February Messages

Hello Learning Coaches!

One more set of new Learning Coaches is receiving the first weekly message from me today. Welcome to our family! These messages are sent every Friday to review announcements, deadlines and reminders, and to provide what we hope are useful Learning Coach tips. You have the option to listen to the message if time is short, then remember to return here to access any links that are provided below.

We are headed towards the testing season with lots of test prep and actual testing events. You will notice that quite a few of today's announcements are related to those topics. Please read carefully.

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Announcements

1. [SENIORS] Mrs. Martinez (senior counselor) announced a noon Live Session for seniors to meet with a representative from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Aid to discuss TOPS funding today. Make sure your senior knows about this opportunity if TOPS funding is of interest. Mrs. Martinez' Canvas message is in your child's Canvas Inbox.

2. [HIGH SCHOOL] An important "It's Almost Time!!..." message was sent by the high school counselors this week regarding an upcoming opportunity to schedule next year's courses. This scheduling event is very important and allows your high school child (and you) to collaborate with the counselor about the courses that your child will take next school year. Please ensure your child reads this important Canvas message and makes plans to participate. (8th grade students will have an opportunity to work with the counselor on scheduling a little later. Stay tuned.)

3. [MIDDLE SCHOOL and ELEMENTARY SCHOOL] Students will take their LEAP360 Interim 2 Assessments online from home next month. These benchmark tests help teachers and students identify areas to develop further as we advance towards LEAP testing in early May. The dates for LEAP360 Interim 2 Assessments are as follows:

• Middle school ELA and Math -- March 1 thru March 5 (that's next week)

• Elementary school ELA and Math -- March 22 thru March 26 (mark your calendars)

Testing credentials and instructions to access the assessment are available in the student's account 72 hours before the first day of testing. Login to your child's account and use the following navigation path to access the instructions:

Account > Files > Testing Information > Spring-2021-LEAP 360 Test Information...pdf

4. [JUNIORS and some SENIORS] ACT testing is very soon for juniors (and possibly a few seniors who have registered). Details about the date, time, and location of the testing are in the student's Canvas account. Go to Account > Files > Testing Information to access the testing document.

Also, please ensure that your child is prepared to check Remind the morning of testing because a Google Form will be sent that morning, and testers will be asked to complete the form prior to arriving at the test site.

5. Our Black History Month Celebration Through the Arts presentation is now available! Students (and a few Learning Coaches!) from elementary, middle, and high school are represented in the presentation. We appreciate your wonderful contributions. A Dashboard announcement is posted, but here is the link to the presentation as well.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. As a reminder, our March Learning Coach Info Session is coming up next week as follows:

• Thursday, March 4th, 11:30 am and 6 pm*

• LIVE SESSION ROOM LINK: Eugenia Cardozo's Live Session Room

* Please note the new times for the sessions as a result of the recent Info Session Survey.

The room will open 10 minutes before the hour. Both sessions will be recorded, but live attendance is best so that you can ask questions and can network with other parents at the end if you'd like to.

Sessions last approximately one hour. Attend whichever time works for you and for whatever portion of the session that you can.

2. Mid-semester grades will be entered in the Student Progress Center (not in Canvas) in mid-March. Keep your eyes open for an announcement. If you are new this semester; if you've never set up your account in the Student Progress Center; or if you've forgotten your password or how to access the Student Progress Center, you can get more information and prepare in advance by clicking here.

NOTE: Our very newest Learning Coaches will not yet have access to the document that is referenced at the link above, but the information will be available by the time grades are uploaded to the progress center.

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Learning Coach (and Student) Tips and Resources

1. Just a reminder to run one of the following Missing Submission reports every day and check the grade book for temporary 50% grades each day as well. Hold your child accountable for completing overdue assignments during a defined, near-term interval so that your child gets back on pace as quickly as possible. (Work with your child's teachers if overdue assignments are a result of the winter storm.)

Click the active links below to learn about the Missing Submissions report of your choice if you need a refresher.

• The Alert Bell is available in the Canvas Student account to identify assignments that are flagged as MISSING from the day before or prior. (Second semester enrollees' reports might include assignments from last semester. Those are to be ignored.)

• The Missing Submissions report generates the same list of overdue assignments as the student's report, but it is found in your Observer account.

Remember -- Assignments with temporary 50% grades are two weeks or more overdue. They will probably be on the Missing Submissions report, but there are exceptions. Compare the missing submissions report with the grade book.

2. Don't forget about next week's Info Session. (See Deadline/Reminder # 1 above.) The session will be recorded if you cannot attend.

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That's it for this week.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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

Hello Learning Coaches!

Our newest Learning Coaches are receiving their first weekly message from me today. Welcome to our family!

These messages are sent every Friday to review announcements, deadlines and reminders, and Learning Coach tips. You have the option to listen to the message if time is short, but keep in mind that most weekly messages contain links that will require that you eventually come to the message page to access the links.

Use this link to access the audio recording of today's weekly message if you are unable to read the entire message below at this time.

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Announcements

1. We hope those of you without electricity and/or internet service are in recovery at this point. If you have not done so already, please let us know if you are without services. Update us as your services are restored, and plan on contacting your child's teachers to get instructions for recovery.

2. Our Learning Coach Info Session schedule for the remainder of the school year is below. Mark your calendars!

• Thursday, March 4th, 11:30am* and 6pm

• Thursday, April 1st, 11:30am* and 6pm

• Thursday, May 6th, 11:30am* and 6pm

* Time subject to change to 11am based on attendance at the March 4th meeting. If you requested 11am and an 11:30am start time will not work for you, please let me know. The winter storm might have prevented you from commenting last Friday when I proposed splitting the difference between 11am and noon.

3. If you missed the honors programs last Friday and didn't receive a link to the recordings, the recordings for the elementary (K-5), middle (6-8), and high school (9-12) programs are below. Enjoy!

• Elementary School Honors Program

• Middle School Honors Program

• High School Honors Program

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Deadlines/Reminders

3:00 pm today is the last day to submit a contribution for the virtual gallery walk to mturner@uview.academy for Black History Month. Students may submit a drawing, painting, or video of a song, dance, or reading relevant to black history. All submissions should be emailed from the student's UVA issued email address. If that is not possible, please reference the name of the student for whom the submission is being made. Download a flyer about the event here.

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Learning Coach (and Student) Tips and Resources

1. Run one of the following Missing Submission reports every day and check the grade book for temporary 50% grades each day as well. Hold your child accountable for completing overdue assignments during a defined, near-term interval so that your child gets back on pace as quickly as possible. (Work with your child's teachers if overdue assignments are a result of the winter storm.)

Click the active links below to learn about the Missing Submissions report of your choice if you need a refresher.

• The Alert Bell is available in the Canvas Student account to identify assignments that are flagged as MISSING from the day before or prior.

• The Missing Submissions report generates the same list of overdue assignments as the student's report, but it is found in your Observer account.

Remember -- Assignments with temporary 50% grades are two weeks or more overdue. They will probably be on the Missing Submissions report, but there are exceptions. Compare the missing submissions report with the grade book.

2. Don't forget that there are useful tech tips in Technology Mart of your Learning Coach Corner. Topics include:

• Quick start guides and tips for the Lenovo PC and MacBook Air

• Quick Guides for using Office 365 apps

• Managing browser windows efficiently

• Methods for sharing one computer for Canvas access

• Tips for monitoring your child's browsing habits and history on the computer

• More...

3. [Lenovo Laptop Tip] The F6 key will disable the trackpad if clicked. Just click the F6 key once to re-activate the trackpad.

4. The following article from Understood.com might be helpful if you have a child who is living with ADHD -- "8 Things I Wish People Knew About Parenting a Child With ADHD".

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That's it for this week.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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

Hello Learning Coaches!

Your announcements, deadlines and reminders, and Learning Coach tips are below. Click the link to listen to the audio recording of today's weekly message if you are unable to read the entire message below at this time.

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Announcements

1. Please ensure that our Counselor's announcements are read by your child and by you in a timely manner. Oftentimes the messages are time sensitive. For example, seniors were sent an important message by Mrs. Martinez this week with reminders to address one or two items next week. Other counselors sent information-filled messages as well. Please stay informed and guide your child to take timely action on all guidance from our Counseling team.

2. A big thank you to those of you who were able to submit your responses to the Info Session survey before the cutoff this week. Actually a few of you slipped a vote in before I blocked responses, leading to the highest number of responses to one of my surveys yet. So, the results are in!

• Thursday remains the day for our Info Sessions. It was favored by 40% of the respondents compared with Wednesday (25%), Monday (23%), and Tuesday (12%).

• The responses for the times to host our sessions were: 11am (19%), noon (15%), 2pm (13%), 4pm (10%), 5pm (9%), and 6pm (13%). (Times with lowest percentages not shown.)

I always provide a daytime session and a late afternoon/evening session to accommodate those of you who are not available until the end of the day. So, we will move our late session from 4pm to 6pm based on the results.

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For the early session, 11am and noon are really close contenders. I'm torn between holding the session at 11am or starting the session at 11:30am because of the strong request for a noon session. Feel free to provide your opinion about 11am vs 11:30am via Remind before next Friday.

3. Due to Mardi Gras and what feels like a short month, we will not have an Info Session in February. Instead, we will resume our sessions in March and will meet on the first Thursday of the month (rather than the third Thursday) for the remainder of the semester. The dates are follows:

• Thursday, March 4th

• Thursday, April 1st

• Thursday, May 6th

Mark your calendars! (I'll confirm the midday time soon. Count on 6pm for the evening session.)

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. Mardi Gras is next week! We will close for a three-day Mardi Gras break next Monday, 2/15 thru Wednesday, 2/17.

2. The deadline to submit a contribution to mturner@uview.academy for the virtual gallery walk for Black History Month is February 19, 2021, at 3:00 pm. Students may submit a drawing, painting, or video of a song, dance, or reading relevant to black history. All submissions should be emailed from the student's UVA issued email address. (If that is not possible, please reference the name of the student for whom the submission is being made.) Download a flyer about the event here.

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Learning Coach (and Student) Tips and Resources

1. Please run one of the following Missing Submission reports and check the grade book for temporary 50% grades today. Hold your child accountable for completing overdue assignments during the Mardi Gras break so that your child is on pace when we return next Thursday the 18th. The upcoming break is the best time to get on track.

Click the active links below to learn about the Missing Submissions report of your choice if you need a refresher.

• The Alert Bell is available in the Canvas Student account to identify assignments that are flagged as MISSING from the day before or prior.

• The Missing Submissions report generates the same list of overdue assignments as the student's report, but it is found in your Observer account.

Remember -- Assignments with temporary 50% grades are two weeks or more overdue. They will probably be on the Missing Submissions report, but there are exceptions. Compare the missing submissions report with the grade book.

2. Next week might be a good time to brush up on some tech tips in Technology Mart of your Learning Coach Corner. Topics include:

• Quick start guides and tips for the Lenovo PC and MacBook Air

• Quick Guides for using Office 365 apps

• Managing browser windows efficiently

• Methods for sharing one computer for Canvas access

• Tips for monitoring your child's browsing habits and history on the computer

• More...

3. [Middle School] A recent article from Understood.com really rang a bell for me as a former middle school teacher. If you have a middle school child, please check out this short, relatable, and very practical article with "6 Tips to Help Middle-Schoolers Stick With It". It's a worthwhile read. (If you have a slightly older upper elementary child, you might be interested in the article as well.)

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I know Mardi Gras might not be a big deal everywhere in Louisiana, but we definitely enjoy our celebrations and king cakes (a little too much!) down here. Mardi Gras is different this year, but some neighborhoods and communities have still managed to make it fun with creative and colorful expressions of the season. So:

• Enjoy these photos of a few unique house floats , and

• Check out this photo album of 250 house floats !

Have a good Mardi Gras break next Monday, 2/15 thru Wednesday, 2/17.

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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

Hello Learning Coaches!

Thank you for your responsiveness to our requests for engagement on Count Day this past Monday. Although daily engagement is always expected, Count Day is very significant. We appreciated your cooperation.

Nearly all of our newest enrollees are engaged in their daily assignments at this point. A handful are awaiting their school laptops and they will be off and running soon. We're excited to know that everyone is learning or will be learning soon!

Your announcements, deadlines and reminders, and Learning Coach tips are below.

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Click the link to listen to the audio recording of today's weekly message if you are unable to read the entire message below at this time. If web links are contained below, the audio recording will direct you back to this message to access the links. (Thanks to the Learning Coach who told me last week's message was audible and helpful for her.)

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Announcements

1. If a new student from 1-15-21 forward has not received our school laptop and we have not discussed the shipment date already, please let me know via Remind today.

2. Additional details about state testing are forthcoming. Stay up to date with all school communications via Remind, the Canvas Inbox, phone, text, and direct email. (Remember to check your Spam folder.)

3. The following announcement is posted on the Canvas Dashboard:

University View Academy is excited to invite students to participate in a virtual gallery walk for Black History Month. Students may submit a drawing, painting, or video of a song, dance, or reading relevant to black history. A gallery viewing of submissions will be posted in Canvas on February 26, 2021. All submissions should be emailed to mturner@uview.academy, preferably from the student's UVA issued email address (if not, please reference the student name who is submitting). The deadline for all submissions is February 19, 2021, at 3:00 pm.

Tips:

• Video submissions should be 3 minutes or less.

• Drawings or paintings should be photographed on a flat surface.

Submissions will be reviewed for appropriateness.

Download a flyer about the event here.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. Mardi Gras is less than two weeks away! We will close for a three-day Mardi Gras break. View the Student Calendar for details on the Quick Links page of your Learning Coach Communications Hub. Encourage your child to be on pace by then so that all three days of the break can be enjoyed.

2. Refer to #3 under Announcements above regarding the deadline for gallery submissions for Black History Month.

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Learning Coach (and Student) Tips and Resources

1. [High School] Several messages have been released by the high school counselors this week. Please ensure that you and your high school child are reading these messages promptly so that your child can take advantage of the opportunities that are being provided.

2. [Everyone] Check the Modules page, the Calendar, and the grade book every day to determine the completion status of the day's assignments. If an assignment has not been viewed or submitted, please redirect your child to complete the assignment that day if possible.

TIP: Redirect your child to open and read un-viewed assignments this weekend if previous assignments still say "View". Lesson content is in those assignments. That is where a lesson concept will be explained. (These assignments will not appear on a Missing Submissions report because there is nothing to submit.)

3. [Everyone] Remember to run daily Missing Submission reports and hold your child accountable for completing overdue assignments before they pile up.

• The Alert Bell is available in the Canvas Student account to identify assignments that are flagged as MISSING from the day before or prior.

• The Missing Submissions report generates the same list of overdue assignments as the student's report, but it is found in your Observer account.

• Assignments with temporary 50% grades are two weeks or more overdue. They will probably be on the Missing Submissions report, but there are exceptions. Compare the report with the grade book.

Please run one of the reports every day and redirect your child to begin completing un-submitted assignments the day the report is generated, if possible. Weekend schoolwork might be necessary. Click on the links in the previous bullet list if you need a refresher on the location of those reports.

4. [Everyone] Praise is important for all children, and it is especially important for our UVA students who are not in classrooms with their teachers throughout the day to receive pats on the back, elbow bumps, and shout outs. You help to fill that gap for our teachers. Praise is also a gateway to developing self-esteem, and Understood.com addresses that topic in a great article entitled "How to Give Praise That Builds Your Child's Self-Esteem". Please take a few minutes to read the article here.

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Have a good weekend!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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