Learning Plan for Ms. Minier

As I am sure you have read not only from the Superintendent but from our school as well, remote learning will now be officially documented by teachers to produce grades for a fourth report card. Before panic sets in, the “grades” will be based on partcipation and effort. Please be assured I know each student’s capabilities, family situations (work, multiple siblings, etc.), and lack of resources. The district is doing everything possible to provide experiences and resources when needed. Attached you will find a suggested allotment of minutes per day your child should try to follow for our Third Grade Schedule. As long as your child is doing their best, that is what will matter. Please DO NOT WORRY. Do what is possible each day. If your child needs to catch up a little on the weekend, that is acceptable.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rxvclRaACiEA9Eyc25hDUmqJS_LwYJ5x8KBFDNXtIH0/edit

Please see the attached Howard School Special’s Schedule.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iR16Lewue2geff2uae0ddz0NnnbXxDFWRuO-Y011Es4/edit#slide=id.p

The third grade teachers will have “office hours” where we will be available each day to answer your questions via email. Some days, we are getting a lot of emails, so please allow at least a day for us to get back with you. We are also trying to do our best in this new situation. We will be available between 9-11:00 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 1-3 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

You can find these schedules (above) and the 3rd Grade Weekly Assignment Calendar under the On-Line Learning tab.

I am looking forward to all of the wonderful learning that will take place at home. The 3rd grade teachers have worked hard to provide your child with meaningful activities.

New Educational Expectations from the District

Continuity of learning plan-“Work Time” 

Dear Howard School Parents – 

The district has developed a learning plan for your children that meets the recommendations of the state of Michigan.  Within the plan, there is a recommended amount of “work minutes” for each subject that is determined by your child’s grade level. 

It is important that the definition of “work time” is understood by parents, guardians, and students.  When your child is learning or practicing skills there are three different types of “times.”  “Think-time,” “work-time,” and “play-time.”  Please read below and take note of the “work time” explanation.

The first is “think time.” This involves activities such as watching videos, listening to stories/lectures, reading over materials, watching or participating in demonstrations, rewatching videos or explanations when mistakes are made or other similar activities. These are the activities that lead up to your child working on and completing an assignment.

The second is “work time”.  There are recommendations from the  state and district for the amount of “work time” per subject depending on grade level. “Work time” is the amount of time your child is continually engaged in completing an assignment without breaks or distractions.   This is the time he/she will be working on things such as actively solving math problems, writing/typing responses, identifying answers within passages or completing assignments in online learning sites chosen by his/her teacher.  It is important to realize every child is different with individual learning styles, needs, and speed – the state is recommending these times as a guideline. Adjustments in the amount of time need to be considered to accommodate your individual child’s style and needs.

The third is “leisure/play time”.  This is important to balance your child’s day, to manage stress and develop other parts of your child’s brain.  More than ever your child needs to do activities that involve relaxation and creativity. This time can include special area activities: drawing, creating projects, crafts, board games, building with legos or blocks, card games, puzzles, imaginative play, cooking, playing an instrument or developing an interest. We also need to encourage our children to have conversations with people outside of our homes during this time- calling (not a text – hearing a voice is important) a friend, neighbor or relative can help him/her feel comfortable.  

3rd Grade Specials Schedule

Little by little we are becoming such great learners from home – myself included. We should be proud. Just because we are not physically in school does not mean we cannot experience the joy of art, music, gym and media. Next week look for your very own Special Schedule that you can learn from home!

My Dearest Parents:

Hello everyone!  PLEASE READ this important blog post.

I know that you were probably NOT informed of the Governor’s mandate for continued Online Learning for all students in the state of Michigan moving forward.  I honestly thought the district would have told you the same thing they told teachers last week, but that appears to not have been the case.

Every Michigan school district has been given (per Governor Whitmer) until April 20th to submit a distance learning plan to the county (Wayne County Resa) for approval.  They then have until April 28th to implement it.

As a third grade team (Ms. Schug, Ms. Martin and myself) we felt that it is SO important to continue your child’s learning as of tomorrow, April 13th and NOT wait until the 20th or even the 28th. Therefore, we WILL be posting assignments in google classroom tomorrow morning.  These assignments will continue to focus on 3rd grade learning targets and WILL include new learning. I have added a tab to the top of this blog page entitled Online Learning Calendar. It is important that you click on that tab in order to see what is planned for your child each day this week.

Your child should use this calendar as a guide.  Please be aware that the statewide mandate for distance learning requires children in grades 3-5 to have schooling for a minimum of 60 minutes and a maximum of 120 minutes per day.  I know this doesn’t seem like a lot, but the district has to be mindful of families that may have 4 or even more students with only one device (computer). Also, the MATH link will be posted daily, as the videos are only shared with us on a daily basis.

In addition to the assignments we have put on the calendar, your child should also be using ZEARN, Moby Max  and Raz-Kids as enrichment. They should also be getting daily exercise away from computer devices and TV, and maybe even participating in music or art (please enroll in Mrs. Thomas and Mrs. Bagnell’s blogs). The kids also have access to Mrs. Turk’s Google Classroom for Media.

If you have ANY concerns or questions, please email me at minierj@dearbornschools.org  I check this email often and will respond promptly! I hope that you are all healthy and doing as well as possible as we retain our social distance.  Please give all of your children a hug from their teachers as we miss them very much!!

Calendar for Upcoming Work

I trust everyone had a wonderful Spring Break. I am posting the calendar for further enrichment activities in 3rd grade. Remember, some of their work can go into a notebook. Do your best. We are all in this together trying to figure out new ways to learn. I miss all of you!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1nIT4Z_vLiOwvj7XbCv27TZDK_Yzh7Chpwnrf8f93M3U/edit?usp=sharing

Let’s All Get Together

Rami, our class senator, organized a time for us all to meet on Friday at 4:00. Can’t wait to see you!

Rami Hider is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: Ms. Minier’s Class
Time: Apr 3, 2020 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/723482952
Meeting ID: 723 482 952

Report Card Information

Please remember the grades are based on work that was completed before we all left school. To access the report card, please follow the directions below.

Good Morning,
Following is some information for administrators on how parents can access report cards data in MIStar ParentConnect and how schools can help parents with login info if parents can’t login. Please note that if a parent uses ParentConnect, he/she should be able to see data for all their students and do not require separate logins for the different schools.

1. How do parents login to ParentConnect? To login to ParentConnect, parents need their PIN and password; there are 2 options to get this information.Option 1 (Screen below – Recommended): Parents go to Dearborn Schools web site then ParentConnect link. If they don’t know the login info, they click (Need Your Login Information) link and it will prompt them to enter their email address as provided to the school and entered in MIStar (Menu/Enrollment/Student Editor/Contacts) and click Submit. This process emails them their PIN and Password.

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Option 2 (Screen below): If parents are unable to receive the email (no email, etc) and administrators need to provide the info, administrators can access MIStar Menu / System / ParentConnect Manager / Contacts Passwords as indicated below. Even though Option 2 is available for administrators, Option 1 is recommended because parents have to login to their email to retrieve the info and you can always add the email in Student Editor/Contacts if missing.

image.png

2. What is available in ParentConnect?Given that Elementary report cards are due tonight and Middle Schools report cards are due tomorrow, please remind the teachers to finalize their grades by the timeline so that we can start processing soon.
 1. Starting Tuesday morning, I will run the missing grades for elementary schools and email administrators the issues so that they can follow-up; once the reports are complete, I will process these report cards by sending the info to ParentConnect 2. Starting Wednesday, I will run the missing grades reports for middle schools and email administrators the issues so that they can follow-up; once the reports are complete, I will process the report cards and GPAs 3. Once grades are finalized, I will then post them online (ParentConnect, Student Connect). I will do my best to try to have the grades posted by the end of the day Friday but it may be early next week as this process may take a bit longer than usual given that the Computer Services staff is not working except me. I will keep you updated of the progress during the week.
Questions:1. Would you like me to add a general message in ParentConnect for all Elementary and Middle schools such as Marking Period 3 grades have been generated based on assignments and assessments available or something similar? Shannon, Jill and Fatme, please email me if you wish one general message that I can include for all.2. Once the grades are available, should David send a robocall for Elementary and Middle Schools? Or should teachers just add on their bogs?
Following is the information that parents can see in ParentConnect. Administrators can view similar data and more options by accessing MIStar Menu/ Enrollment / Student Profile.

ParentConnect ModuleHow it relates to Report Cards
Attendance Detail Information 
Attendance Summary Information 
Cafeteria Information 
Class Assignment InformationThis module represents the Gradebook information. Data is available as soon as teachers update their gradebook. It has been launched for all High Schools, all Middle Schools and Elementary Schools only if elementary teachers shared their gradebook in the setup.
GPA Information 
Parent Reported Absence 
Report Card MarksThis module represents the Report Cards information. Grades, including comments and notes are available as soon as our office finalizes the processing of the report cards and based on a date that is set for data to display. It has been launched for all High Schools, all Middle Schools and all Elementary Schools that will see a link to the Standard Report Card. 
Schedule Information 
School / Classroom News 
Teacher / Counselor Email Links 
Testing Information 
Transcript Information 

Time for a Little Fun!

Just because we are at home doesn’t mean we can’t be with each other in “spirit”!

Miss All of You!

It’s times like these when you realize how much of a little family we are. I miss seeing your smiling faces every morning! I trust that time will pass with each second, minute, hour, day…and we will be back to school in no time. In the meantime, here are a few fun things to do.

I leave you with a picture of my lazy cat, King Mustache. Isn’t he funny? Awwww, he even has a pencil ready to learn. LOL

It’s Almost Spring…

a time for new life after a long and unpredictable winter. Hmmmm….something like what we are going through right now. Let’s stay positive and know that we are in this together.

Just to help each student get organized, here are a list of things I would like them to get done. Although we are unable to assess new material the students are working on, it is important they utilize this time to continue learning.

Language Arts

19 books in the Hollow Kids Series on Raz-Kids with Quiz and Constructed Response

Spelling – 2 lists with 5 assignments for each (10 assignments total)

Math

Eureka Math Lessons 8-19 each Lesson has a video to watch, an Application Problem and a Zearn Lesson

Practice your mulitiplication daily!

Social Studies

Watch all the videos for Econ and Me and fill out the form on Google Classroom (you can print it or simply write it in a notebook).

Science

Read 6 books on Raz-Kids Beautiful Biomes (Habitats like the Rainforest, Temperate Deciduous Forest, etc.) If the books seem difficult to read, find a family member to read with! There is a quiz at the end of every book.

Spend some time with Doug on Mystery Doug. Usually the videos are about 5 minutes long. Stay curious!

Read the article in Time for Kids I sent in the previous Blog about the Corona Virus. I appreciate the factual information presented in a way that does not promote fear.

Parents, I realize that not everyone has had an easy time adjusting to learning on-line and technology doesn’t always want to coorperate. Please do not worry.

I miss all of you. It is so different waking up each morning knowing I will not see you at school today. I am looking forward to being back at Howard!

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