Welcome Mesa Community!

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Distance Learning Think Tanks

Welcome!

Take a moment, visualize your dream distance learning.

Type a few qualities of that dream in the chat.

Norms

• Kind, helpful + specific
• Hard on content, soft on people
• Step up, step back

Think Tank Goals

Agenda

• Collaboratively solve challenges to create the best possible approach to distance learning for our students.

• Welcome & Inclusion
• Overview of Distance Learning Plans
• Move into Breakout Groups
• Brainstorm on specific-challenges connected to that group
• Gallery Walk
• Closing

Elementary Overview

• Day begins at 8:30am
• Synchronous and Asynchronous learning- 3 hours/day (Kindergarten) with recess, lunch, brain breaks
• Day ends at 2:30
• Attendance taken
• Small groups for every child
• PBL focus with integrated reading, writing, math, science, history, etc.
• Collaboration between classroom teachers and exploratory
• Virtual Enrichment Program possibly

Middle School Overview

• Starting at 9am (likely with a full team meeting)
• Synchronous + asynchronous = at least 4 hours per day
• Likely end 2/2:30 with morning break and lunch break
• At least 2 hours per week Humanities, 2 hours per week Math/Science, 1 hour per week Arts live Zoom
• Interdisciplinary Projects Priority!
• Office hours
• X Block weekly
• Advisory weekly
• Pathwright Learning Management System
• Considering IXL for math and possibly other subjects asynchronous work
• Notes from listening session here

High School Overview

• Courses begin at 9am
• Synchronous and asynchronous learning = 4 hours per day
• Courses and enrichment ends at 2:30 with lunch break (and 15 min breaks between classes)
• 4 synchronous classes per week: math, humanities, and science/art/Spanish
• Interdisciplinary Projects Priority!
• Office hours (required)
• Weekly Flexblock (i.e., clubs)
• Advisory weekly
• Pathwright Learning Management System

Break Out Groups

Type in the chat which group you’d like to join!

In groups choose a recorder.

Write your ideas on the slides that follow (one slide per group).

Breakout Groups - put your choice in the chat

• Learning & Instruction
• Challenge & Access - How do we provide appropriate challenge and access to all students? (1)
• Project Design & Progressive Instruction - What do high quality projects look like in distance learning? What does progressive instruction look like in distance learning? (2)
• Health & Safety
• Healthy Routines - How might we promote healthy routines for our students? (3)
• Social & Emotional
• Sense of Belonging in K, 6th, 9th - How might we onboard students new to our schools? (4)
• Friendship & Connection - What role does the school play in facilitating these connections? (5)
• Family Engagement
• Supporting ALL Families - How do we support both new families and families who face challenges to engagement? (6)
• Family Communication - How often? Content? From whom? What worked? What didn’t? (7)

Learning & Instruction

Challenge & Access - How do we provide appropriate challenge and access to all students?

First, make projects, clubs mandatory.

• Group questions:
• How much flexibility is possible? Ie people with multiple kids who can’t be online right at that time of synchronous instruction (bandwidth, space, distractions)
• Parent “access to information” as elementary children won’t necessarily check email
• Parent able to revisit zoom/information at asynchronous times
• Incorporating asynchronous lessons into synchronous time but with discussion, but have the video for review later by student and/or parent.
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Learning & Instruction

Project Design & Progressive Instruction - What do high quality projects look like in distance learning? What does progressive instruction look like in distance learning?

• Focus projects on current and ongoing research using iNaturalist projects or professors at local universities eg. The Nat uses iNat data on plants and herps for research.
• Parent advisors for science and math curriculum design to support teacher and beef up quality. They can also answer students questions.
• Incorporate meaningful math into all projects e.g. in lower grades counting and measuring; in older grades statistics
• Rather than making online-focused projects simply tweek ideas of projects that we would normally do.
• Break up into groups for each aspect of a project.
• Small breakout rooms monitored by parent volunteers for extra support
• Provide individualised support
• Peer support group (picked by students)
• Projects idea from one parent: about past trips/ culture or gaming
• Allow students to give ideas for projects

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Health & Safety

Healthy Routines - How might we promote healthy routines for our students? Incorporate a routine : Set a schedule - Wake up give enough time to login /early bed routines

Holding students accountable for responsibilities

Allowing students to socialize - Get to know students

Healthy activities : Keeping our kids active

Focus spot : Work area

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Social & Emotional

Sense of Belonging in K, 6th, 9th - How might we onboard students new to our schools?

Kindergarten: One-on-one with teachers, small groups, large groups.

All grades: One-on-One or small groups (intentional pairing) with kids that have already been with High Tech to help integrate them into the culture, do checks, meet other kids in a fun way.

Clubs with special interests for all grades to help new kids be a part of the culture. Example: Pokemon

Parent engagement Zooms to talk about kids well-being, establish relationships with other parents in the grade.

Unofficial small group socially distanced meet-ups organized by parents.

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Social & Emotional

Friendship & Connection - What role does the school play in facilitating these connections?

• Student recommendation: Get a planner and make sure to wake up on time.
• Student: It is really awesome when teachers set up scheduled times for student to student work
• Student: Writing letters to friends, connecting on social media, and Netflix Parties were really helpful **maybe make this a class assignment!**
• Providing breakout rooms especially with non academic questions in the beginning of the year can help foster connections.
• Breakout rooms are great

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Family Engagement

Supporting ALL Families - How do we support both new families and families who face challenges to engagement?

• Zoom meetings w/ incoming parents and families. About 8-9 to answer questions and get to know new families. Perhaps we can offer that again in the fall. For people who can’t go to those meetings, they have multiple opportunities for families to attend.
• Communication-finding out what works best for the families. The teacher sent out a weekly email about what was coming and that was very helpful to know what was going on. I liked that it was all in one.
• The PA also sent out a Sunday blast-was wondering if there was too much?The email blast was always a consistent time and day of the week. It was helpful to have that information.
• Our teachers did something similarly with sharing weekly assignments. The more communication the better.
• The only form of the communication was email but some students were able to text with teachers. Parents got emails from teachers when something wasn’t turned in.
• Mr. Curtis called w/ check-ins and formal feedback for students and Mr. Clark did weekly updates in video form-it was nice to see the teacher in video that way.
• How did we get incoming kindergarteners to understand that this is school and keep them engaged?

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Family Engagement

Family Communication - How often? Content? From whom? What worked? What didn’t?

• Spring: Emails from teachers and also the school (enjoyed from Brett). Enjoyed the at home visit at the beginning of the year. Still find a way to do that safely, but also with current students too, not just the incoming students or new advisees. One-on-one time important.
• Emails to Families: Email once a week with a link to the agenda or newsletter thing. Clear deadlines so family can help with their student and ask questions/know what they are doing.
• Zooms: small group meeting check-ins, potential teacher video explaining what we are studying and questions to check in with their student?
• Timely Teacher Response: Worked well, teachers responded quickly and office hours worked well

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Gallery Walks

Take a look the other groups’ slides.

Add any comments using the comment function.

Thank you!

Together, we’ve got this!

Next Steps:

• Action groups & full staff continue planning
• Plans shared the week of August 24th
• Save the date for orientations & chromebook/supplies pick-up - August 27th & 28th.
• Keep communicating and getting better so we can create the best possible distance learning experience for our students!

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work.

Share an appreciation for your team in the chat.