Happy Ramadan to all who celebrate. May happiness and peace be showered upon you all!
Please enjoy this time together with the family that you hold near and dear to your heart. Your celebrations might look a little different this year, but they all still hold the same special meaning.
There is a certain level of trust between a teacher and his/her students. I teach and work with my students to help them be successful in language arts. Our discussions, lessons, activities, and communication are because I care about and love all of my students. I want to know they are well. I also want all of them to know that, even though we are not seeing each other everyday in the classroom, that I am still here to help in anyway I can. I trust that they will receive my instruction with the knowledge that I care about them passing ELA and that I care about them as unique individuals.
Now that we are out of the physical school building, the best way to communicate with students, and still feel a connection, has been through our Google Meet sessions. In order to maintain the sessions for just our 7th grade ELA students, we are only sharing the Meet nicknames (codes) on our iLearn courses. That way, the only people who have access to the Meet information are our students who are enrolled in that course.
This afternoon, however, it was obvious that some of our ELA students broke that trust and shared the Google Meet information with other students in the district. Those students, in turn, interrupted our Google Meet session. It saddens me that one (or a few) students would ruin an activity for so many more just for their own enjoyment. It was a very selfish and irresponsible thing to do.
Sadly, we know that today’s Google Meet experience is not unique as Mr. Oke has shared out the consequences for inappropriate use of technology during these next several weeks. These consequences include (1) warning/Parent Phone Call, (2) No credit for work/participation for a specific assignment, (3) Loss of technology privileges (accounts can be suspended), (4) Issuance of a paper packet to be completed in lieu of online learning and/or (5) Possible Summer School.
In regards to our specific incidence this afternoon, the names of the disruptive students were recorded; they will be contacted by the district and/or their individual schools for follow up. I have personally emailed all of the offending students. Once it is determined which of our Stout student(s) gave them access by sharing the login information, the Stout students will also face consequences.
Mrs. Wiacek and I will not allow a few students to ruin the opportunity for the rest of the group. We appreciate so many of you who were supportive and participated in a polite, respectful and responsible manner. Your hard work, willingness to roll with the punches, and enthusiasm for learning really makes us so proud. Meeting with you all is the best part of our work day.
If you have any questions about this message, please feel free to reach out to me.
I miss you all. Have a great night, and take care.
If you and your family are in need of another (or a first) chromebook for a Stout student, please complete the attached form. Even if you have gotten one chromebook from Stout but have another Stout student that needs one, you can get it.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfVmR2af74nP-nrx6JN2e48abKpSGnpcJUFJhblBm33LXum-Q/viewform
Link to online text: https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/1_Out%20of%20the%20Dust%20by%20Karen%20Hesse.pdf
Wanted to shout out: Mia, Hassan N, Laila, Malak, Sarah E, Adam, Jill & Thuraya (for a second) (anyone I forgot?) who joined in for the read aloud of the Winter 1934 section of Out of the Dust. I hope that you were able to understand the text and have a better idea of what words mean, figurative language and characters that are important! We covered the comprehension questions too. It was nice to see everyone and chat for a bit too. Miss you guys!
Link to online text of Out of the Dust (read Winter 1934-pgs 1-35): https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/1_Out%20of%20the%20Dust%20by%20Karen%20Hesse.pdf
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y1YApIgvsngMz7I0Pnrlf058ULO1wy6QPEQOlD7qYKU/edit?usp=sharing
This is the link to the 7th grade schedule where you can find links to teacher blogs, ilearn classrooms, google classrooms etc. Each class holds live google meets in order to present information and answer questions. Each subject also has office hours where you can try and meet one on one with your teacher, or arrange a call. Teachers will also be available to answer emails quickly during that time. If you ever need to contact me or your other teachers, please make sure you email.
Click below to access the online text of Out of the Dust. This week we are reading the first section called Winter 1934. It is pages 1-35 online. Tomorrow I will go live on google meet at 7pm to read the section out loud if anyone would like to join!
https://www.btboces.org/Downloads/1_Out%20of%20the%20Dust%20by%20Karen%20Hesse.pdf
Here is a link to a weekly calendar. I will try to include all assignments and links on this calendar. You can make a copy of it and keep up that way as well as checking iLearn daily!!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fteftv-iT437-v0bmGhOS4A008-onjQW4eADbjXHJRs/copy
