Embedded Files
Critical Indicators
Critical Indicators
Home Learning Guide
Home Learning Guide
Online Resources for Teachers and Families
Online Resources for Teachers and Families
Extension and
Joslin Public Library Storytime -- Incredibly charming storytime videos by the public librarian.
Free PBS Educational Resources -- Vermont Public Broadcasting has published for families a list of free shows and lessons. You can stream the videos or watch them on TV.
Backyard Build Contest -- A contest sponsored by Vermont's Goliath Tech. Students will have 3 weeks to design their project. The design will include conceptual sketches, scaled drawings, materials list, project schedule, and a rationale for why they chose their design.
Heggerty Phonemic Awareness -- This company (here is an overview) has been producing videos and has lessons available for home use. This could be a useful resource for families with young readers who want to work on a key foundational reading skill.
Connection Activities for Home Learning - A resource from the folks at Tarrant for morning meeting ideas.
Class and privilege in the age of Zoom meetings -- This is a short blog post reminding us that we are being invited into other people's homes. That invitation comes with some responsibilities.
John Spencer's Blog -- Spencer offer advice and examples of student driven home learning.
TRSU Counseling Site -- This site have been put together by our counselors to support our families, teachers and staff.
Read the World -- This is an excellent site on distance run by two educators.
Teach from Home -- Google Tools and tutorials to support distance learning.
Kaizena - to provide student feedback. It is a google feature that allows you to directly insert voice comments for selected text in a google document
Scribd -- Audio books free for 30 days
Junior Library Guild -- Free e-books for all grade levels.
Online Art Lessons with Mo Willems -- Children's book author Mo Willems gives daily art lessons.
Online Art Lessons with Jarrett J. Krosoczka - this is for older students.
Google collection of virtual museum tours (art museums as well as natural science museums)
Mapping The Corona Virus - Free articles from the Washington Post on the spread of the disease. This is a great tool for parents to use to talk with older children about where the virus is and how it spreads.
Checkology -- Part of the News Literacy Project is designed to help middle and high school students learn how to evaluate the factualness of news stories.
Parent Tips for Home Digital Device Use
Parent Tips for Home Digital Device Use
- Digital devices should be used in a common area (kitchen, family room, etc.) when at home. Avoid having your child bring their digital devices to their bedroom.
- Charge digital devices every night in the same location. Preferably in a common areas such as the kitchen.
- Actively monitor what is on the digital device. Get the device pass code and frequently look at the apps on the device. If you are unsure of what an app does, Google it!
- Establish home rules and consistently enforce them.
- Have frequent conversations about what is on the device and have your child show you how they use particular apps.
- Determine if you will allow personal content (i.e. photos, music, videos) on the device. Then frequently monitor.
- Set parental controls on the device. Be careful because some parental controls will not allow access to the Internet or other functions students may need in school. To learn more about setting parental controls, visit your school's school-specific e-learning tech support page.
Managing Screen Use
Managing Screen Use
Below are some articles from Common Sense Media that may help parents navigate screen use issues with their children. (Be careful, however, because some parental controls will not allow access to the Internet or other functions students may need in school.)
Daily Updates
Daily Updates
4.8.2020
We have sent our Continuity of Learning Plan to the Agency of Education and shared it with the teaching staff at all six of our schools. I continue to post resources to the curriculum Covid-19 Page.
3.20.2020
Cavendish Town Elementary is still holding its all-school meeting and posting the recordings. Chester-Andover is planning to follow suit.
Our STEAM coach is developing some online science lessons and will begin sharing this on a class-by-class basis.
The Federal Government has canceled all standardized testing.
The College Board will be allowing students to take AP Tests online. Guidance Counselors at Green Mountain and Black River will have more details.
3.19.2020
All of our schools have successfully held morning meetings with their students. If you do not know about when your child's morning meeting is please contact the school.
The Curriculum Directors in the Southeast met today to discuss long term school closure implications for learning. Each supervisory union is in a different place with their response. TRSU’s current stance is that our focus for learning until April 6th is on developing routines, continuity, and relationships through the review and practice of skills students already have.
Our Librarians are a huge resource for us to tap into. They can help curate sites and find online resources. Please reach out to them.
3.18.2020
Teachers and building principals held virtual staff meetings on 3.16 and 3.17 to review the home learning plan and discuss how they will prepare for home learning. On 3.18 the majority of teachers return to their builds for a one-day in house preparation day. The day is opened by Superintendent Powden’s remarks. Teachers are then given time to learn about the Zoom platform and other digital platforms (primarily Google Classroom and See Saw), prepare schedules and initial lessons for students.
We have ramped up online learning very quickly. Teachers are making plans and decisions about digital and paper-based learning with very little time. Today we began discussing digital privacy and confidentiality. We have asked teachers to use online learning sites that they and their students are familiar with and use as a regular part of instruction. Our Library Media Specialists have vetted and curated online learning sites on their library websites. However, we want to emphasize that digital safety is everyone’s responsibility. Here is a link to Common Sense Media to help parents with protecting their child’s online privacy.
3.17.2020
I’m looking forward to seeing all of you tomorrow through Zoom. I will send out an invite soon. I will be on from 9:00 - 9:30 a.m. I’ll have some brief remarks and then the rest of the time I can answer questions or hear your comments. Since there will be so many of us meeting, please use the “hands up” feature to let me know you want to speak. Katherine taught me how to use that feature this morning. For those of you who don’t know where it is, you will see a bar at the bottom of the Zoom screen. Choose Meeting Participants and then click on your name, a waving hand will appear and then click on that.
3.16.2020
We have developed a detailed home learning plan. Here is the link to that plan. The primary focus of this plan is to provide our students with a sense of stability, predictability, community, and belonging during this crisis. We will do this through regular meetings and a focus on academic learning. In the short term, we will focus on practicing skills students already have. If the disruption lasts longer than two weeks we will make decisions about how to introduce new learning.
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