Embedded Files
HS BVA attendance expectations go into effect this week.
HS BVA attendance expectations go into effect this week.
No school January 15th and January 18th.
No school January 15th and January 18th.
Second semester begins January 19th.
Second semester begins January 19th.
enrichment: learning a language grows your brain!
enrichment: learning a language grows your brain!
These sites can help connect your child with strategies and eLearning options for enriching their minds, building their cognitive flexibility, and expanding their perspective beyond their current culture. What's working with your child in language learning?
This Week's Enrichment Resources
Each week I'll post resources that offer extension and enrichment opportunities for our BVA learners.
As I reflect on our growth in our district in adding a remote learning option for Indian Hill families, I am proud of the work our leaders and teachers have done. Essentially, leaders found a way to create parallel schools within our current staffing numbers and focused plans on what the school COULD be and become rather than viewing BVA as only a solution for COVID safety concerns.
One area where we can grow, however, is in our offerings to learners in World Language. Perhaps more than any other subject, students need time with peers to listen and to converse in the target language in order to benefit the most. Over the course of the year, we have layered in some live teaching at the Middle School and High School levels, but we believe we can do better as we continue to make improvements this year and plan for BVA 2.0 in the future.
This week's resources are here to support you and your child in their work to continue learning a language outside of their native tongue. We know that there are many benefits to engaging in this work and it may even be that students would like to try languages we don't currently offer in our course catalog.
Mindframes: Seek Feedback & Recognize Errors are Opportunities to LEarn
Mindframes: Seek Feedback & Recognize Errors are Opportunities to LEarn
Online Learning & Teaching Practices
Each week, Brave Virtual Academy teachers and I discuss our core principles at the heart of BVA.
- Personalization: providing unique learning pathways for individual students
- Agency: giving learners opportunities to participate in key decisions in their learning experience
- Authentic Audience: giving learners the opportunity to create for a real audience both locally and globally
- Connectivity: giving learners opportunities to experience learning in collaboration with peers and experts locally and globally
- Creativity: providing learners individual and collaborative opportunities to make things that matter while building skills for their future.
As a part of our BVA Community Book Club, participants learned from the Distance Learning Playbook for Parents about "mindframes". Student mindframes highlight the skills of self-regulation or "the ability to control one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts - in pursuit of long term goals" (p. 100).
This week we are focusing on the paired goals of seeking feedback and recognizing that errors are opportunities to learn.
Seeking feedback is something that isn't always explicitly taught in the classroom. In fact, when students do receive feedback on their work, they are unsure how to use it to improve. Grades and other forms of traditional school communication can be translated by students as a judgment on one particular assignment rather than as feedback toward improving skills and knowledge.
It is important for learners to understand the purpose of asking for feedback. Rather than asking "did I do this correctly?", encourage your child to ask "How can I improve?".
When working with students that exhibit perfectionistic behaviors, I often let them know that if they can do something without mistakes the first time, then they probably already knew how to do that task. Mistakes are a natural part of learning something new.
Did you know there are different types of mistakes? Teaching your child to recognize these and to see what can be learned from them is a valuable opportunity.
How can parents help learners with
seeking feedback & recognizing that errors are opportunities to learn?
Make struggle productive - create tasks with a clear success target. Choose problems around the house that are developmentally appropriate for children to tackle (The thermostat needs new batteries - allow your child to sort through how to complete this task).
Ask your child for advice - Let your child know when you are facing a problem and ask for their advice in what to do. This sends the message that challenges are a part of everyday life and that you value what your child thinks.
Teach your child to seek feedback from their teachers.
Change your attitude about errors and make it obvious to your children that mistakes are opportunities to learn.
From The Distance Learning Playbook for Parents; Wiseman, Fisher, Frey, & Hattie, 2021
BVA Community Book Club
BVA Community Book Club
Thanks to those of you who joined us in reading The Distance Learning Playbook for Parents by Wiseman, Fischer, Frey, and Hattie. The content sparked some great ideas and conversation. The most valuable part was the discussion with one another about what was working and not working with our children at home.
In February and March, we plan to run another session for The Distance Learning Playbook based on feedback from our first group. We'll also jump into a new book club for What School Could Be by Ted Dintersmith.
What School Could Be
Meeting Dates & Times (sign up here!)
7PM Feb 2nd | Feb 16th | Mar 2nd | Mar 16th
The Distance Learning Playbook for Parents
Meeting Dates & Times (sign up here!)
7PM Feb 10th | Feb 24th | March 10th | March 31st
Please contact us if you would like financial assistance in purchasing the book in order to participate in our book study.
Interested in serving as an expert in our classrooms?
Interested in serving as an expert in our classrooms?
Fill out this form and we'll match you up with the right content and grade level.
Fill out this form and we'll match you up with the right content and grade level.
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Events
NO SCHOOL
Staff Professional Learning Day - January 15th
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - January 18th
Did You Know?
Did You Know?
We have virtual clubs and activities available for learners? And more to come soon!
Middle School - Student Arrow - Watch Our Student Announcements to Learn More
MS Virtual Clubs - Future Cities | Power of the Pen | Latin Club | Math Counts
High School - 20-21 Activities Handbook;
Bring 2 Change, Courageous Conversations, Fragments, French Club, Partner's Club, Red Cross Club, Competitive Writing Team, & Writing Club are All BVA Friendly
Braves Beat - Keep Up with HS Happenings!
BVA Community Town Hall Meetings
BVA Community Town Hall Meetings
You can see all of our resources and recordings here.
We'll be back with more meetings next semester!
In the meantime, check out our
Picture Days
Check Your Child's School Newsletter
Didn't get your child's school photo taken this year? You can send in a photo of your child to your child's building yearbook leader
PS - Lauren Girdler
ES - Andrea Thomas
MS - Nicole Zistler
HS - Julie Pfeiffer
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Outside resources shared through this newsletter are meant to be informational, and are not officially endorsed by Indian Hill Schools.
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