NEWSLETTER 4-3-20

Good Afternoon!

We did it! We survived another week at home and our first week of mandated learning. ​Our class had 100% participation.​ Excellent work!! Thank you families for all of your support and participation! I couldn’t be more proud and thankful for all of you! Speaking of being thankful...I would like to take this time to give a HUGE​ ​shout out of appreciation​ to all you parents and family members that are essential workers. I know we have quite a few in our classroom. Thank you so much for putting yourself at risk daily to help us in the time of need! I know I for one couldn’t be more thankful. I hope and pray you stay healthy and safe. I can’t wait for the day when we can think about all this as a remember when story!

A FEW REMINDERS

Please make sure you or your child checks the ​Mark as Done box​ in Google Classroom. You get to it in the same place you find each assignment.
Just click the words View Assignment that you will see underneath the pictures of the links. Then you will see a black box on the left that says Mark as done. Click that and I will know you did that part of your assignment. I can also check on the actual programs (like Epic or Raz-Kids). I get information each time you use it. However, I like using Google Classroom because it keeps everything in one place. The state is making us keep track of who does what. This will be my “proof” of what is getting done and how I keep attendance each day. I only need to see you participating in one way to mark you present: attend a zoom meeting, do a Google Classroom assignment or send me an email with a picture or note that says what you did at home. I will say though that the more you are able to participate in, the more learning opportunities your child will have. Like I said above, our class is 100% involved! Awesome job!

SPIRIT WEEK

VCS is having a Spirit Week beginning Monday. Don’t stress over it. Just tell your child(ren) what the day is and let them figure it out. It’s supposed to be fun not a stress builder. Also, it’s not mandatory. Monday, our level is 70s day. I’m just wearing a tie-dye t-shirt. I’ll remind you each day and this flyer is also in our Google Classroom.

ADDED TO GOOGLE CLASSROOM

I’ve added a subject to our Google Classroom called ​Weekly Extras​. I’m going to put things in it weekly that I think you might want to check out, watch, do, make, read...you get the idea. ​This entire area is OPTIONAL. I’ve just been finding some cool things that I know some families would like but I don’t want to give too much work. I will add new things to it each Sunday. You can check it out. You might find something one week and nothing the next...it’ll be like shopping at T.J.’s ;).

I also added a topic called Easter. I know not everyone celebrates the holiday so I added it as an ​optional​ extra for those looking for some holiday read alouds, games, crafts, how to draw videos and/or printables. This section will disappear after the holiday. :)

ZOOM SESSIONS

I feel like our Zoom Sessions get better each day. I’m trying my best to make sure everyone can hear and is heard. Remember, we meet each day at 10:00. It will always be the same link. The school upgraded our accounts

so we will not have to worry about time. However, lessons will be one half hour to one hour long. Thank you for helping your child get to our meetings. I love seeing their smiling faces each day!
I think that’s it. I know I’m long winded. Please, know you can email me at any time with questions/comments/concerns. I will try my best to help. Have a great weekend!

Laurie

P.S. Don’t forget to ​communicate each day​ by: Attending a Zoom session, Mark as Done on assignments in Google Classroom and/or email a quick note or picture.