Announcements

New Beginnings - Monday, August 31, 2020

Major update!

We all learned last week that my 4/5 combo class was being dissolved by the district due to numbers. It seemed best to allow my students to transition into their new classes for the final two days of last week. It was very sad to say goodbye, but I am eager to find ways to stay connected with this group. Stay tuned.

Starting this week, I will be taking over a 3rd grade class that had been without a permanent teacher. I am very excited to get started with this new group! There will be a couple changes that are small, but still require some practice, so I appreciate your support.

1. We will be using a different system to join our Google Meet video chats.

   • Students will click a link in Google Classroom at the assigned meeting time, which we will practice this week.

   • This link will not work until I start it, which I prefer for security and oversight purposes.

   • I will open this link 5 minutes early, and we will do warm up activities until the official start time.

2. We will switch from having 4 Meets per day to 6 Meets per day, but most will be shorter.

   • Instead of a long Meet at the beginning of an academic block, we will have a short one on both ends of the block.

   • My goal is to keep screen time down and create frequent movement breaks.

   • Students should learn to use Google Calendar to keep track of their day, but remember that the links to the Meets don't appear directly in Google Calendar.

I know this will all take some getting used to, but we have lots of time to practice and I will be very patient. I want to make this transition as stress-free as possible for students and families. Please contact me if you have any questions!

Welcome to my class - Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Hello everyone!

I know this isn't the start to the year that we're all used to, but I'm still very excited to get started with our new class! My primary goal over the next several weeks is to get to know students and families. It is very important to me that everyone feels respected, empowered, and confident when doing their distanced learning online. Please do not feel any pressure over this first phase of the year, I know everyone will act with patience and grace as we explore this uncharted territory.

Today I sent an email at 1:00 in the afternoon to all parents/guardians in our class. This is a Meet the Teacher email that explains a little bit about who I am, and has some important links to help us get started this year. I included them here for your convenience.

One is for a Sign Up Genius to set up out Virtual Meet the Teacher video chats, and you can find that here: Sign Up Genius

Another is for a brief parent questionnaire, which can be found here: Parent Questionnaire

Finally, there is a link to my Google Classroom. Students will need to use their APS credentials to sign in. Here's the link to get started: Google Classroom

Please take some time to check out my Main website, as well as the Myriad site. Let me know if you need any help getting started with anything, I know it's a lot! You can reach me at benjamin.steiner@aps.edu.