Friday Focus - May 22, 2020

Great Things I Noticed this Week:

• Our Meals on Wheels crew delivering not only breakfast/lunch bags this week, but also gallons of milk, onions/potatoes and frozen meal packs, and food boxes. 
• Stories of teachers meeting 1:1 and small groups in BlueJeans to help with skills they are struggling with on their own. 
• Students culminating their learning about the nervous system acting as a doctor trying to diagnose a patient with a mystery disease project.
• A student sent me a heartfelt email sharing that she's never finished a novel, ever, and has made it her goal to read an entire book this summer. 
• Teachers celebrating when they finally hear from a student that they hadn't for a while. 
• As I went through the process of putting together the Senior Honors video, I couldn't help but be amazed by the accomplishments of our students and all of the opportunities available to our students despite being a small school. 
• Daily inspiration in our inboxes (thank you Lisa-I didn't know how much I could enjoy 5 minutes of a bird talking! LOL)
• Students reflecting on where they're at in online learning according to these zones, with a discussion:

Upcoming Events

In case you lose track of what day it is, Monday is still a holiday so NO virtual learning that day! ;)

No faculty meetings next week. I know that you have many loops to close with students, contacts to make, etc. I also have many meetings on my calendar next week. 

Friday - MS awards ceremony (details yet to be determined)

Blogs, Tweets and Quotes:

*Lessons Learned During the Pandemic

Friday Focus - May 15, 2020

Great Things I Noticed this Week:
*Huge thank you to each staff member that volunteered to help with curbside pick-up of locker items. Everyone's help made the daunting task run smoothly and parents and students were SO happy to see smiling staff member's faces! Our students miss you!
*After some personal connections with team efforts of teachers reaching out to students and parents, I'm aware of a handful of students getting back on the virtual grid!
*Some of our middle school students joined in bluejeans with 5th graders to talk about transitioning to middle school.
*Some of our high school students are on a special mission of writing to spread positivity and I received one that made my day. I have no idea how far their reach is, but know they're determined!



Events Next Week:
Wednesday - 11:00 HS faculty mtg
Thursday - 7PM Virtual Senior Honors night will be posted as a vide on Facebook and Youtube to recognize our senior scholarship winners
Friday - 11:00 MS faculty mtg

Just a reminder...we only have two weeks left of virtual learning. That's only two weeks to continue to try to connect with kids who need us. Two weeks try to engage kids who miss being social. You've got this!


"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:

• Budget - the google form for submitting budget is HERE. Originally, it was due today, May 15. If you need a little more time, just let me know. To clarify, this form is to help us know what you need for next school year. It doesn't have to be super specific with item numbers, catalog pages, etc., but it should have a description for the items that you are adding to your budget (i.e. new textbooks, chart paper, beakers, etc.). The goal is to use this at the school level to budget for next school year. Later, you'll use this to fill out the purchase orders. Please let me know if you have any questions. 
• Scheduling for next year - there are some wrenches that have been thrown into the scheduling process. It's unlikely that we'll end the year with you having your schedule set for next year, but I will let you know your courses and will be working on that next week. 

A little professional reading:

Virtual fatigue. It's a real thing. I'm sure you can agree. My eyeballs and my brain let me know when they are DONE with screens and it seems to come quicker each day.

I've been reading about virtual fatigue and share a couple of articles below with you that helps to understand why we, and our students, are becoming fatigued. 

'Zoom fatigue' is taxing the brain. Here's why that happens. 

Learning during COVID19

Each time that a student emails one of you, or a friend about how they feel depressed, anxious or just feel like they're a failure because they have no motivation to do anything, their email flags our system and the PPS team and I receive it. Each time I read these student emails, they just breaks my heart, because what they are feeling is common right now.  I've had students email me about their frustration when videos won't load or their assignments won't submit in Schoology. The high school staff knows how much I can relate to technology frustration after the staff meeting fail with my laptop this week!  These are all things outside of our control and I know how hard you are all working despite these challenges and appreciate all that you are doing.

Tech Tip of the Week:
Common Sense Media, the platform we use for our digital citizenship curriculum, has launched a new resource for families and educators. The program, Wide Open Schools, provides some great resources for educators Pre K-12 such as emotional well-being, science, reading, math, art and music lessons. Also, Apple has some interesting resources in Wide Open Schools including teaching guides on apps and highlights from their weekly Twitter chat #appleeduchat. Have fun exploring and happy creating!

Friday Focus - May 8, 2020

Great Things I've Noticed this Week:
*I've had SO much fun with the Game of Games for Teacher Appreciation week and hope you've enjoyed it too.  Here are all the submissions in one place, along with additions that came to me after my last email: Game of Games Submissions. I enjoyed getting to show my appreciation for you and only wish I got to deliver to every one of your homes. It was SO good to see people in real life!
*Students/parents emailing me pictures/messages to share with their teachers to show appreciation.
*Students recreated themselves in a famous painting and what they came up with was awesome! Check it out HERE. 

Events Next Week: students/families will be coming curbside at times they signed up for to pick-up their locker/school materials. 

Monday - student pick-up 8-4
Tuesday - student pick-up 11-6
Wednesday - student pick-up 8-4
 Virtual Faculty Meeting - HS only 11:00
Thursday - student pick-up 11-6
Self-Care Academy sign up HERE
Friday - virtual faculty meeting - MS only 11:00

And the Winner Is...
There were many points earned and many prizes given out. The biggest point earner, for funny videos, singing, and even recording her daily spin like she was on a game show is....
Michelle Biwer!!!

"Nuts & Bolts" Notes:
-I added another virtual meeting time to have a separate meeting for HS faculty only and MS faculty only (MS-added Friday at 11:00). This week we will be behavior (work skills) rubric component of Target Based grading (remember that? It feels like years since we've looked at that!)

-We still have some open time slots looking for help in student pick-up of supplies. We will have a list of families who are coming, with their things organized by time for pick-up.  If you're interested in working to help bring supplies out to their cars so they see a smiling staff face, let me know.

Tech Tip of the Week:
Photo Burst. When in your iPad Camera app and taking a photo, if you press and hold it will take a “Photo Burst” of an object in motion or multiple photos of whatever you are shooting. For example, if you’d like to show the different stages of an athlete making a free-throw, press and hold while the athlete is shooting. Then in your photo roll, it will look like one photo, but in the top left corner it will say “Burst” and how many photos there are. You can then use each photo separately, with directions or individually. Other examples would be any object in motion and the path it takes. Any tool being used and proper technique or safety guidance with skill.


Just to Fill Your Cup:
*Brene Brown was on the Tonight Show. I loved hearing her say "teachers are crushing it!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKlNCm0j4KU&feature=youtu.be