13/2020.
One thing I want to make sure to remind parents, and I hope this was clear on Thursday, even as we move to Continuity of Learning, this will not be “school as usual.” I want all of us to be careful to manage our expectations. While we want your students to learn, I hope you do not plan or expect them to be in front of a computer with their teachers from 7:30-3 PM or later every day. The workload will increase and our teachers will work hard to deliver your child’s education, but virtual learning will require effort and patience from all of us.
Parent Expectations
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Parents are not expected to instruct or teach their students beyond their normal practice.
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WE are asking parents to partner with their school to monitor students.
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The primary support parents can offer is to encourage and help students to engage.
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We also need you to regulate the balance between work time and rest time.
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Create a mentally healthy environment.
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The expectation is that parents are following up with teachers and principals as needed.
Attendance: As we move into Continuity of Learning, the State is requiring that we take attendance. Each school has a system set up for taking attendance and if you haven’t already, you will be learning more from your Principal this week. Please note that attendance will be considered and tracked through a combination of student and parent interactions, so parents, if your teachers or principals are trying to contact you, please do your best to be in touch.
Schedules: Beginning this week, you will be receiving increased communication and more educational requirements from your teachers. These will come in the form of emails, weekly newsletters, and phone calls. Teachers will also be using virtual platforms to connect with students such as Google Hangouts, and classroom work/interaction through Seesaw (K-5) and Unified Classroom (6-12). Teachers will communicate with every student at least twice a week and will communicate weekly learning expectations, including learning targets and assignment details at the beginning of every week. During the week, grades 6-8 will also have virtual Team Check-Ins and grades 9-12 will have virtual Study Groups.
Curriculum: For all students, we are working to provide a combination of technology and non-technology dependent options. This is especially important for our K-2 families, not all of whom have the technology to access online learning at this time.
Teacher Office Hours: This week, your teachers will also be communicating pre-set “Office Hours” during which you can be sure to reach them with questions and concerns. These office hours are in addition to the work teachers are doing to prepare lessons and conduct instruction. They are designed so that you can know when your instructor can be reachable on short notice to help with assignments and learning needs. For Pre-K through 5, these will happen twice a week, and 6-12, three times a week.
Technology: Many of our educators may choose to use a video conferencing tool from Google called Hangouts/Meet to connect online with students in the absence of face-to-face classes. Students and families should know that we are making every effort to protect privacy rights and adhering to state and federal guidelines, including giving parents of students under the age of 13 the ability to opt-out of virtual conferencing. Our Technology Interventionists have created a document (“BSD Guidelines and Information for Families: Online Meetings with Students”) designed to help you navigate video conferencing with your students. Please read it today.
Grading and Assessing Learning: Based on guidance from the AOE, teachers are identifying the high leverage concepts and priority standards/proficiencies as a framework for providing instruction during remote learning. Students will be assessed on these concepts and standards using a combination of formative and summative tools. Classroom teachers will share their assessment plans with families as part of their weekly communication. Your school’s administrator will cover more specifics about grading/reporting as it relates to 4th quarter and end of year in their future updates.
Appreciation: Finally, I hope you will please take a minute to join me in thanking BSD’s Multilingual Liaisons. As I shared on Thursday, 16% of our students identify as new English Learners, Our liaisons have been working tirelessly to help us translate updates, messages, and information over the past two weeks, and each of our more than 550 EL families in the District has received at least two one-on-one conversations during this time. The number of requests for their services, while always high, has grown incredibly during this time, and liaisons are doing an amazing job keeping up. Thank you, Team!
Thanks for reading another long update. Please remember that you can still submit questions about Continuity of Learning via our google form, and you can find a lot of information on our Coronavirus webpage.
Stay safe, stay healthy, and remember physical distancing is working.
Superintendent Obeng
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