Hello! The new semester has begun. New packets are being sent home this week. Please look for them Wed/Thursday as they will need the materials for Friday’s class.

There are no new workbooks at this time, but please read the information as expectations have changed. We have switched the daily targeted skills (except one) so they are practicing new skills at home. There is a checklist provided that will be collected when we are able to meet again. We do expect students to be completing these skills and the packet explains that a little further. Also included:

• Heart craft activity that will go along with Friday’s lesson. Please have students cut out the picture/word boxes ahead of time, and keep them in the bag the rest of the craft is in.

• Valentine’s Bingo card and treat bag. The treats are their “prize” for Bingo. Ultimately they should save it for BINGO day! Valentine’s Bingo will be scheduled during the week of February 8th. You will want to have your own bingo markers, such as candy hearts, m&m’s, skittles, etc. No need to return the Bingo cards, you have enough to keep track of and return!

Please note – Friday’s class will start at 9:30 a.m. – this week only! We are trying to get teacher observations done and this is the only time our supervisor could attend. Please don’t bail on me because it’s a little early! Thank you! 🙂

Good Morning! The latest press conference by Governor Whitmer has led to a number of parents wondering when Dearborn Schools will reopen. Unfortunately, I don’t have any answers for you, however, there is a board meeting tonight that might give us some insight as to what the district is considering as far as a timeline. I do know the positivity rate is still quite high (12%), and our district has communicated to us that the safety of the students and staff will continue to be a priority. I will post more information as it is made available.

Welcome back everyone! First post of 2021! Everyone has done a great job getting back into the swing of things! January is always a good month to get used to getting back into the groove, as there are several days the students will have off for MLK, and the end of the semester, etc. I will list them below for your reference.

The Remind app has been giving us a hard time. Since we’ve been back from the break, it has not been allowing parents to reply to messages, even though replies were turned back on. I think I fixed the problem by turning them on for each person individually. I apologize if you tried to contact us and were not able to. Everything should be set now.

Upcoming dates:

Jan 18 – No school – MLK

Jan 22 – Half Day (No 2 p.m. check – in)

Jan 25 – Half Day (No 2 p.m. check-in)

Feb 12 – 15 – No School – Mid Winter Break

For us, the fist “half” of the school year ends with Christmas break, even though technically the semester ends in January. We made it! We had a great Spirit Week this week, a wonderful assembly, and an awesome Zumba class this morning! (I had so much fun I forgot to take pictures!) We’ve tried to keep the spirit of our class by continuing to do the “fun” things along with keeping up with our curriculum.

Now, it’s time for everyone to take a much needed break! Ms. Cote and I will be logging off at the end of the day and probably not looking at our computers until school returns. Please note that “replies” will also be turned off on Remind and our school phone will be turned off at the end of the day today as well. We will be “back in business” on Monday, January 4th.

Reminders:

• Over the break, please number student workbooks. Mrs. Camps book has 96 pages.
• Also, please bookmark your students workbooks with the days assignments. They will always be listed on the zoom link. Many of our students have a hard time finding the correct page and some of them end up “lost” and flipping pages for the entire lesson. It’s sad to watch from our view, when a simple sticky note or paperclip could prevent this. We are not there to help them so we are counting on you! Thank you in advance!
• Please log on to class on time. We understand things happen. We allow 5 minutes past the class time for everyone to get in, but once we start the lesson, it’s too disruptive. The students need this type of responsibility and structure as well.

That wraps it up for now. Everyone has done a great job attending classes, completing their work, and participating in class. Please have a wonderful break – we will see everyone in the New Year!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

~Camp and Cote

Hello again! It has come to my attention that the copier did not include page numbers on the new workbooks. I am sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but parents will have to number the workbooks over the break. Please write the numbers in the upper right hand corner so that students will be able to find their assignments. Please do not leave it up to the students! Thank you for your help!

~Camp and Cote

Hello! I hope this finds everyone well. With one week left before the break, I wanted to touch base with you so that everyone is ready once we come back.

New Workbooks: They will be sent out next week. Please set them aside so they are ready to go in January. You may want to have the following items ready by January for your students:

• Calculator – for menu math. We will be adding prices and determining change

• Measuring spoons, cups, and mixing bowls*

• Food Coloring, sandwich bags, flour, oil, cream of tartar, liquid starch, borax, all purpose glue, fine sand, corn starch, dish soap*

*These items are for sensory recipes (silly putty, play dough, oobleck, kinetic sand and cloud dough) that will allow students practice measuring “ingredients” without cooking. Some recipes will be done online together and others will be optional homework.

Also, please note that the workbook page numbers will likely be in a new spot. Due to working remotely, the Graphics Lab will be printing our books for us. We will have to rely on the page numbers the copier automatically places on the pages. You may want to go through your book and either circle/highlight the page numbers, or write them in a better spot so they are easier to see. It will be more important than ever to make sure you are bookmarking your pages ahead of class either by using sticky notes or paper clips to mark your spot.

Phone calls: Our staff will be checking in with students/parents every other week if we notice a student not attending, or if it is a student who has never attended virtual class. This is to make sure the student is still following along with assignments and to help answer any questions you may have. We have been instructed by our district not to share our personal phone numbers, so the numbers will be blocked. If you are not available, we will leave a message so you will know when to expect our return call. I want to emphasize that students are expected to follow along with the work assignments whether they are online or not. The assignments are given on the zoom notices or on remind for the week. All workbooks will be collected when we return to in person learning.

Coming Up:

December 11th – Special guest teacher (most of you know her!) 10 a.m.

December 18th – Zumba 10 a.m. Don’t miss out!

December 21-Jan 1 – No school – Christmas Break

You are all doing an amazing job! Keep up the great work! We are so glad we can see you online – and look forward to seeing you in person once it’s safe. The break is almost here, please take care of yourselves and be safe!

~Camp and Cote

Hello! I hope this finds you all well! Just a few reminders as we wind down and head into the Thanksgiving break next week….

Virtual Classes – All students will log on at 10 a.m. next week on both Monday and Tuesday. This gives the students an opportunity to see all of their friends and have a little fun before the break. It’s hard to believe that last year our class put on an entire Thanksgiving dinner…and this year, well, here we are! LOL You just never know what is going to happen from one day to the next so it’s a good reminder to appreciate what you have right now!

Mock Interviews – Ms. Cote sent a document that will allow students to sign up for a mock interview. If you have trouble accessing that document, please just let us know and we can put your son/daughter in an available slot on December 4th. Please remember, if your student is not participating in an interview on the 4th, they will not log on that day.

Save the Date! Virtual Zumba will be December 18th at 10 a.m. FREE!!! It was so much fun last time – we are excited to do it again! I loved seeing everyone up and dancing and having fun!

Holiday Breaks:

November 25-27 – No School – Thanksgiving Break

December 21-Jan 1 – No School – Christmas Break

Hello! It’s hard to believe it is November already. I always feel a sigh of relief once we make it to Halloween, everyone has gotten into the routine of things, we’re heading out to our CBI and job sites and most things are running fairly smoothly. While this has been quite a different year, and not what anyone could have planned for, the students are doing an excellent job and things are running as smoothly as they can be. Yes, there will be technical issues here and there, but if we expect them and just know they’re bound to happen, they aren’t such a big deal. Please have patience when it happens on our end, and we will do the same for you!

Learning Labs: All in person learning labs will be suspended at the end of the day on Friday. For our students, this means Thursday as there are no learning labs held on Friday’s for our students. In the past, our learning labs have been allowed to continue, but this is not the case this time. The positivity rate was 8% as of Tuesday. The situation will be monitored weekly and learning labs will resume once the numbers reach a safe level. All students who attend a learning lab but do not attend virtually will be sent a link to join the virtual groups. Please note that learning labs and virtual students work at slightly different paces, so some lessons may be a repeat for the learning lab students.

Parent Teacher Conferences: Conferences are scheduled for November 5, 10, and 17th. If you would like a conference, please sign up for one of the time slots on SignUpGenius. The link to sign up was sent to everyone on Remind last week, and I will post it again here.

We will send one zoom link out per day. (Example: everyone requesting a conference on Thursday the 5th will receive the same link) Please log on at your time and wait in the “waiting room” until we begin the conference. We will admit you and begin the conference at your scheduled time. We have 32 students in our class, so please only choose one time slot when signing up in order to allow everyone a spot. If you have had a recent IEP or one that will be held soon, there is no need to schedule a conference unless you’d like one. We are always happy to talk to you!

Sign Up Here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0545a4af23a0fe3-virtual

Upcoming Dates:

November 25-27 – No School – Thanksgiving Break

December 18th – Virtual Zumba!

December 21-Jan 1 – No School – Christmas Break

Good Afternoon! It was decided today that Learning Labs will be “inactive”
effective October 21st, due to the upward trend in positive cases both in Michigan and the city of Dearborn. What does this mean? It means that the learning labs for general education students are closed effective tomorrow. The learning labs for Act 18 students (our students) will remain open, however there may or may not be a substitute teacher in our place once again. We like to offer this information to you so that you can make the best decision for your student. If you would like to keep your son/daughter home during this time, they are welcome to join the online classes.

New books! Students attending learning labs received their next work packets and will be bringing those home today. Students who do not attend learning labs should receive them tomorrow or Thursday via Dearborn Transportation Dept. Please do not discard old books. We still have just a few pages in the pink books and Ms. Cote already began collecting her books. Students should continue to bring both sets of books to learning labs. (FYI – The next set of workbooks, Ms. Cote = Orange and Mrs. Camp = Blue.)

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns!

~Camp and Cote

Hello! I hope this finds you all well. It’s been two weeks since Ms. Cote and I have been back teaching in the learning labs and for the most part, things are going well. We do have students who have not brought in supplies. Everyone needs a planner (8×10, tabbed, monthly), regular pencils, colored pencils, glue sticks and scissors. The planner should be an academic planner – starting in July and ending in June. This will last the entire school year.

Masks: There are a few students who are wearing masks that are too large and fall down for the entire class period. Those students brought a note home today and should have a properly fitting mask before they return to school next week. A properly fitting mask will cover the students nose and mouth and not fall down, even when they are talking.

Snacks: Please do not send snacks in to learning labs. The school is providing a light snack for students in both the morning and afternoon learning labs. If there is a medical or sensory reason that requires your son or daughter to bring in their own snack, please just let us know. As of right now there is only one student I know of and we have already talked to his parents. Students may bring in bottled water.

Tomorrow: Friday is our “leisure recreation” day and we will be having a virtual scavenger hunt. Students will be looking for items around the house and the student with the most points will win a prize from me, either when they return to school or when they come in for a learning lab. Students will be looking for items that we talk about on a daily basis, (maybe kitchen utensils or personal hygiene items like deodorant), some random/fun things, and probably some seasonal items. We will aim for approximately 30 minutes. The link will be sent later tonight! Should be a fun time!

Open House/Conferences: There will be a virtual open house with Ms. Fournier scheduled for October 21st. More details will be coming shortly. Teachers will not be present at the Open House, but we will be adding an additional 30 minutes to each day of conferences so that we are available to answer any questions you may have. It is my understanding that conferences will be virtual as well, and again, I will send more details as I know them.

If you have any questions or concerns please contact us. Thank you for supporting us through this challenging time – we couldn’t do it without you! The students are doing such a great job! We are proud of all of you!