*Original Post 4/20 around 2am
*UPDATE 4/20 at 6:30pm.. A few revisions were made for clarity.
I hope everyone is doing well!
The weeks ahead will be something new for all of us. Please be understanding if things don’t flow as smoothly as we hope this first week. I’m sure we will make adjustments as needed along the way.
SCHEDULE
The weekly schedule of live classroom availability for all subjects is from 11am-1pm each day, with a focus on two classes per day. It does not mean you are not able to contact your other teachers those days, just that you want to make those two classes a priority…and the teachers of those two classes have priority for scheduling Google Hangouts between 11am-1pm. Per teacher discretion, there may be other Hangout sessions available for extra assistance (i.e. help sessions), but they would be at different times and/or on other days and be optional.
- Monday: English Language Arts and Social Studies
- Tuesday: Math and Science
- Wednesday: Social Studies and Extended Core
- Thursday: English Language Arts and Science
- Friday: Math and Extended Core
7th grade math schedule will look something like this:
- Monday: Check Google Classroom page for the assignment(s) and possibly a video explanation.
- Tuesday: Google Hangout 11am-12pm*
- Wednesday: continue working on assignments; email teachers if needed; optional Hangout help sessions may be offered
- Thursday: continue working on assignments; email teachers if needed; optional Hangout help sessions may be offered
- Friday: Google Hangout 11am-12pm*
*Specific times for each hour to join a Google Hangout will be posted on Google Classroom/blog/Remind/email; Links/Codes will be posted on Google Classroom a few minutes before the start times. I will have more specifics tomorrow!
In addition to Google Hangout meetings with students, I will, of course, be checking my email throughout the week and supporting students to the best of my ability, whether it may be responding to questions by email, calling home to help resolve a question, or possibly scheduling a Google Hangout at an alternate/additional time if needed.
Regarding Assignments/Grades:
The work in I-Ready and Khan Academy that you did over the last several weeks will be entered into the grade book this week, however anyone that was not able to get online before for any reason or did not complete the work still has the opportunity to get the full credit. Please let me know if you need support! Any work going forward will also be graded. If you still don’t have access to technology or have some other issue that will prevent you from participating in our Google Hangouts or completing the assigned work, please let me know via email, Google Classroom, Remind, or even call the school office and leave a voicemail so someone can pass the information on to me (and your other teachers) and we can provide you with an alternative solution to the online work. Parents, please encourage your son/daughter to complete their work to the best of their ability, to use the resources I provide, and to get in touch with me by email and participate in our Google Hangouts if they still have questions that you are not able to help answer.
Staying Organized with Your Work:
It would be helpful for students to have a notebook for the rest of the year for math, however even having looseleaf or plain paper would be sufficient. The notebook DOES NOT need to be brand new…if you even have a partially unused one or one that is smaller in size that would be perfect. Students can date any work done in the notebook or on looseleaf, including any notes taken while watching a video from me or one I suggest online, taking notes or writing down any examples during a Google Hangout, or even completing any assignments that you can’t print. The 7th grade math classes will be using Google Classroom, Google Hangouts (online chats), Khan Academy, and IXL, and Ms. Osak’s and Mrs. Furlow’s classes are still piloting I-Ready.
Lessons/Standards We Will Be Working On:
Each week we will be focusing on one standard, or a couple of very similar standards. The 7th grade math teachers have a rough schedule figured out, but we are not going to share it all at this time in order to allow us flexibility in the event we need to change anything including our pacing. This week we are beginning the Expressions and Equations Unit, which is what we planned on doing had the school closure not occurred. This first week, the week of April 20, we will be focusing on SOLVING ONE STEP EQUATIONS. This was done in 6th grade, but now we are including integers (positive and negative numbers) and possibly fractions and decimals. Students need to be able to do these before week 2, as we plan on going into two step equations the week of April 27.
Any questions, please email me: furlowd@dearbornschools.org
The next blog post will have your assignments for the week of April 20!