October Messages

Hello, everyone!

We are welcoming our final set of new Learning Coaches for this fall to their first weekly message. Weekly messages keep you informed and provide information to assist you in your Learning Coach role. Please note that some of the messages will have more meaning as your child begins learning, but read everything below and make a note to return to the message later if you need to.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Our Learning Coach Info Sessions were held yesterday. The links to the recordings are available here. (NOTE: You might want to read this entire message before clicking the link. When you click, you'll very likely be taken to the recordings page in this window. To return to this page, use the navigation links on the left side or click the three-bar menu in the upper left hand corner of the window, whichever is visible on your device. The navigation path to return to this page is Messages From Your Learning Coach Partner > Messages for the '21-'22 School Year > October '21.)

The sessions included:

• An introduction of my team

• A presentation about the new after-school tutoring program

• Two exciting announcements about (1) our expanding our UVA esports program and (2) the new Family Zone Cyber Safety Hub offering for families.

• Presentations on the topics the majority of you requested in a survey a couple of weeks ago -- How to Determine if Your Child is Learning and Managing Time Effectively.

The 12 noon and 5pm recordings are available. Select either recording to see and hear what was discussed!

2. Elementary Clubs are starting soon! The first club day is today. Refer to the announcement on the Dashboard for details.

3. [Grades 7-9] Today is the final day to apply for membership in the National Junior Honor Society. The announcement is on the Dashboard. Please have your child apply before the day is over if interested.

4. An esports interest survey is coming your child's way today! I mentioned the survey and the expansion of our esports program in the info sessions yesterday. There's much more on the horizon for UVA Esports that I didn't mention yesterday. So stayed tuned for those announcements, but for now, please allow your child to respond to the survey so we can develop a program that they will enjoy being a part of.

DEADLINES/REMINDERS/DATES

Virtual after-school tutoring is here! The Info Session recordings contain a brief walkthrough of the scheduling tool and more. Check out one of the recordings here to see the walkthrough. Send your questions to tutoring@uview.academy.

TIPS AND RESOURCES

1. We discussed reading challenges very briefly in the Info Sessions yesterday, and Understood.com must have been listening. They sent a link to an article entitled "4 Reasons Kids Get Anxious About Reading -- and How to Help." Check it out, and remember -- UVA offers reading (and math) intervention. Talk with your child's ELA (or math) teacher for more information.

2. Don't forget to use your tools.

• • Use the Missing Submissions report to track overdue assignments. The report is only available in your online Canvas Observer account. (This UVA custom report is not available in the app.)

  • Use the Modules page to monitor the status of the day's assignments as well as previous activities.

Hello!

We're finishing week two of the second nine-week period. We're also welcoming new Learning Coaches to their first weekly message! Not everything applies to you right now, new Learning Coaches, because your focus is onboarding for the next few days, but some of the information in this week's message will be of interest to you. Take a look.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Your October Learning Coach Info Session is next week as follows based on the survey results:

Date: Thursday, October 28th

Times: 12 noon - 1pm and 5 pm - 6 pm (Pick the time that works for you.)

Topics:

• NEW! The New After-School Team Tutoring Program (The coordinator of the program will provide a brief overview and will answer your questions in a 15-minute segment)

• How to Determine if My Child is Learning

• Managing Time Effectively

Live Session Room Link: https://uview.cosocloud.com/cardozo/

Joining us on your phone? Download the Adobe Connect app in advance. When you launch the app, select the Guest option to enter the room.

2. Virtual after-school tutoring is here! If you missed the Remind announcement or did not read the flyer, check it out here. If you have questions about the tutoring program and will not attend next Thursday's Info Session (see #1 above), send your questions to tutoring@uview.academy.

3. Congratulations to the Learning Coaches of our Middle School and High School Honor Roll Recipients! Well done. The high school program is at 1pm this afternoon. Our Elementary School honor roll programs are at various times today.

4. Elementary Clubs are starting soon! The first club day is next Friday. Refer to the announcement on the Dashboard for details.

DEADLINES/REMINDERS/DATES

1.[High School] Virtual College Visits wrap up today (for now). Today's schedule is:

• 10/22 at Noon: Xavier University of Louisiana (My alma mater!)

2. [Grades 3 - 8]

Today (Friday, 10/22/21) is the last make up day for LEAP 360. Refer to the letter in the Testing Information folder of your child's Canvas account for log in information.

Account > Files > Testing Information > [The letter is here]

TIPS AND RESOURCES

1. Remember to use your tools.

• • Use the Missing Submissions report to track overdue assignments. The report is only available in your online Canvas Observer account. (This UVA custom report is not available in the app.)

  • Use the Modules page to monitor the status of the day's assignments as well as previous activities.

2. Dealing with tantrums at home? Or are they meltdowns? Are tantrums and meltdowns the same thing? Understood.com explains the difference and provides several articles on managing emotions here. Check it out, see if anything rings a bell, and pick up a few tips.

Hello!

Welcome to a slightly different format for the weekly message. A new feature -- Quick Links for Audio Listeners -- is added to assist our audio listeners when they need to access a link that is referenced in the message.

There's a lot going on. So, please read below.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Progress reports for the first nine-week period were released this week. Please read this document or instructions on locating the "Parent Info" letter that explains how to set up the account if you are new this year or watch the tutorial that was made available in the school's announcement. The document includes information for returning Learning Coaches who need a refresher.

2. Your Learning Coach Info Session survey results are in! You selected the following:

Preferred Day: Thursday

Preferred Times: 12pm-1pm and 5pm - 6pm

Based on those results, our October Info Sessions will be on Thursday, 10/28 /21 at noon and 5pm. Topics will include:

• "How to Determine if My Child is Learning"

• "Managing Time," which combines the 2nd and 3rd place favorites "Ways to Help My Child Stay on Pace..." and "Ways to Help My Child Be More a More Efficient Learner."

The Live Session room link will be provided next week.

3. [Elementary and Middle School]

• Club sign-ups are Underway! Monday, October 18th is the deadline for middle school club requests. (Click the previous link to access the form.)

• Keep your eyes open for an announcement about elementary school clubs!

4. [Grades 3-8]

LEAP 360 Diagnostic Assessments are next Monday, October 18th (ELA), and Tuesday, October 19th (Math).

• LEAP360 is taken from home.

• Have your child use the school computer for the LEAP 360 assessments. The required DRC (test website) software is pre-installed.

• Test website login information is uploaded into your child's Canvas Student account. To locate it (in advance), go to:

Account > Files > Testing Information

You will find a file for the LEAP 360 assessments in the Testing Information folder. The file name will be in one of the following formats:

[student's name] Fall LEAP 360.docx.pdf

OR

LEAP 360 Fall 2021 Reschedule - ....pdf

• Contact the teacher of the course if your child has difficulty accessing the test site, if the test site falters while taking the assessment, or if the LEAP 360 document is not uploaded in the student's account.

TO BE PREPARED, do these things before Monday morning:

1. The login instruction file is in the student's account, not your Observer (i.e., parent) account. Download the file before Monday morning.
2. If your child uses a personal computer for school most of the time, please do the following to ensure important software updates are downloaded before the LEAP 360 assessment begins Monday morning:

a) Power up the school laptop today or this weekend.

b) Log into the laptop.

c) Leave the laptop open for several hours. (Wake it up periodically.)

5. We now have specific Test Department email addresses for the three school levels if you need assistance from them or have questions about testing:

   • Elementary School: elementarytesting@uview.academy

   • Middle School: middletesting@uview.academy

   • High School: hightesting@uview.academy

DEADLINES/REMINDERS/DATES

1.[High School] Virtual College Visits are underway. The schedule is below as a reminder.

· (NEW!) 10/15 at 10 am: Northshore Technical Community College (NTCC)

· 10/15 at 1 pm: University of Louisiana at Monroe

· 10/22 at Noon: Xavier University of Louisiana

2. The first Testing Newsletter of the school year was released earlier this month. Click here to view the newsletter. Be sure to make a note of test dates that apply to your child.

TIPS AND RESOURCES

1. Some of our students have personal Chromebooks. However, Chromebooks do not support Canvas very well. In recent weeks, students who wanted to use their Chromebooks discovered they cannot access some of their assignments or cannot access some of the external websites that courses are linked to. Although it is usually okay to use a personal computer for most schoolwork at home, Chromebooks fall short of the mark.

2. Have you established a routine to run the Missing Submissions report in your Canvas Observer account every day? Please do. The report identifies overdue gradable assignments from the day before or prior. (Many assignments are not associated with a grade. More below in #3.)

Used daily, this browser-generated report (not app-generated) is a very effective tool that can prevent a huge backlog of assignments if it is run daily.

Please note: This report does not identify:

a) Gradable assignments that are due the day the report is run.

b) Overdue assignments that do not have a grade associated with them.

Click here for a refresher on how to run the Missing Submissions report.

3. Are you reviewing the Modules page as part of your daily routine? If not, add that to your daily practice as an accompaniment to the Missing Submissions report. Typically, at least one foundational assignment precedes a graded item on the Modules page. Examples include:

• • • An introduction to a topic or concept

    • A review activity that precedes an assessment

Those kinds of assignments seldom have grades associated with them, but foundational lessons are where learning occurs (in conjunction with the teacher's Live Sessions). They are critical to a student's comprehension of a skill or topic.

So, review the Modules page every day and pay attention to:

• Red circles (i.e., an incomplete activity) and green checkmarks (i.e., a complete activity) on the right side of the page.

• "View" vs. "Viewed" and "Submit" vs. "Submitted" below the title of the assignment. Past tense (i.e., viewed

or submitted) indicates the assignment was completed (or at least opened in the case of a viewable -- i.e., read-only -- activity). This information is helpful for monitoring completion of activities on the day of the assignment, especially the activities that do not have a grade associated with them.