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Aug. 16th, 2020 Family Letter

8-16-2020
Dear Big Lagoon families,
 
I hope each of you has enjoyed your summer and time with your loved ones.  As we gear up for our 2020-2021 school year I wanted to check-in!  Big Lagoon will be opening on August 24th with a hybrid model, offering on-site instruction Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 9am-2pm, as well as distance learning instruction.  There aren't enough resources or time to make this such a big transition simple or easy, but I am 100% certain about making sure your children feel safe, engaged, and heard as we navigate these unprecedented times.  
 
Linda Row is our new Superintendent/Principal and has asked that I refer each family to check-in with her.  You can contact her vial email ([email protected], same as Jennifer Glueck used), or call the school 707.677.3688.  She will be our point person for communication and questions.

Thank you all, and I'm excited to be seeing you and your children in whatever capacity you deem fit for your family!  
Ms. Rebecca

Distance Learning Launch 4-17-20

Big Lagoon Elementary School

 Distance Learning

April 20th - June 2020

Dear families,

      I’ve been missing my students’ faces and seeing them everyday!  I hope you guys have been enjoying the sunshine and the company of your family.  We’ve got 8 weeks left of school and we are moving forward on the 20th! That means I am advancing our instruction and will continue to assess and complete report cards at the end of the school year as usual.   We will be using Zoom Lessons to have face-to-face time with teachers, workbooks/textbooks/paper sent home to support their lessons, and a menu of Independent Projects (that you can add too!) to take the place of or work with their at-home materials.

I understand this is a different, difficult time and I appreciate your patience as our school prepared to move forward with our children’s education.  The program laid out below is available to every student and for many this is not a simple, nor easy time. Our top priority is our students’ physical, emotional, and mental health--  Use these tools if they are helpful.


What is it?

Our distance learning program is based on Zoom lessons Monday through Thursday, leaving Friday open for our Class Meeting and Office Hours (I’ll be available for family/student support).

My Zoom lessons will introduce new ideas and work with the students in either a lecture or discussion. The rest of their daily academic needs will be in their workbooks and materials to be completed at home.


Each Daily 3 Math group meets with me twice a week, each Daily 5 Language Arts group meets with me twice and meets with Ms. Sophie twice per week.  Same time each weekday! I know, I know-- it’ll be a crazy first week, then we’ll settle in for the last 7 weeks. 


Your students workbooks will be sent home, along with any tools and their pencil bags with basic supplies.  We have a check-out sheet for textbooks and manipulatives they will need for their lessons.  We have limited resources and require our checked out items to be returned in June, so please enjoy the use of them and take care of them!


Tools to help..

Schedules

  • Student schedule to keep track of your child’s Zoom lessons.
  • An “If you need it” schedule guide you in how much of what per day.  It reflects the routine they’re used to at school with suggested time slots and activities that use their workbooks, online programs, and paperwork.  Timed slots don’t work for your kiddo? Work through the subjects in your child’s time and whatever time of day works for YOU.   

Independent Project Menu

  • Does your child want to create a weekly newsletter?  Cooking? Gardening? Research their favorite animal to read and write about?  That counts.  

How do you keep track of Independent Projects or teaching moments that happen every day?   Use the Assignment Sheet!  ...


Assignment sheet 

  • Conversations and games that fit in math, language arts, social studies, science, music, art, or PE?  Add it in!
  • It lays out Math, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Music/Art, PE-- Monday through Friday.  School required minutes per day is 90 minutes for Math, 120 minutes for Language Arts. Did you do math in a science activity?  Put that time down. Did you read and write for a social studies activity/discussion? Put that down! It counts.
  • I will collect these at the end of the year
  • Each week will have its own color in Assignment sheet and weekly paper work.  
    • Week 1 Hot pink
    • Week 2 Rose
    • Week 3 Yellow
    • Week 4 Orange
    • Week 5 Green
    • Week 6 Blue
    • Week 7 Dark purple
    • Week 8 Light purple

Office Hours

  • I will leave the link to my Office Hours on our website, and of course in the original email.  Every Friday I will have available appointment slots to speak with family, work with the students, etc.


What do YOU do?

Pick-up or coordinate our drop-off of materials will occur over the weekend; please contact Ms. Jen!


Get to know your child or children’s Zoom Lesson schedule.  It will remain the same each week.


Find the best fit for YOU in scheduling how you help your child or children in completing school work at home.  We understand not every family is able to support teaching each day, it’s why there’s school! Please do what you can.  The student schedule can be used without time markers for whenever you can fit it. 


Thank you and contact me if you have any questions,

Ms. Rebecca

 

Please Note:  

Your Zoom meeting IDs will be sent Sunday in 1 document so you can keep it all in one spot!  

Staying Connected on March 24th, 2020

March 24th, 2020

Dear Big Lagoon families,

        Hello again!  I hope you are all well and adjusting in these changing times.   I know many families are enjoying a free-range lifestyle with their children, while others prefer a connection to routine for them- either way, we want to be available.  Let’s do our best to get you info, keep us connected, and keep supporting our kids.    


Let’s stay connected!

As our school continues to be shut down we are still offering materials.  I will be reaching out to each of you to check in individually and you are all welcome to call me on my phone to check in, share, get an update, or ask for support.


Going forward..

Our staff is using this time to prepare for the possibility of continued Shelter-in-Place after April 17th.  We’re exploring a mix of tailored Independent Study with physical materials, online support, and returning to face-to-face lessons via video.  This will include a return to our Indigenous Ed, Science, etc. I sent out a Technology survey via your emails that is necessary for us to make sure YOUR child is best supported by the above!  


Trouble keeping up with all the emails?

I will be posting all updates and resources on my teacher’s page in the Big Lagoon website.  Even if emails aren’t your mode of connecting? You can always find any updates on the website as we move forward. 


www.biglagoon.org

Top of the page hover on Family Resources →  click Teacher’s Webpages

On the picture click Staff Directory

Click on my name!  

Or you can use this link to go to it directly: Ms. Rebecca's Page


The above links will be under my name in every email I send going forward, so you always know where to find it!  The website is also attached to our Facebook page.


Home study packets

In the meantimeI have a binder I offered to everyone last week.  It includes reading logs, morning work, language arts, math, and writing for each student available for delivery or pick-up.  There’s a general guide and our classroom’s normal schedule for reference. It is for your use as you see fit. If you are ready for more, let me know and I’ll refill your binder via delivery or pick-up.  


Thank you all,

Ms. Rebecca.

Online Resources March 17th, 2020

Online Resources


Epic

  • You’ll receive an email to set up your account and request permission to join my ‘classroom’.  Your child can log on via web browser or the Epic app free to download from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.  The library has over 40,000 books, learning videos, and quizzes available! And I can assign books, or check their progress.
  • From a web browser?
  • From your phone or tablet?
    • Install the Epic app and launch
    • Select “Have an account? Log in”, then click “Students & Educators”
    • Log in with your class code zip4922
    • Select their name, enter their pin/code
  • Epic has always offered a home connection, but it’s $7.99/month.  They are waiving that fee until the end of this school year to support home learning because of COVID-19.

Keyboarding

    • You will receive an email with a note about your child’s secret code and other information
  • You cannot use a phone or tablet for this, you need a keyboard.
  • If asked the Educator PIN is C013C0
  • PLEASE support their growth in typing.  I let them complete more than 1 lesson at a time so long as they do their best, “Once your tool becomes a toy, take a break”.  Otherwise 10 minutes is a good rule of thumb per day.
  • Our students all have licenses, but Keyboarding without Tears is offering FREE licenses that expire July 31st, 2020 if you want to share with other children.   I have not gone through this, but the link to reach the request page is below 

Prodigy 

https://play.prodigygame.com/

Helps students learn and practice their math curriculum

  • I can send you your student's info for log-in!
  • The game will begin below the level chosen,  becoming more challenging until it finds the best fit!
  • Many of our students are emergent readers and may need your guidance. 
  • I’m excited to hear how this goes so I can incorporate this as a Daily 3 choice during math!

Go Noodle

gonoodle.com

Always consider gonoodle.com! It is free (though you can upgrade). The kids know it and love it. It offers learning, movement, stretching, mindfulness, exercise, and fun! Please note that the mascots I know they love are NOT available unless you have an educator profile.


Cosmic Kids Yoga

Look up on youtube.com and feel free to subscribe. I used this to teach yoga after our morning recess every day. They have a lot to offer!

Letter to Families March 17th, 2020

March 17th, 2020
Dear Big Lagoon families,
    Currently I am preparing for the 2 weeks we are out, creating home study packets for families that responded to my last email (should be ready by tomorrow!).  I will also be sending out information to log on several online programs that will support reading, typing, and math to all of you. Big Lagoon is shut down, which means we do not require the return of this work for grading, but if you choose for me to provide the materials I hope your kids use it and keep it safe.  We are calling it 'home study' since it is not Independent Study or Remote Learning.  
 
On a side note:  Read to your kids, talk to your kids around what they know, read, and have heard.  Create fun projects for them to practice their skills that fit into what you guys are already doing.  They learn so much every day- adding or taking away, recognizing letters and sounds, reading what they see, telling you clearly what they think and how they support those thoughts, measuring to help with dinner, telling time, talking about fractions, and so much more.
 
I'll continue making content available, so please look out for my emails and feel free to contact me ([email protected]).   I and my school will do our best to stay connected and respond as things develop.  
 
Thank you,
Ms. Rebecca 

Welcome!

I want to say “Welcome Back!” to our returning families and, “We’re so happy to have you!” to our new ones.  We are part of a small, thriving community of strong families who believe in connection, growth, and striving.  You are all welcome here. I look forward to a year of communication, support, and learning!
 
I will be adding my families to an email subscription here on this page so you can see my updates.  I have purposefully not sent out a supply letter, because all our supplies are ready to go and be cared for as a classroom.  The only thing I will ask for is a backpack.  Contact me ([email protected]) if you need to know more. 
 
I want to use this as our primary communication, so please note when you get these posts.  Thank you and I am SO excited to see everyone soon!