Week 2 - Hope

Although it probably wasn't much of a surprise, the news this week of Indiana not returning to the classroom for the 2020 school year was a blow to many.  Seniors, their families, teachers, spring sport coaches and players and fine-arts students who were looking forward to the many spring events were disappointed by the news.

Not only are schools dealing with these pressures, but empty highways, silent cities, deserted amusement parks, and closed recreational facilities solidify the emptiness that some people feel.  Stories of our neighbors fighting severe diseases during this time turns us all into believers of the importance of staying home.

Even though this is an unprecedented time in the history of this earth, there is a silver lining.  On the other side of this hopeless feeling are stories of communities coming together to help feed the children and families in need, individuals making masks to and doing what they can to provide PPE for local health facilities, families having the opportunity to slow down and go fishing and more.

This week during our zoom faculty meetings, it was a blessing to see how all of you, even the face of uncertainty have found ways to come together, learn technology from each other and develop even stronger relationships with our students.  Simply Amazing!  You are the light to
                                                 so many!

Important Information:

Fun Lessons - (I know many of you have great things going on in your virtual classroom - feel free to share!  We can learn so much from each other!) 

Abbie Brockman asked her students to use Flipgrid to talk about their spring break.  Their little videos are so cute.  You can find them HERE. 

Ty Guillaume has been entertaining his class with "Guillaume Household Headlines", instead of his normal current event session due to the COVID 19 taking up a lot of new time, using loom.  You can see the links below - so you can keep up with the Guillaume house. . . good luck with that chicken                                                                  house, Ty!

                                            https://www.loom.com/share/d886897492e14258b019371a35ebbfcc
                                            https://www.loom.com/share/240d33380ea84c5e8a76ced3ef8e5703
                                            https://www.loom.com/share/9ef2f5c40ab2419a87db422f2d97f1a7

Senior Snail Mail Challenge -  Our seniors are really disappointed how 2020 ended for them.  Their graduation plans have abruptly changed in the face of this pandemic.  During times like this, I think it is important to lift each other up.  IF you feel led, I would like to encourage you to send a hand-written note (or email if you wish) to maybe 5 of the seniors and let them know you are thinking about them.  If you are worried about the stamps, feel free to drop the letters off in my office and I will make sure they get mailed!  I have included a list of seniors and their addresses in the email I sent with the Monday Moment Link.  Happy writing!

Give Me A Break - Like me, many of you are finding that you could answer emails 24/7 in the face of e-learning.  We are happy our students are finally asking questions, but the timing and volume of questions can be overwhelming.  Please remember it is okay to set boundaries for when/how you will answer questions from students and parents.   Your sanity comes first!   :-)

Another Resource - If you are interested in creating an educational "Escape Room" for students, Dana has recorded a screencastify HERE.  She shows you how to set up the program that will allow students to have fun while they learn - engaging students across the board!  Happy escaping!!

No Internet Students - Thanks to all of you who have emailed or prepared non-Internet students work.  We appreciate it!  I will be taking the work up to 1:00 on Monday.  This will allow me time to get everything organized and to the right location.  Thank you!

We are also making a plan for the students you are concerned about as well.  We will reach out to some of you for guidance/help with this plan.  You can add student names to the document HERE.

Faculty Meetings - We will continue our Faculty Meetings on Thursday, April 9th via Google Hangout:        English - 8:30 a.m.
                      Math - 9:30 a.m.
                      Science - 10:30 a.m.
                      Special Education - 11:30 a.m.
                      Social Studies - 12:30 p.m.
                      Island - 1:30 p.m.