Post date: Apr 15, 2020 3:41:12 PM
Greetings to all my Ravens and Raven families! I hope everyone enjoyed their spring break, despite the fact that I'm sure it didn't look or feel like normal. First I'd like to request that if you haven't read the third update, please go back and do so. In that update, I went over how grades will be calculate for the work and what students can do to improve upon their grades for the third marking period. It does include a chance to make up ALEKS, which is generally something not possible during a normal school year, but the sudden closing has opened up that chance seeing as how we cannot take new grades for after the closing (March 12th). In regards to the ways already mentioned about how students can turn in paper assignments, I came to the realization (thanks to one of my students... thanks, JC!) that they can also send me pictures of their work through Instagram or Twitter if that's easiest for them. I just want to see the kids do the best they can, so I'm more than happy to take their work in whatever format possible. The issue hasn't popped up yet, but I wanted to clarify how students can include the "work" portion on the regular class correction form; for that, students can type out their work in space provided, work it on paper and add a picture, or (probably the easiest option) screenshot their Desmos work and upload that.
Students first priority for any class is taking care of the work from before closing before tackling any of the new work, so please take advantage of every opportunity to improve your grades now! Again, I'd like to remind everyone that all work needs to be turned in no later than April 24th. We are only allowed to still grade assignments from this current third marking period. I've had students sending and asking about assignments from the other two marking periods, but teachers have been specifically told we can only grade things from this term at this time; if that changes at any point, I'll let everyone know as soon as possible. Additional information regarding grades (including the parent/guardian option of converting grades from a traditional letter grade to a Pass/Fail in mid-May) can be found here. I try to have everything graded within 24 hours of it being sent to me during the official work week (Mon.-Fri.), so check StudentVUE/ParentVUE for the most updated look at grades. I think that should about cover everything about work from prior to closing, but please feel free to email/message if you have any questions.
Yesterday was the official start of "new online learning" across the county. To keep things consistent, I'm continuing to update our original letter and guidelines with links to all the new stuff along with some additional information; it's a "one-stop shop" for all your math needs! Since this is new material we've never had a chance to work on together in class, I'm sure the kids will have more questions and need more help now. Because of this, I'm planning to have two regularly schedule whole group "live virtual math class session" every week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30-10:30AM starting tomorrow (4/16) and I'll post an announcement on Canvas if I ever need to cancel or postpone a session for any reason. I know that those specific times might not work for everyone, so I'm happy to arrange other times on an individual basis as needed, but I'm also trying to get the rest of the math teachers together to have one "Math Day" a week with different shifts spread throughout the day. I already have the group set up and I'm just waiting to here back from the rest of my team before pushing the group out to kids, so kids need to keep their eye on Canvas for further details. I'll send that information out in my next update later this week or at the beginning of next week.
We've gotten an official timeline from the county which states individual teachers will continue to provide materials and support through May 29th. CCPS will then continue to provide from June 1-20. I'm not sure what those resources are at this time, but I'll happily continue to stay available for help throughout that time. There's a chance my class Canvas page might be "closed" on the county side for the year prior to the last date of official county instruction, but we'll work around that if it comes to it.
That should about cover everything I have to share at this point, but feel free to email/message if you have any questions or I can help in anyway. I know we're all sending out tons of information, so I greatly appreciate everyone "sticking with me" through all of this! As always, I send you all my love and hope that you are all staying safe, happy, and healthy!