Extension of Closure - State Order April 3, 2020

Cleaning and Disinfecting your Facility April 3, 2020

What to do if you were exposed to COVID-19 April 2, 2020

Park County Extension of Closures through April 17, 2020 April 2, 2020

ALP Approval Letter March 31, 2020

Park 16 Adapted Learning Plan March 30, 2020

CDC Guidance for Schools March 27, 2020

Wyoming 211 March 24, 2020

COVID-19 Facts Sheet March 9, 2020

April 20, 2020

Today’s Helpful hint is striving for accuracy. “Whether we are looking at the stamina, grace, and elegance of a ballerina or a carpenter, we see a desire for craftsmanship, mastery, flawlessness, and economy of energy to produce exceptional results. People who value truthfulness, accuracy, precision, and craftsmanship take time to check over their products. They review the rules by which they are to abide, they review the models and visions they are to follow, and they review the criteria they are to use to confirm that their finished product matches the criteria exactly. To be craftsmanlike means knowing that one can continually perfect one's craft by working to attain the highest possible standards and by pursuing ongoing learning to bring a laserlike focus of energies to accomplishing a task.” Striving for accuracy is a very important skill to develop. If you have a story to share with your kids regarding the need for being accurate, please share it. For example, share how much time or money you saved by being accurate. Or have a discussion about how professionals such as doctors, nurses, carpenters, architects, engineers, etc. must be accurate so we can be safe. Encourage your child to strive for accuracy and make it a part of everyday working and learning.

http://www.ascd.org/…/ch…/Describing-the-Habits-of-Mind.aspx

April 17, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is virtual class etiquette. The GoToMeeting Blog has 7 suggestions.

1. Leave the keyboard alone

Avoid privately messaging other classmates during instructional time. We are happy to set up a time to chat with friends at another time if needed.

2. Dress appropriately

Take a few minutes to throw on a clean shirt and brush your hair. The best part of actually getting ready while attending school remotely is that you’ll put yourself in the right headspace to be productive.

3. Be aware of your surroundings

Have appropriate lighting

Avoid your bedroom. Study at the table or desk.

Remove distractions so you can focus

4. Mute your microphone when you’re not talking

There’s nothing more frustrating than hearing that alien echo noise from conflicting microphones. Save everyone from the ear-splitting madness by joining the meeting while on mute! Unless you live alone, your house is probably pretty noisy these days. Muting your microphone when you’re not speaking gives other participants the ability to chime in and share their thoughts without distraction or frustration.

5. Speak up

Don’t be afraid to project your voice. Your class will appreciate being able to hear you without having to strain their ears or turn their volume all the way up.

6. No food allowed

Try to eat a snack before your virtual meeting. No one wants to see you stuff your face with chips while discussing important topics. Not only is it distracting to others, you won’t be able to focus on the task at hand because you’ll be worrying about dropping crumbs all over your keyboard.

7. Stay seated and stay present

It may be tempting to check your inbox or carry on a side conversation during a slow moment in a meeting, but don’t do it! You might miss out on key information or an opportunity to give input. If you’re using your webcam, use attentive body language: sit up straight, don’t make big extraneous movements, and don’t let your eyes wander too much.

April 15, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is habits of mind. In the book, Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, they describe 16 habits of mind. I will share some insights on "Listening with Understanding and Empathy. According to Costa and Kallick, “Highly effective people spend an inordinate amount of time and energy listening (Covey, 1989). Some psychologists believe that the ability to listen to another person—to empathize with and to understand that person's point of view—is one of the highest forms of intelligent behavior.” So, what can we do to be a better listener? Well according to Forbes magazine, “Ten Steps to Effective Listening” they state,

Step 1: Face the speaker and maintain eye contact.

Step 2: Be attentive, but relaxed.

Step 3: Keep an open mind.

Step 4: Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying.

Step 5: Don't interrupt and don't impose your "solutions."

Step 6: Wait for the speaker to pause to ask clarifying questions.

Step 7: Ask questions only to ensure understanding.

Step 8: Try to feel what the speaker is feeling.

Step 9: Give the speaker regular feedback.

Step 10: Pay attention to what isn't said—to nonverbal cues.

Take baby steps and try a few strategies and see how it works, then add a few more as you become comfortable. Over time you will become a better and better listener.

April 14, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is taking a break. When you get stuck on a problem, or you're not sure what to write about or just not sure what to do next, take a break. Why is this so important? According to psychology today, “When learning new information, taking a break—either by sleeping or simply enjoying a distraction—is another way of allowing the unconscious mind to process the data in novel and surprising ways. This often lays the groundwork for a creative insight or breakthrough.” Often when we get stuck on a problem negativity sets in and we begin to not believe in ourselves. Keep believing in yourself, don’t get down, don’t think negative thoughts but take a break and say, “I can do this”. Psychology today further explains, “Many people feel that they have no or very limited creative ability—even some who work in creative fields—and it's true that certain individuals are more creative than others. Fortunately, however, creativity can be acquired and honed at any age or experience level.

Innovation is not some divine gift; it’s actually the skilled application of knowledge in new and exciting ways. It requires changing up one's normal routine, stepping outside of typical comfort zones, and paying attention to the present moment.” Once again taking a break can spark creativity by allowing the brain to process the information. After taking a break, get back to work with a positive attitude and determination. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/creativity

April 13, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is seeking. In a book called “The Motivated Brain”, written by Gayle Gregory and Martha Kaufeldt is a key concept called seeking. Seeking is part of our genetic makeup. It is described as curiosity, interest, anticipation and craving. Investigation, anticipation, expectation, causes dopamine to be released in the brain creating excitement and motivation.

What can you do to keep kids seeking? One suggestion from “The Motivated Brain”, written by Gayle Gregory and Martha Kaufeldt is unstructured play. “Many researchers have determined that unstructured, spontaneous play is a crucial developmental element”. Set time aside each day to have unstructured play or unstructured exploration. For younger kids it might be playing with toys with a friend(s) who are joining using zoom. For older kids they might do an activity together via chat, zoom, hangouts, messenger, etc. “Play provides a way to practice, restimulate and strengthen new neural connections”. I know it is hard but find ways for kids to connect and still observe social distancing.

April 7, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is “Growth Mindset” by Carol Dweck. We have two options when it comes to learning and growing. We can either say, “I can’t do this, it’s too hard” or we can say, “I didn’t get it right yet, but I will”. A fixed mindset says this is all I can do and I can’t do any more. A growth mindset will see wrong answers or failure as a learning opportunity and challenge not an ending point. Our potential in learning and growing has no end when we have a growth mindset! We can start at any time in our life and we can become lifelong learners by having a growth mindset. So, what can we do? Start today making growth mindset comments about ourselves and encouraging statements to our children. For example, Audrey Hepburn said, "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible’.” Theodore Roosevelt said, “It is hard to fail but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” Get rid of the word “can’t”. Keep trying! Don’t give up! You can do it! There are many more. Focus on the positive and good things will happen. Here is a video to further explain growth mindset and fixed mindset by Carol Dweck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh0OS4MrN3E

April 6, 2020

Today’s helpful hint is uploading assignments in Canvas. Do you have trouble with uploading assignments or videos to Canvas. We do! It takes forever to upload a video assignment at home and it takes all the internet bandwidth. The first time we tried at home to upload a big assignment it took 1.5 hours and several times the upload failed. Here is a helpful hint. If you do not live too far away, stop by the school and connect to the school guest wifi from your car. The school internet capacity is far greater than any home internet connection. I sent Dale and David to access the school wifi from the car and within 10 minutes they were back. The school guest wifi is not password protected. You can access it at any time. If you have a system that is working for you, great, keep doing it. But if you are having trouble, try accessing the wifi internet from your car outside of the school. I hope this helps.

April 2, 2020

Hi all,

Today’s tip is creating a list of assignments. “A way I got one of my boys organized.... noted class and time... when assignments are due so not stressing about getting done all at once and manage time before and in between classes ... when done for day, do something fun and relax!” (Angie Erickson)

Canvas dashboard overview:

This video is great to help your child organize their course work in Canvas.

https://community.canvaslms.com/videos/3966-dashboard-overview-students?fbclid=IwAR1z1EuozyLz-nHi3TvwbCkZZ2uweRwk623oUsCDPzZPsagju9ozOkllnM0

April 1, 2020

Today’s helpful tip is chunking or blocking your schedule. This allows you to create a specific schedule but also allows for flexibility in your schedule. Here is an example schedule.

For older kids

7:00-8:00 Shower and Breakfast

8:00-12:00 Online class/ assignment work/ brain break/exercise

12:00-1:00 Lunch

1:00-2:00 Free time

2:00-4:00 Assignment work if needed/ or go for a walk etc.

4:00-8:00 Family time

For younger kids

7:00-8:00 Shower and Breakfast

8:00-10:00 online class/ assignment work/ brain breaks (every 20 min)/ exercise

10:00-11:00 Free time/or structured play time/ story time/ read aloud/ coloring/ etc.

11:00-12:00 Lunch

12:00-1:00 assignment work as needed/ brain breaks (every 20 min)/ exercise

2:00-4:00 Free time/ or structured play time/ story time/ read aloud/ coloring/ etc.

4:00-8:00 Family time

You can adjust the schedule to fit your family needs and the time set aside to meet with teachers. This type of schedule with chunking will allow for you to make a routine. Routines allow for flexibility and stress reduction. Whatever you do, keep your schedule consistent. In time the novelty or our online system will wear off (called the honeymoon) and for some kids the daily grind will set in. If this does happen, your routine will save you. Routines will help kids through the daily grind and will reduce arguments or negotiations over doing work. Hope this helps! Thank parents for the input and suggestions.

March 31, 2020

I have received great suggestions for organizing your school day at home. Today's helpful suggestion is to create a routine not a schedule. This is intended for time outside of scheduled conferences with teachers. Once kids have met with their teacher(s) for the day, create a routine. Routine and schedule are very similar; however, a routine allows for situations when life happens. Detailed schedules can cause stress when kids are not working exactly at the scheduled time. A routine allows for flexibility in a general schedule. Kids will work on assignment in the afternoon but maybe not exactly at 1:00 PM. They may need to walk the dog which is causing distraction or clean up a mess from an accident at lunch time. The important point is to ensure kids are working based on a daily habit and there will be less stress and more work completed. Thank you parents for your great insights. Tomorrow we will talk about chunking your schedule to support a routine.

April 15, 2020

Safety- The Mask Revisited - Why Masks?

I’ve been feeling under the weather (just the typical flu). I’m not sleeping well either and that makes everything a bit more challenging. The psychological community posts are telling us that wacky dreams and sleep disruption are normal right now. Its’ no wonder that we are a bit grumpy and anxious, we’re in a crisis alright; it’s just not the kind of crisis we’re used to, where we can rise to the occasion and respond via our well programmed fight or flight response. This is a crisis where it’s our job to stay at home and do nothing. Well, sort of, we also have to figure out how to help our kids or siblings ‘attend’ school, work from home where crowding and lack of office space are huge difficulties, and figure out how to keep our cupboards full of what we need without taking too much. In addition, we have to wash our hands a lot. And now, after telling us that only the best masks are effective, and those need to be kept for health workers; they are telling us to wear masks whenever we are in public. This didn’t really make sense to me until I watched a lot of videos. This links to the CDC information page.

https://www.cdc.gov/…/prevent…/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html

Nobody likes being told what to do. But, if a simple step can make a difference if everyone participates, I’m willing to give it a try. I feel burdened by the duration of need for Coronavirus restrictions to protect our lives and of the limitations that have drained me of energy. I also feel amazed by the absence of information about how we catch the virus, how it progresses and shows up and how it doesn’t show up some of the time. Until recently, it looked like we were at less risk in Wyoming except for a few hot spots. On Sunday, Wyoming was the only state in the U.S. that had not suffered a loss from Coronavirus. But, yesterday, the loss was felt in Johnson County, where a Wyomingan with underlying health conditions died from complications of the virus. We’re told that the greatest risk for contagion is still ahead of us and that is even more risky because people who are not sick actually have the virus and are spreading it. The risk will be minimized if we work together to maintain social distance and protect ourselves. Even more important, our community will know that we are willing to mask ourselves to protect them.

Last week I struggled to make two masks from some ugly green fabric that met the density requirements for the best protection; but I found out today that the town of Meeteetse has made it easy to access masks and our community members have made over 800 masks for Park County citizens. All you have to do is go to the Wea Market and ask for one or call in advance at the Town Hall, 272-2278 or Larry Rankin, 272-0296 to arrange pick one up. Check out the amazingly good looking and freshly washed mask that Shawn Cristopherson handed me in a brown paper bag. You can also get a kick out of another option my husband found on the web. Stay healthy and take care!

Sincerely,

Rebecca Thomas

Meeteetse School Counselor

April 8, 2020

April Fool’s Revisited

Last Wednesday felt a little like an unexpected April Fool’s twist by Mother Nature, when I woke up for the second time and found a winter wonderland outside. I hope that you and your kids found a chance to play in the snow and get some exercise. My dog drug me outside for his bathroom break and as I made tracks in the new fallen snow I reminded myself that for Wyoming this white stuff in April is just normal. It was my Nebraska inner child that felt fooled. I remember that I would start wearing flip flops (we called them thongs but that has a different meaning now) on April First and would wear them until the first snowfall, usually in November. After I moved to Wyoming in 2007, It took my middle aged self awhile to realize that although it could be nice on April Fools day, that wasn’t the holiday that marked the end of snowfall, it was more like the 4th of July that played that role, here. I felt fooled again this week when we are being told now that we should be wearing masks. Here is a link to help explain how they work from a biology teacher in Denver, Dr. Jennifer Campbell-Smith (Science Teacher STEM School Highlands Ranch, CO).

https://www.educreations.com/lesson/…/wear-a-mask/53085852/…

Looking forward is tough right now when all our interactions with people outside our families need to be experienced with a face mask on or virtually. We can look forward to the end of the virus risk but we can’t plan for it. It is still a vague concept. But, we can set up small events. One of my students is learning to cook. Others are still scrambling to apply for scholarships that will fund college but they aren’t able to think about prom or senior skip day or competing in track or even taking the ACT exam.

In that void, we can try to set up little events, things for our kids and ourselves to look forward to when faced with the unexpected, like cooking something different as a family with the foods in the cupboards (or that we can buy at the Wea Market--thank goodness too for the efforts of our town restaurants at offering what we need as take out). Try reading a book aloud together in installments each night or listening to a podcast together or you could have a family competition running at the track or hauling wood from the forest. The most important thing is to share your experiences, to talk about how you are feeling or about a fond memory from the past or help fulfill Mr. Ogden’s request that we call our locals and connect over the phone. Even ask about how your kids are sleeping. In every casual conversation I’ve had over the last several weeks folks have talked about odd dreams, changing sleep patterns and the need to build a new routine that works for current conditions. Make it your own.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Thomas

Meeteetse School Counselor

April 7, 2020

From Ms. Thomas:

I subscribe to a weekly newsletter called Mind/Shift that always seems to help me think about things from a new perspective or how to care for myself and others. This week it thanks subscribers for writing in reporting that they are “okay.” In times like these, okay isn’t bad. We are all struggling to adjust to unprecedented change in our daily lives. We are bombarded with news that reports numbers and deaths but doesn’t seem to fill in the information gaps that can affect us from minute to minute. In our continuing discussion of the SEEK, SOLVE, SERVE bricks that are part of the foundation for learning at Meeteetse school, let’s consider how we serve both ourselves and others. These two are intricately linked since every caretaker needs to take care of herself or himself first to be capable of offering patient, sufficient care for others.

Mind/Shift Recommendations:

*Limit news consumption, including social media.

*Exercise at least 30 minutes per day.

*Have a forgiving mindset, especially towards yourself.

*Know that you are not alone in feeling worried or overwhelmed.

*Check yourself when you feel like you're about to spiral into negative thoughts.

*Check in with family and friends. (We all need each other right now. It’s a great time to have a conversation).

To this I would add:

*Be aware that mixed feelings are a predictable part of the confusion we feel in our new ‘normal’.

*Take time for yourself.

*Remind yourself that despite limited choices in the pasta or frozen food section and no choices in the TP aisle, we still have choices. They might take a little more time, effort or creativity.

*Notice every opportunity you have to laugh (I’ve especially enjoyed the humor about the TP shortage during this last few weeks including the advice that duct tape DOES NOT have unlimited uses)!

*Let yourself be spontaneous!

*Be grateful for the new opportunities that you have practicing social distance. I was searching for my coffee cup after I had sat down to work in three different locations in one half hour and went upstairs as an inviting tune started on the radio and found myself dancing, something I would never have done in the hallway at school. (Which brings me to the next suggestion).

*Designate some space for your kids or your own work from home. Use masking tape if necessary to identify the space you need to function.

*Stay in contact with each other. Last week, I used Zoom for a virtual 30 minute “meeting” with a friend and then joined a virtual Birthday party with friends in Fort Collins, Houston and beyond. We chatted like we were together in the same room and it eased my need to spend time with others without bringing us into physical contact.

Sincerely,

Rebecca Thomas

Meeteetse School Counselor

April 1, 2020

Learning about ourselves...

Newsletter from Virtual Reality

It’s April Fools Day!

Time for us to celebrate the hilariously foolish ways we continue to cling to our previous version of ‘normal.’ Like someone in a power outage I keep flipping the light switch of how I used to do things. In fact, I’m writing this at 4:30 because that’s the time my body is programmed to wake up to work as a lifeguard at our pool or start the day with an early swim. My whole body craves the old swimming habit. On YouTube, I’ve watched athletes trying to provide a virtual swim with friends pouring buckets of water on them while they do the crawl stroke from a bench on their deck, or folks flipping fins in the bathtub. It’s pretty funny to watch but doesn’t provide the outlet that arms and legs pulling through the water provides.

I also find myself cooking like I used to on Saturday or Sunday to prepare for a week of business as usual. But now I’m doing it every day. My refrigerator is chock full of meals ready to eat on a hurried evening where my husband and I both have meetings and my freezer is full of little lunch size portions that won’t be used until we get back to our old ‘normal’. I laugh at myself, but I’m not quite able to change the old habits.

So I slow down, take a deep breath, counting to 10 as I do so, to slow down my body’s pace and to work at the pace I can now from home. But I'm tapping the keys at 4:30 because I’m wide awake and my mind has been busy through the night. I make myself follow the pattern I used to teach in Life Skills class called rectangular breathing, inhaling slowly to a count of 5, then slowing down my exhale to match the pace of the inhale, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I take this a step further, pausing between the inhale and exhale for just a moment without holding my breath. Then again, I breathe in finding myself in the moment that is right now. I keep breathing for 4-5 breaths to reset my normal and I can slow down to be grateful that I have all the time in the world right now to breathe and be at ease and be at home.

We can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, but not more than 3 minutes without air. Yet, seldom do we pay attention to our breathing. As you celebrate this unique April Fools Day, let yourself breathe, help your children or others that are in your space to slow down to the pace we will live until we get back to ‘normal.’ We can survive this virtual reality together from a distance, washing our hands with enthusiasm, noticing what we need right now and accepting what we have to help us survive right now. Notice your breath!

Yours,

Ms. Thomas

Meeteetse School Counselor