Hello! A few weeks have gone by since our last blog post. I’ll be honest – I just plain forgot last week. I must not have had anything to say! LOL! We are cruising along and the end of the year is approaching. We’ve got a few fun activities planned for those of us who join us on our google hangouts! We were happy to see some new faces this week!

Google Hangouts – We will be grouping the students into two different groups beginning this week in order to make it a little less chaotic and so that the students have more time to talk to their friends. I imagine we will do a big group hangout at the end of the year so that everyone can say goodbye for the summer. We never expected such a great turn out for these and we are so happy! Instructions from the district is no more than six students on a google hangout at a time, so we need to follow those guidelines as well. Here are some other helpful hints:

Microphone Off /Mute – going forward, we ask that everyone put their microphone on mute once they join the group. All of the different backgound noises make it difficult to hear everyone, and difficult to talk over. Little noises that you might not notice come across very loud on the computer – and when there are 15 noises at once…….ahhhhhhh! Also, the background noises cut the sound in and out, so you might miss what someone is saying. Just click the screen at the bottom of the page and you will see the microphone icon pop up. Just click on it. When a student is called on, he/she may unmute himself to talk, and then mute it back when he/she is done. You might want to take a few minutes to practice at the beginning of the next meeting. We have the ability to mute people, but the problem is once they are muted we can’t unmute them, and we’d like everyone to have the ability to talk during the hangout.

Text Comments – in the upper left corner you will see a little lined note pad. If you click on that – you can make a comment via text. Sometimes, if there is a lot of chatter, I will answer a question to a parent in that manner. Feel free to use it if you have a question! (Or if you have asked a question – keep an eye on the notes, I may have answered it there)

Tile View – in order for the students to see everyone at the same time – you can change the view to “tile view” on a laptop or pc. Unfortunately, this does not work on phones or iPads. To do this, click on the bottom of the screen, and on the right , you will see three dots for more options. You will then go to “change layout” and select “tiled”. This makes the screen look like the “Brady Bunch” intro with all the faces on the screen at one time.

Logging off – it’s important that students log off at the end of the meeting. We can’t leave until they do! LOL Everyone has been doing a good job – we’ve only had a few stragglers. If you log your son/daughter on and then leave the room (which is great!) try to check back after 20-30 minutes. Now that we will be in smaller groups, each group will be approximately 30 minutes – give or take.

Please feel free to contact me at any time if you need help with any of this. I have my phone right next to me and can help you while we are in the meeting if you are trying to get connected, or need help with settings, etc.

Coloring Contest – The coloring contest was emailed to you and at the end of last week. If your son/daughter would like to participate, please let us know and Ms. Cote will come by to pick up the pictures on Thursday May 21st. It should be taped to your front door. To keep everyone safe and healthy – please do not answer the door, but I’m sure a wave from a window would be wonderful to see! (Due to time constraints, this is not something we can send via “snail mail”)

BINGO! We are going to play a virtual Bingo game on Wednesday May 27th! We will need to know who will be playing by Wednesday, May 20th. Ms. Cote will drop off the bingo cards the same day she picks up the coloring contest. This is the only way we can make sure the students have different cards! There will be PRIZES!!! Depending on the amount of participants, there should be 2-3 winners per group. If your son/daughter wants to play – let us know ( I will send a remind text out and you can reply to that text). If something comes up and you can’t play, that’s o.k., but it’s better to get a card now instead of wishing you had.

That’s it for now! Any questions, contact us at any time. We hope you are all safe and healthy!

~Camp and Cote