December Messages

Hello Learning Coaches!

We welcome our very newest Learning Coaches whose students will begin in January! Several students were added this week. They and their children will be completing their orientation and training via the UVA On-Boarding Course between now and January 6th when students return from the Winter Break.

These weekly messages are sent to our Learning Coaches on Fridays. Please read below for important announcements, reminders and deadlines, and tips to assist you in your Learning Coach role.

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Announcements

1. IMPORTANT --Today (Friday, 12/18) marks the last day of school prior to the Winter Break.

   • UVA will be closed. Personnel will be on break.

   • Students will have access to their courses.

   • Employees return on January 4th.

   • Students return on January 6th.

   • Tech Support (aka "The UVA Help Desk") will be open through Christmas Eve (12/24) next week, and they will be open through New Year's Eve (12/31) the following week. If you need technical assistance or have a computer issue, be sure to call Tech Support at 225-286-1600. Their standard hours are 7am - 6pm. However, 12/24 and 12/31 might be shorter workdays. Call early.

2. IMPORTANT -- There are different cutoff dates for K-8 and High School fall semester courses. K-8 students have until January 4th at 11:59pm to submit assignments. High school students have until January 3rd at 11:59pm to submit their assignments. If your middle school child takes a high school course, please follow the high school schedule for that course.

Please ensure that your child has a schedule to complete assignments well before the cutoff date so that there are no last-minute surprises or technical snags.

(Unexpected things can happen -- e.g., power outages, illness, technical issues.)

3. If you missed my Remind message on Wednesday, HERE is the link to your December Info "Session" Video recordings, which were recorded for you in lieu of a live session this month. Recordings average 18 minutes. The topics are based on your requests. Please take the time to watch the recordings during the break if you haven't done so already and share appropriate tips and recommended practices with your children. New or seldom-used Canvas features and resources are highlighted; assignment submission tips are discussed; and much more. There's even a special recording for our newest Learning Coaches.

4. Did you and your child(ren) read the "Hot Topics From the Counseling Department" message that was sent this week? Please check your Canvas Inbox or your personal Inbox for this important Canvas notification.

5. (*NEW* AS OF FRIDAY, 12/18 AT 2:50PM) The Technology Mart section of Learning Coach Corner has been 100% migrated out of Canvas into to the current Learning Coach Corner website. Technology Mart has some pretty useful tech-related tips and information that you might want to browse ranging from expanded Remind tips to tips for using the MacBook Air and Lenovo PC. Take a few minutes to browse Technology Mart. In addition to having been migrated out of Canvas, it has also been updated significantly compared to the Canvas version!

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Deadlines/Reminders

Once again -- High school course access ends on January 3rd at 11:59pm. Kindergarten through 8th grade course access ends on January 4th at 11:59pm.

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. The History icon is discussed in Video #2 of the December Info "Session" video set. Please note that the History feature seems to work faster in the student's account. If you click on the icon in your Observer account and it runs for a long time, log into your child's Canvas account to view the History. (Learn about this Canvas feature in Video #2 of the December Info "Session" video set.)

2. Did you join us in November or later? Please consider watching some of the previous Info Session recordings during the break. You might pick up a few nuggets that will help as you prepare for the start of the second semester. Click HERE to access the Info Session recordings for September thru November.

3. Please consider doing the following before January 4th when teachers return:

• • Run a missing submissions report. Use the Alert Bell in the student's account to identify assignments that are flagged as MISSING in the grade book or run the Missing Submissions report in your Observer account to generate the same list. Please do this immediately so that your child has time to: [1] study overdue lessons and submit all of the associated missing assignments, and [2] resubmit assignments for an improved grade if that opportunity exists. (After you read the remainder of the message, click the "Alert Bell" and "Missing Submissions report" links in the second sentence of this item to go to tutorials that explain how to run those reports.)

  • Scan each grade book for graded assignments that are not marked MISSING but that have 50% scores. They are lowering the overall grade for the course. Please note that the assignment might have a "50%" score, or the score might be a value that is half of the total possible points (e.g., 3 points for an assignment that is worth 6 points). Look carefully. Have your child include those assignments in the work schedule over the break. (The reason for this extra step is discussed in Video #2 of the December video series.)

  • Create your Canvas Observer account and/or double check that your account is paired with all of the students that you are observing. Faculty and school administrators send Canvas messages throughout the semester, sometimes only to the Observers. Students benefit from having an Observer for this and many other reasons. Follow the tutorial(s) on THIS PAGE for the scenario or scenarios that apply to you. The instructions are quick and easy.

  • Review Learning Coach Corner for tips and resources. Suggestions for motivating your child to engage in school at productive levels are included in this resource along with other information that will assist you in your role. (New Learning Coaches, Learning Coach Corner is accessed in Phase III of the UVA On-Boarding Course after you have completed your Canvas training.)

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There is one more item for you to complete before January 6th. Please enjoy the Winter Break in whatever manner and for whatever reason you celebrate.

Have a happy, safe, and restful holiday season! See you next year! :-)

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello Learning Coaches!

Let's welcome our very newest Learning Coaches whose students will begin in January! They and their children will be completing their orientation and training via the UVA On-Boarding Course between now and January 6th when students return from the Winter Break.

These weekly messages are sent to our Learning Coaches on Fridays. Please read below for important announcements, reminders and deadlines, and tips to assist you in your Learning Coach role.

(BTW -- I'm excited to have more editing tools at my disposal on this website. Google recently added some nice features. I hope the features make this message more readable for you.)

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Announcements

1. UVA's Winter Break begins on December 21st. Students return on January 6th.

2. Thanks to those of you who submitted topics for our December Learning Coach Info Session Videos, which will replace our live session this month. We received a variety of suggestions. You will be provided a set of recordings, each focused on a particular topic. That will allow you to watch the recording(s) of your choosing. My goal is to release most, if not all, of the recordings by next Wednesday, the 16th so that you will have time to watch them before the break if you would like to do so. Everything will be released no later than next Friday. Stay tuned...

3. High school counselors send quite a few important Canvas messages throughout the week. Our elementary and middle school counselors send messages less frequently, but they have sent important messages in recent days. No matter your child's grade level, all communications from our faculty and administrators should be read in a timely manner to ensure you and your child(ren) are informed and are able to meet registration and submission deadlines; are aware of important announcements, reminders, and feedback; etc.

Please ensure that all school communications are read every day by you and your child -- twice per day, if possible -- so that you are informed in a timely manner.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. Do you and your child know the deadline for submitting 1st semester assignments? Teachers have communicated the deadline. Deadlines may vary depending on the grade level and the type of course (e.g., Dual Enrollment courses and graduating seniors might have different/earlier deadlines than other courses).

Please ensure that you and your child know the cutoff date for submitting 1st semester assignments.

Students who are taking full-semester courses will not have access to their 1st semester courses after the cutoff. (NOTE: This is new for K-8 this year.)

2. Today is the last day to contribute to the December service project if your child would like to participate. You will find the service project flyer in the Events Corner of this Learning Coach Communications Hub website.

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. As mentioned previously, students will not have access to their fall semester courses after the courses close. Please audit your child's lesson completion status with the alert bell in the student's account when the Dashboard is in List Mode or run the Missing Submissions report in your Observer account when you are in Recent Activity mode. The links in the previous sentence will take you to the page that describes where to find those features and how to use them. We are approaching the end of the road, and we want all of our students to have learned the expected content for this first semester of the school year so that they can thrive during the second semester.

Please run a report before Monday, the 14th, and reach out to your child's teachers for guidance on how to recover before the semester cutoff.

2. Did you know that Canvas notifications (i.e., Canvas messages and alerts that get sent to your personal email address) can land in your Spam or Junk folder? Well, they can. They can even land in the Promotions folder, Gmail subscribers. Please check your Spam/Junk/Promotions folder, and whitelist addresses in Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo! Mail or whitelist in iCloud so that you are not in the dark if you rely upon email to read our school communications. (Click the link that applies to you in the previous sentence.)

Consider logging into your Observer account and reading your messages in the Canvas Inbox several times per week for good measure.

3. ...and Canvas notifications aren't the only communications that can land in the wrong destination in your email account. Remind messages are sent to your email address as well (although app users might have that feature turned off). If you did not know these and other Remind messages are being sent to your Inbox and you would like to read them that way, take a look at your Spam folder.

4. Understood.com released another interesting and relevant topic this week. Is your child struggling during these different (and sometimes difficult) times that we are all experiencing? This week's article might shed some light on how "Kids Grieve in Unexpected Ways."

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That does it for this week. One more week to go! Please reach out for assistance when you need it.

Have a good weekend.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)

Hello Learning Coaches!

We are rounding the corner to the end of the fall semester. Let's take a look at what lies ahead.

Announcements

1. The December Learning Coach Info Session will be replaced with a pre-recorded session (or a series of short recordings) from me in response to your requests. Please complete this short form by next Wednesday, 12/9, at noon if you'd like to submit suggestions for topics. I will release the recording(s) the week of December 14th and will do my best to cover as many of the topics as I can.

2. Have you checked out the Global Announcements feature in Canvas? This great feature allows you to read an announcement that you might have missed or that you need to re-read, even if the announcement is no longer on the Dashboard. All you have to do is go to Account > Global Announcements, and you will be able to read any announcement that was posted during the previous four-month period. Please note -- The School Announcements page on your Learning Coach Communications Hub (the website that you are on right now) will continue to highlight the most important announcements for you, but I will not duplicate every upcoming announcement on the school announcements page now that the Global Announcements feature is available in Canvas.)

3. Our high school counselors are scheduling Live Sessions to answer their students' questions about graduation requirements and scheduling. Please ensure that your child is reading the Canvas messages that are being sent about these events, and encourage attendance so that their questions can be answered. A session is coming up soon!

Deadlines/Reminders

1. Middle School (6-8) students will take their LEAP 360 interim assessments next week as follows: ELA (Monday, 12/7), MATH (Tuesday, 12/8). There are no specific times of the day to take the test. It is open and accessible any time during the scheduled date of the assessment. Instructions to log in to the test site are located in your child's Canvas Student account. Go to Accounts > Files > Testing Information.

2. Graduating seniors (for this semester) have until December 10th to complete their assignments. Please refer your graduating senior to the Canvas message sent by Mrs. Martinez.

Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. Please review your child(ren)'s grades at least three times per week. Have meaningful discussions with your child about ways to improve grades or about completing overdue assignments if either of those scenarios apply to you. Remember to praise successes as well.

2. Access to fall semester courses will end when the new semester begins in January. Please guide your child to a successful completion of this semester's courses. Audit your child's lesson completion status with the alert bell in the student's account when the Dashboard is in List Mode or run the Missing Submissions report in your Observer account when you are in Recent Activity mode. One of these reports should be run at least three times per week. Daily audits are ideal because any oversights can be addressed right then before overdue lessons begin to pile up.

3. Here are your Learning Coach Communications Hub page highlights of the week: (a) Remind Tips -- Review this page for ways to update or customize your Remind subscription, and (b) Contact List -- Bookmark this page for quick access to names and contact information that you might need from time to time.

4. Understood.com's email highlighted some interesting topics this week. A page from their site that stood out is Homework Study Skills. Although our students are actually learning at home, not doing homework, some of the information on the page can be applied in your situations. Check out the page when you have time.

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We're on the home stretch now. Coach your kids to have a strong finish to the first semester.

Please reach out for assistance when you need it.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837, ecardozo@uview.academy, and Remind (preferred)