Elementary Home Learning Opportunities
Dear Elementary Families,
Prior to discussing any plans we have created during our mandated school closing, we want to stress that we are and will always be extremely empathetic to the needs, concerns and challenges you face on a daily basis in your homes. Events over the past week have greatly impacted many of us in countless ways. Our role as a provider of education for your child(ren) is greater than simply rolling out instruction, or in this case home learning opportunities. We will be compassionate of any adversity you are facing during these challenging times.
Students in our elementary schools will be presented home learning opportunities via a web site called ClassTag. This parent/guardian-teacher communication platform will allow your child’s teacher to post daily home learning opportunities. Please note that this mode of communication allows teachers and parents/guardians to communicate in an effort to address concerns, seek clarification and gather feedback as we move forward. The described home learning opportunities need to then be communicated to the child. While there is no rollout of technology that is without pitfalls, we believe ClassTag presents fewer with both our employees and families. If you are presented with a challenge, we will work with you to rectify the issue.
We have planned daily home learning opportunities to be posted on ClassTag for the remainder of this week (March 18th-20th). With next week being our planned Spring Break, daily learning opportunities will continue to be posted the following week (March 30th - April 3rd), as well as Monday, April 6th.
Home learning opportunities are designed to take approximately an hour for our youngest students up to two hours for our fourth grade students. Activities are designed to maintain academic skills. The quality of this experience is most closely associated with how deeply the child is connecting to the experience. Over the course of this timeframe, students will engage with varying degrees of independence. That stated, we realize that our youngest students are not truly independent and will need encouragement and support from you or a study buddy in the home. Our goal is to provide direction and support with the understanding that task completion depends on each individual families’ circumstances. Because home circumstances will result in varying levels of support for our youngest students, we will monitor student progress through communication versus traditional grading.
We ask parents/guardians for the following support:
- Read the ClassTag updates from your child’s teachers.
- Read home learning tasks and activities posted on ClassTag with your child.
- Help your child navigate the Internet for any online sessions.
- Designate a place in your home or where you are temporarily located so your child can work independently on his/her assigned tasks and complete independent reading each day.
- Email your child's classroom teacher if you or your child has questions and/or if your child needs extra help and support. Our goal is to get back to you within twenty-four hours.
Being immersed in a good book is something we always value and is something we encourage you to do with your child frequently over the next few weeks. We have also added activities we are calling limitless activities. Our elementary encore teachers came up with a number of activities in their areas (art, music, physical education and STEM) for our students to enjoy with their families. Many of us are presented with more time with our child(ren) during this period of school closure. We did not want to put a time limit on potential family fun.
Our teachers will be contacting you this week to ensure that our communication is effective, but more importantly to see how we can help you. Our aim is to be available to your needs, but understand that we too are navigating within new parameters. We will be accessible during normal school hours and will try to respond in a timely fashion. Please understand that we will be flexible and nothing on our end should add to your stress.
If you have any concerns after talking with your child’s teacher this week, please do not hesitate to contact your building principal. We will work to navigate this new journey together.
Peace,
Brent Swartzmiller
Executive Director of Teaching & Learning
Perrysburg Schools
419-874-9131, Ext. 2112
[email protected]
Posted: Tuesday, March 17, 2020