Hello Families!

I hope you are all doing well, and staying safe from the spread of the Coronavirus!  Crazy days we’re living with, indeed!

I have gotten a bit more clarity as to what Distance Learning will look like for your child for the foreseeable future.  Starting next Monday, the kids will have a new lesson posted in their Google Classroom each day.  On Mondays and Wednesdays, the kids will have a reading lesson posted in their reading classroom.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, they will have a math lesson posted in their math classroom.  These lessons will be produced by LPS, so each child will get the same, consistent instruction during these school closure days.  I get the sense that this will be the pattern going forward.

For each lesson, I will provide a short video introduction.  I have made a few of these already, and I’ve really enjoyed getting to set up each lesson.  The reading lesson intro videos will be seen by all the homeroom kids.  I’ve had some fun with these!  Each one includes some jokes, and I’m learning how to include silly images and posters to help me complete the introduction.  I hope your kids enjoy them!  The math lesson intro videos will be delivered by your child’s math teacher.  This way kids that travel to another teacher math can stay in touch (per se) with their regular math teacher.

For some lessons, I will post a worksheet or two that can be printed out to help your child with the lesson.  For the most part, however, the lessons are designed to only need a few pages of blank paper, or a marker board if you happen to have one.  LPS understands resources at home might be scarce, so I’m assuming most lessons can be completed by simply following along with the instruction.

I will also post some optional work for your kids.  There might be spelling activities, grammar lessons and most certainly will include a digital book to enjoy with a follow up lesson or two.  I highly encourage reading 20-30 minutes a day, too.  Next week, I’m hoping to provide you with a list of some free eBook sites that might help your child stay engaged with reading.  All of this, of course, will evolve as we go along.  Like you, I’m doing my best to adapt to Distance Learning.  Thanks so much for your patience as we sort things out!

Last but not least, I’d like to try a “Zoom Class Meeting” on Friday, April 3rd at 12:00!  The kids have access to “Zoom” through the LPS portal.  To join our class meeting, they would follow these steps:

• Visit the Portal on your Chromebook
• Click on Zoom (You might need to click ALL to find it)
• Enter the meeting code:  526-181-3917
• Enter your name
• Click Join

You can also do this via other devices.  The Zoom app is free.  Once you download it, you just join a meeting with the code above.  I have never done this before, so we’ll see how this goes.  Ha!  I anticipate our meeting being 30 minutes or so, but who knows?  We’ll play it by ear!  If this goes well, I’d love to do it regularly.

This is A LOT to absorb, so thanks for reading through everything.  I am so appreciative of all the work you’ve done with your kids so far.  Next week, I think you’ll feel less pressure, as the kids begin to assume more responsibility for their learning.  You and I will always be resources to assist them, of course, but I’m excited for the kids to begin a more independent approach to Distance Learning.

Thanks so much for reading, have a great rest of the week, and I’m looking forward to seeing the kids at our class meeting!

Eric Wachter