Email Letter to Parents the Night Before Classes Start

 Greetings, Parents of Jean Mariner's GA2 math class, 3rd Trimester 2021!

It's now Sunday evening, and I'm polishing up the next week's lessons for class.  I know we are all excited about returning to the classroom and seeing each other.  Some of us (students) will be learning from home and, indeed, I need to be home for two more weeks.  Currently, I have clearance to return to in-person classes March 8 (but not before then.) When you responded to my emails, I wrote you personal notes explaining this; I hope there's no surprises.  

So you know, with some students at home and some students in the classroom, I have a variety of resources that I have constructed specifically for your children. The main tools are itemized below: 

1. I have placed pdfs of the powerpoint lessons -- all lessons -- in canvas.  These are lessons I have written, rearranging the curriculum and organizing the material in a way that integrates -- rather than separates -- the algebra lessons from the geometry lessons.  Students last trimester found it valuable to print these out prior to class; this helped with note-taking and with seeing the "big picture."  

2. I have made well over 100 short (10 min) videos of myself giving the lessons while following the powerpoints.  These are available in two formats for students:  (1) as an edpuzzle, where questions are embedded so I can (in real time) evaluate understanding;  (2) as "screencastOmatic" which students can watch in advance of class or as review.   These are so the folks at home don't miss a beat when there's the inevitable glitch in their internet connection.  These are also so students can work at their own pace, if they'd like. 

3. We've all learned to be quite savvy with the breakout rooms in zoom; while on line, I use these both for group work and for private tutoring sessions with kids.  These "rooms" work quite well in conjunction with the self-paced structure.  I can give lots of extra help for those who need it, and I can augment lessons for the students who want to accelerate themselves through the course and learn extra. And while this works well on line, I'm very excited to be back in person when I will be able to better read body language and where I'll be better able to connect with students.  

You'll hear more details of other resources and of how class goes from your children (I hope!) and certainly from me on parent night.  

I also do my best to maintain a blog for parents where you can get a better understanding of how class is structured.  

I've kept "live" the posts from the last year; some parents thought that looking at the history of posts was helpful to understanding the class and me as a teacher.  I now have entered two posts recently for you, parents of 3rd trimester students. The first you'll see is a post I've written for students, but I thought you'd like to see. The topic is Kindness and sets the stage for the trimester. The second post is an outline of classroom policies, grading, etc.  You can subscribe anonymously to the blog by clicking on the horizontal parallel lines in the top Left hand side of the screen. The link:  https://themondayletters.blogspot.com/ 

I hope you all are well; I look forward to meeting your sons and daughters tomorrow! 

Best Regards, 

Jean Mariner


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Responsibility. 11/29/2020

 On-Line learning has many advantages, as I've shared before, not the least is an increased maturity that comes with the independence afforded as well as a fluency with newest technology.   On-line learning caries with it a responsibility for your own learning. I find my students each are at different places on the continuum of responsibility for themselves. Some students are uber-responsible. These folks are focused, work ahead, keep their eyes on the prize, and carry with them a genuine love of learning.  Some students are learning to be responsible. They know what they should do and they simply do their best, well-aware of and sometimes falling prey to competing attention-grabbers.  And for some students we call responsibility an 'emerging skill,' which really means that at this point in their young lives, they rely on others to set boundaries and rules for them.  Each child is on his/her own path to maturity, and each child will reach his/her destinatio...
Read more

Spring Break, 2021. It's been a year.

Our country, our community, our friends, our neighbors and ourselves -- we are all noticing that it's been one year since we've locked down, stayed in, and changed our lives.  So what's the long-term consequences for us as a result? What's happened with our children?  We don't really know, and likely the unknowing is the hardest part. I believe it's important to simply keep doing our best and to behave so we will have no regrets or apologies after this experience is in our rear-view mirror. More immediately answer-able and perhaps interestingly for you and me:  How is this trimester's students' responses to learning different from last trimester's students' responses to learning?  I've noticed two significant differences.   The first is that students from this (the third trimester), in general, have lost more of their math skills when compared to the students from the second trimester. I'm needing to do (and am actively doing) more revie...
Read more

Parent Night Information

Parent Night is Thursday night!  If you are unsure of how to Zoom, your sons/daughters have now become really good at it and are happy to assist you in making sure the sound is set right, your video is on , and you're ready to go!  I know we all will be better able to connect and have a conversation if you have your video on.     A Block parents , we will meet Thursday, March 4, 6:00-6:20 pm.    B Block parents , we will meet Thursday, March 4, 6:30 - 7:00 pm. (10 min for advisory) I sent you the zoom link via email.  I can't wait to meet you all.  It's been my pleasure to begin to get to know your sons/daughters. They have brightened my days and taught me so much about flexibility and positivity!  They give me so much hope for the future.  Your children have also been keeping a blog for this class. Their first post is on the importance of KINDNESS.  For at least the last 5 years, my students have been writing a blog postabout...
Read more