Response to Questions

Staff-  Thanks for attending the online staff meeting this morning.  It was great to see you and hear many of your voices.  I will continue to look forward to these Tuesday meetings for no other reason then to hear familiar voices and to somewhat connect with you.  As we looked through the eLearning Hub today we noticed a great thing that many are doing with their assignments.  Several teachers are recording short 2 minutes or less videos that introduce the assignment to kids.  We would like to make this a standard procedure for all teachers to do for their assignments.  The videos can just be an introduction to what the assignment is, the directions, objectives, etc.  doesn't have to be long but it will be a great way to connect with students and also give them a chance to see you. 

A piece of good news.  Our daily Storm TV announcements will be broadcasted remotely during our hiatus.  This will be a great way for kids to stay connected to Lincoln.  They are shooting for Wednesday April 8th for their 1st show.  Be sure to highlight this in your communication to students. 

In response to some questions from this morning: 

Question: I am hoping you will explain your schedule for google meetings times.

Answer: The meeting times/schedule was created so that if teachers choose to do a Google Meet or virtual classroom lesson that students are not getting teachers scheduling them at the same time. This schedule provides teachers and students specific times to hold these meetings. Students would join their classes at the scheduled times.

Question: If students in ICP do no work, can we give them the q3 grade for the semester credit grade?

Answer: We will continue to look into the options for grading students. I had not thought of this but it is an option. We will keep you updated and will be in communication with the high school admin to be on the same page.

Question: Are we continuing with Digital Apps and College & Careers?

Answer: Like I stated regarding Preparing for College and Careers we will assign students the same grade as they had first semester for second semester. The assignments that they had done prior to the COVID-19 outbreak can be graded. However, I think we should stick with students finishing their regular course work first work during this time. If we should return to school we will resume the course work for these two classes.

Question: When do we have to have all school items boxed up by?

Answer: Further directions and a timeline will be determined when we find out whether we are returning to school this year. Right now, teachers can sign up for a time to get personal items removed. Don't box up school stuff yet.

Question: For the eLearning packets for no internet students... When we email them, do we need to have all the elearning packets (every elearning day until May 1) prepared? And is this due tonight by midnight? Or next Tuesday or did you mean Wednesday?

Answer: I had not thought about having teachers prepare assignments through May 1st, so no is doesn't need to be. We will send whatever you have prepared for however long you prepared for. We would like these tonight by midnight so that we can send them by regular mail tomorrow.

Question: When we give paper work to Becky or Fabian, is it by teacher last name or student last name?

Answer: It is by teacher last name. This will help divide the work load.

Question: Grading...should we avoid entering grades to the grade book for those not doing the work or for those who are not receiving the extra support that they need?

Answer: You can enter grades into the grade book however we should not fail students. Call home, encourage students, then we will determine our next steps if they still are not doing any work but we will not fail them. Grades in the grade book would just be indications that they have not yet completed the work. Once we get to the end we will have to decide our course of action regarding what there grades will be. Students who need extra support via IEP, 504s, or ILPs should and need to be getting the support they need during our eLearning days. Teachers could possibly schedule individual Google meets with some of these students. Our interventionists can also be of help to work with these students virtually individually. Assignments should be planned to take into account the supports that students need.

I would like to thank those that asked questions. If you have more please continue to put them in the google form. Also remember that these decisions and times are fluid. I am answering these questions the best I can at this time. I am sure that some of these answer might change. Stay tuned.