Post date: Mar 26, 2020 5:28:45 PM
Greetings to all my lovely Ravens!
I was honestly devastated when the news broke that schools would be closed for the rest of the school year. I was saddened by the fact that I never got to say a proper goodbye to all my kids and that I wouldn't get to see them in person again this school year. But as with many teachers, I quickly realized that this just presented an amazing new adventure for us! While the details are still being worked out at all levels of education, we WILL carry on with this school year, just not all in the same room, at the same time, or in the same manner we were all used to. There might be some rocky points as we navigate this new frontier of education, but we'll all get through it together! We are Ravens and all Ravens were meant to SOAR!!!
In regards to math and grades, much of that is still being figured out at the district level. We are still grading anything from before the schools closed, so students with missing/incomplete assignments from this term or who hadn't finished the last units are encouraged to take care of all of those prior to tackling the extended closing continued learning math packets (which I've lovingly labeled as #ECCLmath. As previously mentioned, I have answer keys (with my own work included) ready for all of the #ECCLmath packets and will happily send the link to any parents who want it right away and to students once they share their work with me (either via the digital platform they used or a picture of their work if completed on paper).
I'm still posting little daily mini reviews on my class Instagram, which is embedded on my class website for those who don't have an IG account of their own, but these are also now included at the bottom of the document with details for all of our current #ECCLmath work. I'll continue to add information and updates to this document to hopefully make it easier for everyone to understand what all is going on with work now and in the future. Again, while details are still being worked out, we do now at least know that we will be allowed to start covering our final new topics (we just have three for math at this point!) starting April 14th. We don't know what this will look like at this point, but I'll keep everyone updated as we learn more.
I held another live virtual math class yesterday afternoon and I apologies for not emailing about it. It completely slipped my mind to send an email with everything else going on, but I'm hoping that a plan I'm working on with Mrs. Cioffi for 7th grade (which I'm also hoping will be adopted by the other grades), will make the live classes/help sessions a little easier for everyone in the long term. If the school goes with my plan, I'm sure it will be sent out to everyone, but I will keep you all updated as well. For now, I'm planning my next live virtual math class for tomorrow afternoon, Fri. 3/27 at 1:30PM.
The county has shared tons of resources for families needing help navigating these strange times. I'm sharing much of the information on my class Instagram, but you can also find everything on their website. Again, if there's anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to reach out! While I've spent my whole career teaching middle school math, I'm licensed to teach all the core subjects in PreK-6 as well as math and social studies in 6-8, plus I have access to loads of resources and know teachers that teach across the spectrum, so if you need help with your unexpected adventures in home schooling, I'm more than happy to help. I'm also happy to make a grocery run for some basics (provided things are in stock) if folks are finding it difficult to manage/navigate the many changes this has brought on for us all. I can't promise much, but I will happily do whatever I can.
As always, I send my love to all of my students and I want you all to know I'm thinking of you and miss you! I'll see you all when I see you and in the meantime, stay safe, happy, and healthy!