WHS eLearning Plan

Wilton High School: eLearning Plan

Statement of Guiding Philosophy:

Wilton High School’s eLearning plan is designed to protect the physical and emotional wellness of its learning community, while delivering high quality instruction that advances the school’s curriculum, instructional core values and each student’s personal and intellectual growth. Learning opportunities will be rigorous but flexible, allowing students guided choice around how they engage with material and how they show what they learned. Teaching and learning will be largely asynchronous. It will also be flexible, balancing the integrity of the learning process against the needs of all stakeholders given the extraordinary nature of these times.

Goals:

• • Enable students to master the core content of their courses, and prepare to embark on next year’s learning or career experiences;

  • Support faculty and staff by providing training, time and resources resulting in rich, rigorous and meaningful distance learning;

  • Maintain and leverage strong relationships between staff and students to support powerful learning and social/emotional connectedness;

  • Design instruction that respects and addresses the unique, personalized learning needs of all students;

  • Partner with all stakeholders, and the community, to develop, appraise and refine this plan.

What will instruction look like?

• What will be taught?

Teachers will make learning experiences available to students via Google Classroom. These experiences will flow from our established curriculum. Given the circumstances, teachers will compact the curriculum and focus on its most essential features. Still, the important themes and questions students encounter will be the same ideas they would encounter if school were open in the ordinary course. Teachers will use the following template to create the most powerful, relevant and personalized learning experiences for their students:

How will instruction proceed?

• Teachers will curate resources and stimuli for students and will link these on Google Classroom. Teachers will provide lucid directions and a clear statement about desired learning outcomes, and invite students to choose among several different modes of content (text, audio, visual, etc.). The teaching and learning that ensues will be mostly asynchronous. At times, teachers may broadcast live video or audio transmissions designed to initiate an activity or clarify an outcome (with great attention paid to equity of internet access for all students). Most student work can be done outside the bounds of the scheduled 55 minute class session. Teachers will be available during the scheduled 55 minute session to respond to student or parent questions via email or Classroom. The vehicle for communicating all of this to students and families is reproduced below. Since all teachers will use the same form, students will benefit from a sense of uniformity and clarity across all classes.

What is a student’s time commitment?

• Classes will meet virtually for 55 minute sessions, but students are free to complete classwork at their own pace and at times of their own choosing, bounded only by the due dates teachers set for given assignments. The 55 minute class session is a time when teachers, to the best of their ability, will be available to answer questions and direct learning. In sum total, as a general rule, students should expect to spend a maximum of 4 hours per course, per week, to engage with most eLearning courses.

How will feedback be provided to students?

• Students will receive prompt and meaningful feedback from teachers through google classroom and/or e-mail. Direct conferences between students and teachers (through e-mail or platforms like Zoom or Google Hangouts) may also be scheduled by appointment.

How will students be assessed and graded?

• We recognize the importance of assessments and grading to our students and families. Assessments will afford students some choice in how they show what they learned, and will focus heavily on student creation of meaningful artifacts in response to important and authentic issues and problems across disciplines. Our leadership team is currently monitoring evolving updates from the state regarding the best and most equitable grading policies for our students. In the meantime teachers will enter student grades in PowerSchool in normal fashion.

What will the schedule and structure look like?

• We will organize the days and weeks according to our alternating block schedule to provide some structure for students, teachers, and families. Students should plan to organize their schedules to be prepared and engaged during the assigned classes, while staff know that there will be a need for flexibility in an asynchronous learning environment and that students will have additional time to engage in learning tasks outside of class.

• According to our current scheduling model, we will have 55 minute periods, as opposed to 85 minutes, so that students have time to engage in learning outside of the assigned classroom periods. There will be a sixty minute teacher planning period at the beginning and end of the day so that teachers will prepare and adapt high quality eLearning tasks in this new learning environment. This model will also allow teachers to begin and end each day with time for data teams to meet and review student learning outcomes. This will help us evaluate instruction and modify as needed. The first class for students will begin at 9:20 and the fourth class will end at 1:50. We will monitor the effectiveness of this schedule and reserve the right to modify it in the future.

How will attendance be taken?

• The purpose of a virtual attendance plan is to allow the school to monitor the attendance, engagement and wellness of students. Teachers will have different means to monitor students’ attendance. Teachers can administer a Google Form during the class period for students to respond and indicate that they are present in class. Teachers may also monitor the submission of students’ assignments as a means to assess whether a student is present. Students will have forty eight hours to indicate their presence in the class by submitting the form or by submitting an assignment since this is mostly an asynchronous environment. Teachers will have forty eight hours to mark students who are absent.

How will absences be handled?

• If a student is ill or otherwise unable to participate in learning for the day, parents or guardians must report the student’s absence on that day by emailing feehleyj@wiltonps.org, or by calling 203-834-4805.

• Students who are absent 3 days without a parent phone call to the school will receive a phone call home by the school counselor.

How can students get help with assignments (and technology)?

• Questions about class assignments and requests for clarification regarding content should be directed to the classroom teacher. Students may request an appointment for extra help as needed. Teachers will be available for support during the scheduled periods in the rotating calendar.

• If students are experiencing issues with any of their Wilton accounts (Google, PowerSchool, etc.) or issues with school-owned hardware they may email: Support-HS@wiltonps.org

• If students need help with using an eLearning tool they may fill out this form and someone will get back to them when they are able during normal school hours.

How (and how much) special education, 504, related services, ELL services, and academic intervention services will be provided?

• Our special education teachers and related service providers are dedicated to providing support for our students and families during this challenging time. Case managers have been reaching out to families and students directly to assist them with their individual schedules and services. They will also be setting up times to meet with students throughout the week to work on goals and objectives, assist them with their work, scaffold assignments and provide needed modifications and accommodations. Our related service staff has also been reaching out to students to provide students with virtual therapy through a variety of platforms. Our support service staff is dedicated to meeting students where they are in this process and providing a constellation of support that looks at the holistic needs of our students during this time. Updates will continue to be provided on special education supports and services every Tuesday and Thursday.

• Academic intervention teachers for reading intervention, math intervention, executive functioning seminar and literacy seminar will continue as other classes will in the eLearning environment. Mrs. Duro will be available for math mini’s during the first or second half of their regularly scheduled period. The intervention teachers will provide asynchronous materials as the primary means of intervention support but will be available synchronously during the scheduled block periods or mini’s that students are typically scheduled to the best of their ability for intervention services for support or to meet-up. Interventionists will continue to provide support materials through their Google Classrooms. For any questions, please directly contact the interventionists.

eLearning Roles, Responsibilities and Expectations:

Teachers will be expected to do the following in implementing the eLearning plan

• Be available online for each class during the scheduled time to the best of their ability. Scheduled times represent the times when materials and resources will be posted to Google Classroom and when teachers will be engaging with students remotely.

• Complete and post to Google Classroom the eLearning Lesson Plan Template on, at least, a weekly basis.

• Design and provide access to meaningful instruction based on the course curriculum.

• Post all materials and instructions to Google Classroom.

• Monitor student progress and provide feedback to students.

• Support all student learning needs including 504 plans and IEPs.

• Collaborate with special education staff (co-teacher and/or case manager) as per student IEPs and school counselors with 504 accommodations.

• Reach out to parents, counselors, assistant principals when they are concerned about:

  • Work completion

  • Any other concerns that arise

• Any staff communicating pre-recorded media must meet the expectation that there should not be identifiable materials posted or in view within a backdrop and should take place in a home’s common area (kitchen, family room, etc.) and should not take place in rooms such as bedrooms or bathrooms.

Students will be expected to do the following in implementing the eLearning plan

• Check into each class according to the published schedule.

• Participate in the learning by completing assigned work and responding to teacher posts or requests for feedback.

• Communicate with your teacher if there are circumstances that limit your ability to be on your computer during scheduled hours or to complete work on time.

• Ask your teacher for help if you are confused by a lesson or feel like you are falling behind. Your teacher will help.

• Counselors, School Psychologists, Social Workers, Assistant Principals and library staff are all available as well. Email if you need help.

• Be thoughtful and kind in your online communications with your peers and teachers. All online activity should be school appropriate and in accordance with the Student Responsible Use Policy for the Use of District Technology (6141.321).

• Any student communicating pre-recorded media must meet the expectations of the school dress code. There should not be identifiable materials posted or in view within a backdrop and should take place in a home’s common area (kitchen, family room, etc.) and should not take place in rooms such as bedrooms or bathrooms.

Parents will be expected to do the following in implementing the eLearning plan

• High school students are in the process of developing and exercising independence in the learning process as they learn the skills required for successful post secondary pursuits. Nevertheless, in this new eLearning experience, parents should support their students in the learning process by engaging in conversations about required assignments and projects, monitoring student progress, and ensuring that students are meeting required timelines. Parents should also ensure that students have the required instructional devices and access to be successful in an eLearning environment.

How should parents communicate to the school?

• Parents should communicate directly with classroom teachers about any instructional matters always. Parents of support services students should communicate directly with the appropriate specific specialist, special education teacher, related service provider, etc. about support services related questions. Parents of students who access a Section 504 Plan should contact their school counselor directly for support. If necessary, after going directly to these other sources, parents should communicate directly with their assigned school administrator by email.

How will the school communicate with parents?

• Administrators will evaluate the implementation of the eLearning plan and communicate necessary adjustments and revisions to the plan.

• Classroom teachers will communicate with their classes each time the class meets. All teachers will be available to communicate with students and parents through email.

• Parents should contact school counselors via email regarding any questions about academic, social, and emotional support, course selections, transcripts and credits earned, the college process, etc.

• Administrators will be available to students and families via email.

What resources (analog and digital) will be provided to students, and families?

• Link to WPS Resources for eLearning