November Messages

Hello Learning Coaches!

I hope this has been a productive week for everyone. Lessons should be well underway for our 11/2 enrollees at this point.

The end of the semester is in sight. Let's read a few announcements, deadlines (one is today!), reminders, and tips before the Thanksgiving break to ensure everyone has a strong finish.

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Announcements

1. Our Thanksgiving Break is next week, November 23-27. Teachers will be off, and no new assignments will be on the calendar.

2. Our November Info Sessions were held yesterday. Both recording links are available on the Learning Coach Info Session Recordings page of this website. Feedback was positive. If you missed the session or want to watch parts of it again, please watch at least one of the recordings, and consider watching the Discussion segment of the second recording. The minute marker of the Discussion segment is identified on the recordings page. That will allow you to advance the playback bar to go directly to the second Discussion. (In response to a request, the recordings page includes the presentation slides as well.)

3. IMPORTANT! EXCITING!! -- Since last year, many of you have been asking for the following features to be available in the Observer account -- (1) Having items on the Observer calendar "cross off" when the student you are observing submits a lesson, and (2) Having the checkmark beside a lesson turn green on the Modules page in your account. (Currently, you have to login to the student's account to see check marks and calendar cross offs.) Well, Canvas is considering the development of these two features (yay!) and they provided this link for us to comment in favor of the features if we want them to prioritize their development ahead of other requests. Please click this link to read about the features. If you want to see them developed for your Observer account, click the "Log in to participate" button at the top of the page, and add your comments. Many parents have already started commenting. Add yours today! Let's get these features added to your Observer account.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. (Learning Coaches of Juniors) TODAY -- Friday, Nov. 20th -- is the last day to register for the optional ACT on December 12. All Juniors are required to take the statewide ACT in March. The December test is an optional ACT for students who would like to take it an additional time. Please ensure your junior reads and takes action on Mrs. Bacon's 11/19/20 Canvas message if interested in this opportunity.

2. Elementary and high school students will take their ELA and Math LEAP 360 interim test assessments online and at home when we return from the Thanksgiving break. Please read all communications so you are prepared.

3. Middle school students will take their LEAP360 interim assessments during the second week of December. Stay tuned for school communications about these assessments.

4. A new assignment entitled "Taking Screenshots" was added to the Canvas training modules in the Advisory course card last week! Due to the unique order of the lessons in each Advisory course, the assignment might be in "Module 3: Assignments" or it might be at the end of "Module 4: Feedback Survey". Please look for it. Requests from several of you have led to this new addition to the Canvas training. Thank you for the suggestion!

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. Please review your child(ren)'s grades at least three times per week. Is your child failing a course? Have meaningful discussions with your child about ways to improve grades. (Oftentimes, overdue assignments with 50% scores are the culprit. That is an indication that the student is not engaged in school at a sufficient level. This topic was discussed in yesterday's Learning Coach Info Session. Please watch a recording.)

2. We hope that all of our students will be able to enjoy the entire Thanksgiving break next week without having to complete schoolwork. However, if your child is behind in any course, the Thanksgiving Break will be a prime opportunity to get caught up. There will not be any lessons on the calendar during the break. Please be aware that students will not have access to first semester assignments after the semester ends. (Returning Learning Coaches of students in grades K-8, this is different from previous years when K-8 students had access to their fall assignments all year long.) 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. Then guide your children accordingly, and ensure your child makes the most of this window of opportunity to get caught up.

3. The "Show All Details" button was highlighted in yesterday's Info Session. Please note that the button might be on the right side of the course's grade book page if your Canvas window is wide enough. Otherwise, the button will be at the bottom as shown in the info session recording.

4. Would you like to receive our Remind messages on your computer? You can! Simply log in to your subscription at Remind.com or you can install the Chrome extension for Remind.

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We hope everyone enjoys a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Our celebrations might be different this year but make the most of whatever you do. We are grateful to have you and your children as part of our UVA family!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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

Hello Learning Coaches!

Our most recent Learning Coaches of students who enrolled on November 2nd are nearly in the saddle! Congratulations to them for making such great progress during the on-boarding process. Reach out to me if you have questions about your role or need guidance about on-boarding activities, and reach out to your child's teachers regarding their courses.

We are getting closer to Thanksgiving. Read below for announcements, deadlines, and tips that we hope will help you guide your child towards a successful end to the first semester.

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Announcements

1. (High School) -- Live session workshops will be hosted by the Counseling Department on Friday, November 20th at 10:00 AM. Each high school counselor sent a Canvas message this week with details about the sessions that they are holding. We are excited about this opportunity for our students. The Live Session Room link for the session will be on the student's Calendar on 11/20. Encourage your high school child to take advantage of this great opportunity.

2. Do our course grade books look different? They should. Grade books have been updated to include semester views. To view the current semester, students (and you) can simply toggle to the current semester at the top of the grade book by selecting the semester in the Grading Period drop down menu. Check it out. (You'll be checking grades later today anyway. Right?)

3. A new assignment entitled "Taking Screenshots" has been added to the Canvas training modules in the Advisory course card! Due to the unique order of the lessons in each Advisory course, the assignment might be in "Module 3: Assignments" or it might be at the end of "Module 4: Feedback Survey". Please look for it. Requests from several of you have led to this new addition to the Canvas training. Thank you for the suggestion!

4. New Learning Coaches from our 11/2/20 enrollment group, I sent a direct email to you this afternoon at approximately 1:45pm. Please check your Spam folder if you do not see the email in your Inbox. Thanks.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. Our monthly Learning Coach Info Session schedule is next Thursday, 11/1920. Two sessions will be held -- 11am and 4pm. Please plan to attend either session. My Live Session room link is at the top of every page of this Learning Coach Communications Hub site that you are on right now, and I will send the link next Thursday morning in a reminder message. Thank you to those of you who had an opportunity to respond to the Info Session survey. I will look at your topic selections and will let you know soon what the winner(s) were. I apologize that I have not been able to look at the results yet.

2. Our Thanksgiving Break is November 23-27.

3. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a graduation requirement. Workshops will be held in November (11/20) and December (12/11) with a representative from the state's Office of Student Financial Assistance to assist our students with the application process. Mrs. Martinez (the senior counselor) sent a communication to all seniors on November 4th. Please ensure your senior takes action on this important graduation requirement.

4. Elementary and high school students will take their ELA and Math LEAP 360 interim test assessments online and at home during the first week of December (right after Thanksgiving). Middle school students will test during the second week of December. Dates will be communicated one school week (not calendar week) before the test cycle so that you and your children are informed. Stay tuned...

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. There is a fine line between coaching and teaching or tutoring. Blurring that line could result in your child not receiving the education and services that we are here to provide, and none of us wants that. Right? Although we discussed this topic in last month's Learning Coach Info Session, it is very important that everyone has an opportunity to understand the difference between being a Learning Coach and being a teacher or a tutor for our UVA students. As a result, several members of our leadership team have asked me to share a clip from our October Info Session where we discussed "Navigating the Fine Line Between Coaching and Teaching or Tutoring". Please click the previous link and watch the 16-minute clip from the 4pm info session that was held last month. Be sure to ask me for additional clarification if you would like to discuss the topic further. Thanks!

2. Did you know there is a "Show All Details" button at the bottom of every grade book? If you click that button, all of the comments that teachers are leaving for your child(ren) will be displayed below graded items. It makes it very easy to see the feedback that has been left. Those comments can be like gold because they might contain tips on improving a grade. Something as simple as uploading a blank document can result in a failing score on an assignment that was actually done quite well but has never been seen by the teacher. (This is a good time to plug the new "Taking Screenshots" Canvas lesson again. Scroll back up to read #3 from the Announcements section if you missed it.)

3. Related to #2 above, please make it a habit to review teachers' feedback in every grade book every day. For Learning Coaches of younger students, make this a daily routine as you review the progress of the day. For older students, set the expectation that he or she is reviewing all of their grade books every day, and check with your child to ensure that comments have been read...and acted upon. (That means you need to have checked for and read comments yourself so you will know if your child did it. ;-) You can do that from your Observer account.) There's plenty more to review in a grade book, but teachers' feedback can go unnoticed. That's why I am excited about the Show All Details button. (See #2 above.)

4. Is your child telling you "...but I submitted that assignment!" when you review the missing assignments list? Well, he or she very well might have submitted the assignment. However, Canvas might not have had a chance to acknowledge receipt of the uploaded file before your child moved away from the page. Guide your child to wait for Canvas to acknowledge that an uploaded file has been received before clicking away from the page. Doing that will eliminate a lot of heartbreak and frustration. (New Learning Coaches, remember this tip.)

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Thanks for your indulgence while I repeated a few items from last week. I wanted to ensure that our newest Learning Coaches benefit from some of the information that was shared previously.

Stay tuned for an announcement early next week regarding the topic(s) for our November Learning Coach Info Session on Thursday, 11/19 at 11am or 4pm. See you then!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

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

Hello UVA Learning Coaches!

We have welcomed quite a few new Learning Coaches this week. We are glad to have you on board with us! These weekly messages provide highlights, reminders, and updates that we need our Learning Coaches to be aware of. They are typically sent on Fridays. Quite often the information is time sensitive. So, we recommend that you read the messages the day that they are sent.

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Announcements

1. The LEAP 360 (online; at home) interim test schedule has been set. Elementary and high school students will take their ELA and Math interim assessments during the first week of December (right after Thanksgiving), and middle school students will test during the second week of December. Specific dates will be communicated one school week (not calendar week) before the test cycle so that you and your children are informed. I am certain teachers will be discussing the assessments in their Live Sessions as well. Stay tuned...

2. Remember that our November and December service projects opportunities were announced a week or so ago. Here is a link to review and download the flyer from the Events Corner page of this site if you do not have the flyer already.

3. Our counselors send periodic Canvas notifications to remind our students about upcoming deadlines, etc. This has been especially true of our high school counselors during this period of the semester because quite a few deadlines are approaching. Please stay on top of all school communications, and ensure that your child is doing the same thing.

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Deadlines/Reminders

1. (For Learning Coaches of Seniors) -- The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is a graduation requirement. Workshops will be held in November (11/20) and December (12/11) with a representative from the state's Office of Student Financial Assistance to assist our students with the application process. Mrs. Martinez (the senior counselor) sent a communication to all seniors on November 4th. Please ensure your senior takes action on this important graduation requirement.

2. Our monthly Learning Coach Info Session schedule is posted on the home page of your Learning Coach Communications Hub (i.e., the site that you are on right now). Take a look, and plan to attend our November session in a couple of weeks.

3. Our Thanksgiving Break is November 23-27.

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Learning Coach Tips and Resources

1. New Learning Coaches, have you created your Canvas Observer account and paired your child(ren) to your account? If you have, thanks! Be sure you included your first and last names in your account name. (Let me know if you did not. I can update the account.) If you have not created your Observer account, you overlooked a page in the UVA On-Boarding Course or have not gotten that far yet, but we need you to take care of this task as soon as possible. Creating the Observer account is an important step that makes it possible for our teachers to communicate with you via Canvas. Thanks!

2. Did you know that Remind messages are usually sent to your phone number (or Remind app) and to your email address? Believe it or not, Remind messages could also be sitting in your email account's Spam folder. Take a look. If you'd like to make adjustments to where you receive Remind messages, follow the instructions on the Remind Tips page of your Learning Coach Communications Hub. (If you have two Remind accounts, instructions to merge those accounts are available on that page as well.)

3. New Learning Coaches, after you complete the detailed Learning Coach training in the UVA On-Boarding Course, please view the recordings for the Learning Coach Info Sessions that you have missed so far this semester. The recordings are available here on this Learning Coach Communications Hub website. The topics for each session are provided on the recording page. Recommendation: Pick a session recording and watch it in its entirety. Then advance the second recording to the minute marker that is identified with the recording link and watch the discussion segment. Discussions are different (and very good) in both recordings for each monthly session.

4. Multiple teachers can be messaged at one time in Canvas now. Watch this tutorial for details about this time-saving feature.

5. Does your child have approved accommodations? Those accommodations are to be provided in the student's learning environment. Accommodations support the student when learning or testing. They are supportive, not instructional. Please ensure that the accommodations do not exceed what is approved; otherwise the student might expect unapproved accommodations during a face-to-face test session with a test proctor. It can be upsetting and distracting to a student during testing when extra, unapproved accommodations are not provided by a proctor. So, it is recommended that you limit accommodations to those that are approved. That will help to ensure your child's face-to-face test experience goes as smoothly as possible. Please check with your child's counselor or with the Advisory teacher if you think you might need a refresher about the method for providing your child's approved accommodations at home.

6. Is your child on pace right now? If so, great! If not, these next two weeks before the Thanksgiving Break provide a great opportunity for some hunkering down so that the holiday break can be a true break for rest, recreation, and safe holiday celebrations. Please run a Missing Submissions report in your Observer account or "click the bell" in your child's Canvas Student account so that you and your child can identify the status of his or her assignments. (Click the link for whichever report you would like to run.) If there are overdue assignments on the report, grab a calendar or a piece of paper, and plot out a schedule with your child for him or her to complete/submit those assignments between now and November 26th. Teachers might have suggestions for the most effective way to work through the assignments. Please get their input. Then help your child understand the tradeoff of having extended school days right now and spending some weekend hours doing assignments vs. doing schoolwork while everyone else is off during the Thanksgiving break. The reward will be worth it. Seeing light at the end of the tunnel will be motivating for your child as well.

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That's a wrap. Have a good weekend!

-- Eugenia Cardozo

Your Learning Coach Partner

225-421-2837