10-9-2020

Thanks to everyone for your excellent questions and hard work on Wednesday.  There will always be more questions but we are getting closer to being ready because of your teamwork and positive thinking. 

5 Keys to Successful HW Assignments during Remote Learning

https://www.edutopia.org/article/5-keys-successful-homework-assignments-during-remote-learning

Congratulations to Kerry and her husband on the announcement of their upcoming birth of their first child. We are all happy for the joy it will bring to your life, and already a Cubs fan! #predeterminedloyalty

New Zoom Features including a Virtual Seating Chart and more efficient unmuting features.

https://blog.zoom.us/4-new-zoom-features-educators-can-use-to-enhance-virtual-teaching-learning/

MJ's class has been busy academically but have also had time to express themselves creatively. I am a racetrack sponsor!

Thanks once again to Jenny P for what she has brought to Benjamin's students and staff.  We appreciate you.

Angela and Danielle are ready to train you for your new BenQ and you don't have to wait for yours to be installed.  There is one installed and ready to go.  Just reach out to get your training today.  A majority of the BenQ's will be installed on Columbus Day when teachers are out of the building.  

Now more than ever our students are exposed to Cyber-bullying.  Here is a helpful guide to assist in prevention with great information and activities.

https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/teachers-essential-guide-to-cyberbullying-prevention

Thanks to the Tech Liaisons for working with Greg and the tech team on the new technology set-up for the classrooms and communicating to our staff about that, the imaging of student devices and more.  

A journey towards civility.

https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/a-journey-toward-a-culture-of-civility/

I have been working on class lists in terms of balancing out the students who have siblings at Evergreen or in our building due to our 6th grade being split A-H and I-Z instead of the same as the rest of the district which is A-L and M-Z. This involves looking at each class list for #'s and calling parents to get all siblings to school on the same day.  Please know that the schedules will be as balanced as they can be but will not be evenly split between the days. 

Thanks to Jen V, Lynette W, Lauren D and Melissa L for interviewing potential teaching assistants with me.  Your help is appreciated.  

How Teaching Hope in School may be the secret to Success.

https://www.businessinsider.com/how-teaching-hope-in-school-may-be-key-to-success-2020-10

Mark your Calendars Parent Teacher Conferences coming up soon. Nov 5th, 10th, 12th via Zoom.  More details to follow.  

I hope everyone enjoys the extended weekend and takes time to do some self-care. 

"People run from rain but sit in bathtubs full of water."

-- Charles Bukowski

 

10-2-2020

 Thanks for Dr. Woell for running the Town Hall Meetings and for his transparency in posting all questions and answers for everyone to see.

7 ways to do formative assessments in your virtual classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/7-ways-do-formative-assessments-your-virtual-classroom

 Thanks to Todd for his help with working with and articulating with the high school for a student issue the past two weeks.

Station Rotation during Hybrid Learning:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-make-station-rotation-work-during-hybrid-learning

Thanks to Tim for his continued work to make sure that we are making Benjamin safe for students and staff.

Thanks to Marcia and Megan S for organizing the N95 mask fitting for our special education staff.

MJ and her students had a fun virtual visit from a Service Dog.  The kids were locked on the screen for the whole session.  What a fun and educational experience for them.  

I truly appreciate the resilience and creativity I continue to see from the staff.  Thanks for giving your best everyday!

Dr. Woell will officially announce to parents two Remote Learning Planning days today. They will take place on October 7th and 21st.  Details will follow.

I started a Principal/Student Advisory Group and we had our first meeting yesterday.  What a smart group of kids.  It is always important to hear all perspectives and they definitely shared the good, the bad and ideas for improvement. I thought you might want to hear some of the great things they had to say:

Schedule is organized and easy to follow

HW is better

Appreciate Flexible Check For Understanding

Happy about Library Book Pick-up

Responsive technology repair turn around

"Teachers usually respond to their inbox within 45 minutes, they are so responsive!"

Teachers have done a good job of answering student questions well

Teachers have stayed longer than the CFU period to help me

Neil Gaiman, famous author delivered a commencement address in 2012 titled "Make Good Art"   I think it is very relevant to our current situation. Here is an excerpt:

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

to listen/watch the whole speech click below:

9-25-2020

Angela and Danielle have been working on the BADGES feature in Canvas and feel that it is a feature you guys would be ready for. They made a screencastify video at the link below. This is a great incentive for your students.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1brgNYJ2sJDdHdwfXQAijIL-hml6hqWYU7N1GYI4GJg8/edit

Remote and hybrid learning collaboration strategies using virtual breakout rooms and digital tools

http://esheninger.blogspot.com/2020/08/strategies-to-foster-discourse-and.html

Thanks to Nicole and Todd for starting to deliver the Second SteP curriculum and the teachers that are opening their virtual doors for them to do so.  This curriculum is even more important during these times.  

Put your insecurities away and get on with achieving your goals. Reflect and remind yourself that an accurate criticism is the most valuable feedback you can receive.

Thanks to Chris for organizing and putting out the BB300 this week. It is a great way to keep students involved but also to give our students a familiar connection to being a Bengal. 

8 Strategies to Improve Participation in Your Virtual Classroom

Educators share their best synchronous and asynchronous strategies to boost student participation during online learning.

https://edutopia.org/article/8-stra

Thanks to the 7th Grade Team for sharing their process for student of the month. Giving this recognition can lift students spirits and motivation.

 

In my announcement to students this week I asked for participation in a Principal/Student Advisory committee. This will be a great way to gain the students perspective and input some of their ideas.

Managing the collective Chatter in your head.

https://www.habitsofmindinstitute.org/reflecting-about-the-internal-chatter-thinking-about-your-thinking/

Thanks to MJ,Judy, Kendra and Maddie for getting some Art up in the hallways.  It was nice to see the student doppelgangers hanging by their room.

Thanks to Marcia and Megan for setting up the N95 mask fittings for the Special Ed staff for next week.  

Shel Silverstein would have been 90 today.  Less known than The Giving Tree is  "The Missing Piece Meets The Big O" A gentle reminder that the best relationships don’t complete us but let us grow and become more fully ourselves. 

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/02/12/the-missing-piece-meets-the-big-o-shel-silverstein/

I want to thank everyone for continuing to work hard on their remote learning process with their students and for being patient as we develop the specific plans for our return to in-person instruction with the admin team and BEA.  Thanks to Dr. Woell for sharing the parent survey results with the whole staff.  This will help us in our preparation.  

“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you’ll never get it done. Make at least one definite move daily toward your goal.”

Bruce Lee •

“I am not a product of my circumstances. I am a product of my decisions.” – Stephen Covey

9-18-2020

 I attended the PTA Meeting last night and they were appreciative of the memberships that have come in and look forward to getting everyone else signed up and reminded me again about the class incentive money!

I found this pretty cool virtual locker activity in this tech newsletter along with other activities to get to know your students.   http://bit.ly/35FrJQ6

I appreciate the work Frank and Tony did in building the new "red box"  for our library book return. 

 

I hope that everyone had  a chance to read the communication from Dr. Woell about our planning and preparation for our return to in person instruction.  This is a process that began way back at the beginning of the summer and will continue to happen as we move forward with our successful remote learning,  We will continue to keep open communication about this process and will share new information as it becomes available. Please let me know if you have any input you would like to share. 

 Focus on Relationships not testing...duh

https://www.forbes.com/sites/dianetavenner/2020/09/13/for-back-to-school-focus-on-relationships-not-tests/#14658dd71dde

I was able to get into Colleen and Megan P's classes this week.  The "all about me" presentations and Pear Deck Slide presentation were both great examples of  getting student participation and relationship building via zoom.  

Dan B found this great article on how to beat Zoom fatigue.

https://www.weareteachers.com/ways-to-beat-zoom-fatigue/

Information will be coming out from the district about an opportunity to get the Flu shot at school the morning of November 6th.  Mark your calendar.

Thanks to Danielle who created this Kami  screen capture video.  If you didn't see it in your email, here it is.   Kami Screen Capture

Please let me know if your room hasn't had the excess furniture removed yet.  

Megan S and Marcia have continued to do a tremendous job with managing all of the details with our Core kids return to school while still completing all other responsibilities.  

Please continue to fill out the work from form each week and the health survey each day as you come into the building.

5 questions to ask your unmotivated students.  

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/student-motivation/

Thanks to everyone for not only putting in a newsletter article but for making changes to reflect the times we are experiencing at school currently. 

You have to make the good out of the bad because that is all you have got to make it out of." -- Robert Penn Warren

9-11-2020

 Thanks to everyone who shared in our positive share tech meeting.  The participation large and small not only give everyone valuable information but enriched our school culture.

25 Ways to add audio to Google Slides 

https://shakeuplearning.com/blog/25-ways-to-use-audio-in-google-slides-projects/

Danielle has created this Zoom FAQ that will be very beneficial to many teachers.  

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QJv-W6-bEHhA40dA8zmCFHyckTo0lfMdXXHdCKSqPhQ/edit?usp=sharing

Kathy is doing an awesome job of taking emails from students and getting books out for student pick-up. Love that kids are excited about reading!

We had a PTA meeting Wednesday Night.  They are looking for ways to organize and provide support for teachers and staff.  This includes providing $100 for each staff member (who is a PTA member) for student incentives.  Please make sure you fill out your PTA membership and send it in as this is just one of many ways the PTA will support us this year.  

Pretty Cool Twitter tweet from a teachers: "I've had a few Ss become inactive & hide behind the Desktop computer during my session, and this quick CHECK-POINT worked wonders & kept them on their toes! Rolling on the floor laughing I had around 5 check-points throughout my lesson yesterday (after brain breaks & classwork involving another browser tab)"

I loved jumping into 6th grade classes today was definitely the highlight of my day.  Seeing their personal learning spaces and smiling faces ready to learn is why we do this. Thanks to Rich for inviting me in. 

Sherry showed me some awesome interactive student activities she has created using the afternoon content creation time to its fullest.  Thanks to everyone for taking risks and putting the time in to create opportunities for students in both synchronous and asynchronous learning time.                    

Planning for both synchronous and asynchronous learning.

https://catlintucker.com/2020/08/asynchronous-vs-synchronous/

Thanks to Keriann, Bill, Courtney and Megan D for being flexible and working with the window installers to get the project completed this week.  I appreciate it.  

Thanks to all of our virtual club sponsors for getting out the word to students about the September virtual clubs.  

7 Zoom Settings every user should know

Thanks to Ellen who has started sending all of our parent communication to Staff .  More communication will hopefully help keep everyone informed.  

I sent out the work -from form for next week.  Thanks for continuing to fill this out each week and the Self-certification form out daily when you are in the building. 

I was able to stop by PE classes yesterday and it was awesome seeing Lynette and Jen exercising live with their classes.  Getting kids up and active is so important right now.  

The scholastic subscriptions are locked in.  I will be sending teachers their digital access codes. 

 

There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." -- Bruce Lee

9-4-2020

 I am still working though the details on how Evaluations will work this year.  I will send information out soon.  

Kim and Ellen did an excellent job of taking phone calls and guiding parents through PowerSchool and  Canvas questions which were coming in fast and furious the first couple days.  

Add caption

Thanks to everyone for perservering on your curriculum night videos. I have not had any negative feedback and have made my way through about half of the presentations.  Thanks for giving an A+ effort. The Google question forms were sent to parents and will be shared in teams.

I am grateful to Greg for problem solving different tech issues and helping to get us back on track with our classes, students and programs. 

Video Conference Routines

https://catlintucker.com/2020/08/video-conferencing-establishing-routines-online/

I was able to pop into some 5th grade zooms this week.  If you you are in the building and want me to pop in just let me know. (or share the zoom link)  I like seeing the student faces as much as you do.  

Please make sure you remember to fill out the work from form each week and to self-certify each day that you are in the building.

Michelle and Kathy will start the book check-out process for students next week.  Direction will be eblasted to parents today.

Danielle has put together a FAQ for Cami.  You can find the link down below.

Kami FAQs 

Free Powerpoint Templates

https://ditchthattextbook.com/powerpoint-templates/…

Scholastic Magazine e-version is going to be a significant cost.  I am working with our rep and will let you know when the digital accounts will be starting. 

How and why to leave audio feedback this year.

https://davestuartjr.com/how-and-why-to-leave-audio-feedback-on-student-work-distance-learning/

Thanks to our teachers and TA's who are working with our in-school student population.  They have been outstanding  working with the students on new protocols and processes to keep everyone safe and healthy.

PTA will be meeting this Wednesday.  I will give updates next week, but a PTA membership is one that gives back ten fold.  

Angela was able to learn about some Google tools for game-based learning and has some good links and templates to share.  She made a Flippity scavenger hunt to share with you guys (for staff) directly below and then the other three links are for creating your own game based learning activities.  Thanks Angela

 

Benjamin 25 Flippity Scavenger Hunt

https://flippity.net/

Scavenger Hunt Directions

Scavenger Hunt Template for Google Sheets

Thanks to Jessica for spearheading the Star Testing from home information and to Nicole for setting the dates for data meetings. Testing from home will provide new obstacles that we will have to maneuver.  

The Pandemic Emotional Impact Hits Hard

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/56622/pandemics-emotional-hammer-hits-hard

I realize how hard you guys are working on your craft.  Learning all of the tools, multiple screens, Zoom this Cami that, video, Synchronous, Canvas discussion, google form etc....I appreciate you taking the risk, and trying things that will help our students and your teaching during this remote learning.  Also know that you can, and should take a breath, take care of yourself and mix in some traditional lessons and assignments from time to time.     

Attachments a

8-28-2020

 Greg, Angela and Danielle have been rocking the training all week.  Thanks for all of your hard work guys!

Vanessa has quietly and efficiently been taking care of a ton of computer problems and device fixes.  #awesome

Please make sure that you complete the Health training that Marcia put together before Monday.  Thanks to Marcia for putting it all together and staying on top of new health developments.

Thanks to Melissa for putting the Virtual Club meeting and form together.  This will be a great outlet for kids to build connections with teachers and other students.

Supply pick-up went great.  Thank you to everyone who pitched in and helped out.  Special thanks to Ellen who organized the event.

Kim has been working hard on getting things ready for the start of the year, thanks for all of your efficient organization and task completion.  

ummmm.....Genius?

Megan S, Carrie, Madeline and Heather have been working hard in their first week.  I am excited to see how they will continue to contribute to our school.

Thanks to Alex for sharing the Zoom break-out room tutorial video.  It was  easy to follow.  Also thanks to Lauren for sharing her draft video for curriculum night.  Seeing an example can help lead the way for others.

Tips for Designing an Online Learning Experience Using the 5 Es Instructional Model

Great article and videos.

https://catlintucker.com/2020/03/designing-an-online-lesson/

Please let me know if you need assistance putting together your curriculum night video.  I put out two videos, one using the simple webcam and one using screencastify.  Videos are due Monday, please refer to the email I sent for details. Also, please send the actual video file not just the link.

The special education team is in hyperspeed mode right now.  Thanks to Debbie and Todd for putting the meetings together and running them and thanks to all of the staff for attending the many meetings this week.

Empathy Resources for students.

https://cybraryman.com/empathy.html

Tim, Tony, Frank and the rest of the crew has been busy getting the building ready for the start of the year.  We appreciate it.  You may have noticed some changes in the work order system.  There will be a training to go over the changes...later.

Thanks to MJ and Kerry along with their teaching assistants who are getting ready to welcome students in the building.  The hard work you are putting in now will pay off on Monday.

Take time to read this through.

Please remember to wear your masks in the building unless you are by yourself in your room or eating.

I want to say thank you to everyone for working so hard to get ready for the start of the year.  We will all have to approach this year one step at a time, try not to get ahead of ourselves, lean on each other, be understanding and flexible, treat each other with kindness, and ask for help when we need it.