Miss. O’Brian, Academic Support Teacher, will be offering all of 5th grade math support when they are at home learners starting Wednesday, 9/30 and continuing until further notice. Here is her schedule:
Mondays/Tuesdays: Support for B students for At Home Math Assignments 10:00am to 10:45am
Thursdays/Fridays: Support for A students for At Home Math Assignments 10:00am to 10:45am
Wednesdays: Support for all students 1:15pm-2:00pm
Students will need to join Miss O’Brian’s Google Classroom in order to get access to the google meet links. Her code is vwk7vno
A flyer with this information has been/will be sent home with your child! Let us know if you have any additional questions.
Parents—we are seeking your help so your child can get the best virtual learning experience during our virtual Wednesday sessions. Teachers are planning lessons for online learning on Wednesdays, and we ask that all students approach these days with the educational commitment as if they were in the classroom. We recognize that this is new and NOT how we wish it could be, but our teachers are committed to providing quality instruction during these times. Here are reminders about appropriate conduct during a google meet with CM teachers:
Children should be in front of their laptops, seated and ready to learn.
Cameras should be on at all times during the session for all children during the lesson.
Students should pick one location to remain for the duration of the lesson. This location should be an appropriate learning space.
If children need to leave camera for a restroom break or another reason, they need to ask permission from their teacher to leave the meet or turn their camera off.
Messages sent to the chat during the lesson are reserved for instructional purposes ONLY.
Children should refrain from eating while on their meets. Please use the break time between subjects if a snack is needed.
Work space should be free of pets and toys since these are distracting to our learners.
Parents are encouraged to support their learner at home, but to not actively participate in the lessons.
Moving forward, Mr. Malek and Mrs. Suydam ask all grade 3-6 students to show Central Manor leadership during online learning sessions. We plan to visit your virtual sessions this Wednesday. Thank you for helping us as we navigate these new online lessons.
As we move forward into Week 4 of Penn Manor’s Blended Learning Plan, we want to thank all of you for your support in adapting to this significant change in your child’s education. As you know, this is new for us as well and quite an adjustment as a classroom teacher. We ask you to please continue to ask questions and communicate with us your feedback. With that being said, based on feedback we have gotten from parents and students, we will be changing the formatting of how we post assignments moving forward.
Instead of uploading two posts (one math, one ELA) for each day your child is an “at home learner”, we will be separating each attachment. We are doing this in order to avoid students submitting their work before both assignments are complete. Instead of 2 posts, there will be 7 posts for each day (still the same amount of work.)
Here is an example (of one day’s worth of work)-
Your child’s google classroom assignments will go from this:
Day One ELA
Day One Math
To this:
Day One ELA Lesson Presentation
Day One ELA Assignment #1
Day One ELA Assignment #2
Day One ELA Reading Log
Day One Math Lesson Presentation
Day One Math Assignment #1
Day One Math Assignment #2
This change has been explained to students in Group B today so they will be prepared for Monday. This change will be explained to Group A when they come to school on Monday to prepare them for their days as an At Home Learner next week.
Please let us know if you have any questions. We encourage your feedback and value your support.
Help us kick off Penn Manor’s fall sports season this Friday, September 18th by wearing your favorite sports jersey or Penn Manor spirit wear! Students who are in Group A and virtual take a picture and email it to Mrs. Suydam at lisa.suydam@pennmanor.net. Watch our blog for a spirit day slide show. Let’s Go Comets!!
The fifth grade team wanted to clear up a bit of confusion surrounding the ‘At Home Learning’ assignments and some expectations we have for our students regarding these assignments.
Assignments are posted for students by 8:00 am on the days students are scheduled to be ‘At Home Learners’. It is the expectation of the teachers that students are working to complete these assignments, on the days they are assigned. We understand that situations may arise and students may have some circumstances where assignments may not be turned in the same day they are posted, but this should not be a regular occurence. We understand that Penn Manor School District policy requires assignments to be turned in within 2 days. As teachers, we feel it is important for students to complete assignments the day they are posted for pacing purposes, as well as a great way to develop responsibility and independence as a learner. We appreciate your support in this matter.
It has also been brought to our attention that students are not completing assignments in full on many occasions. It is extremely important that students view the videos explaining each assignment on Google Classroom before beginning the lesson as well as self-checking against the checklist of items to be completed, at the end of each powerpoint presentation of each assignment. We do realize there are many videos to view within each assignment. Students are encouraged to work through each at his/her own pace throughout the day.
Thank you so much for your understanding and continued support as we navigate this new terrain together! We appreciate you!
Thank you parents for filling out the survey in our last blog post. Your questions and comments are very helpful in knowing what we need to do to improve and what questions we need to clarify with you. Below are some of the questions/concerns we saw most frequently with the surveys that were filled out so far. (If you have not gotten a chance to fill it out, it is still available and we will continue to check it for new completed forms.)
Question 1: How long should my child be working as an At Home Learner each day on their assignments?
The assignments being provided should take 45 min to 60 min and specials should take 30 minutes. Students are responsible for assignments for the specials they are currently in only. Please email their specialists for specific questions regarding these assignments. Your child should be working on their laptops for about 2 hours and 30 minutes each day. (This does not have to be consistent. They can take breaks when needed.) We encourage students to watch all of the videos/follow the lesson completely in order to correctly complete the assignments. There assignments are due 2 days from when they are posted. All students need to fill out the attendance form by 9:30 am regardless if they turn in work on that day.
Question 2: Are there ways we can learn to better navigate Google Classroom?
Question 3: If my child needs enrichment opportunities (or finishes their assignments quickly) while they are At Home Learners, what do I do?
The 5th grade team thinks it is important that students feel challenged on days they are not in school. We will be providing (starting this week) a topic in our google classrooms entitled “ELA Enrichment” and “Math Enrichment”. We will add assignments as we go, however right now there are assignments loaded for Chapter 1 (Math) and ELA. THIS IS OPTIONAL. Our suggestion, if your child needs a challenge, should complete a few slides per day of these assignments then turn it in when fully complete. Email specific teachers if you have questions about this.
Question 4: Will there be more subjects added to At Home Learning Days?
Right now, we will be doing ELA and Math on At Home Learning Days. We will be starting Content this week and we will be providing those lessons in school. As we continue with this blended plan, there may be weeks where we do have content lessons assigned for At Home, however for right now- it will be Math and ELA.
Question 5: How are these assignments counted in Sapphire?
Teachers are keeping track of completed assignments and will be providing students with a “completion” grade in sapphire for Math and ELA. This means that if students completed the work, however got some problems incorrect, this is not marked against them. (However, encourage them to read teacher’s comments and make changes/correction if returned without a completion “grade”.) We want students to be motivated to complete this work at home and not see it as “busy work”. If assignments are not completed, completion points will be taken off of their overall At Home Learning grade for that week, which can affect their final grade for that subject. Please email specific teachers if you have questions. As always, we are flexible!
We thank you for communicating your questions, concerns, and comments as we continue to navigate this challenging time together.
Hello Parents! As a 5th grade team, we want to say THANK YOU for the support you have been providing your child in order for them to be successful in our Blended Model of learning. We are two weeks in and we want to continue to improve communication, structure of our online lessons, and anything else in order to make this a smooth experience for both you and your child. Please consider filling out this survey. Have a wonderful weekend!
