Dear Walden Parents,
Welcome to Walden's remote learning guide! For the last days, teachers have been collaborating, planning curriculum, and preparing to begin our remote learning journey on Monday, March 23.
As this is a big change for all of us, we are sending an overview of our remote learning approach. On Friday, March 20, you will all receive instructions for how to sign into our online learning platform, Seesaw, as well as instructions to access Zoom, our platform for virtual circle time and check-ins with your child's teacher. Please note, you will receive an official email invite for your Seesaw account on Friday; there is no need to sign up for an account before then.
Please read on to find out how our learning journey will look!
You are our Partners in Online Learning! In the spirit of the Walden mission, we are intentionally creating a program that encourages connection with teachers and classmates, inquiry, responsibility, and creativity. We also realize that at the elementary level, parents and caregivers will need to play a greater role in facilitating learning. In this unprecedented circumstance, school, work and daycare are now under one roof. We also recognize that caregivers may themselves be working from home and may have more than one child/grade level to support. From this lens, we will make every effort to design learning assignments and activities that are flexible yet predictable.
To launch this process, we ask that parents/ caregivers partner with us to:
Important Steps to Prepare for Online Learning This Week
Remember and re-familiarize yourself with the Walden Agreements. You might want to print them out here! This is a wonderful opportunity to talk with your child about routines and expectations for this new adventure of online learning. Involve them in this process. How will you all follow the Walden Agreements? What are their ideas for what they will need to do their best work at home?
Have your child(ren) help you find a space in your home where they can do their best school work. A valuable home work area provides an uncluttered surface for kids to write and draw, a comfortable space to read, and all of the supplies they need to successfully complete assignments.
Involve them in creating their special workspace – how do they want to design it to make it special for them and to create their own little "Walden" at home? Here are some ideas: Click here for more ideas on setting up a space.
Beginning Monday, March 23, if possible, maintain a consistent routine and schedule. This ensures that students can trust and predict what will happen next. Predictability in any learning environment (home or school) helps students feel secure because they know the expectations, and this frees up their working memory so they can apply their cognitive skills to learning. Here is a suggested daily schedule (click here for a PDF):
Lessons - What to Expect During this remote learning time, you can expect your child to engage in learning in multiple ways. Some lessons will include the use of technology, many will not. Students in grades 4-6 may also be asked to work on assignments, projects, and assessments within familiar tech formats. Teachers will provide feedback to all students through various platforms, individual Zoom conferences, and Google documents (for older students).
Weekly Individual Zoom Check-Ins Your teachers will be creating scheduled check-in times with each student.* These meetings will take place as a live Zoom conversation between your child, and the teacher. A parent must be present and near-by during these conversations, although these meetings will be focused on giving the student and teacher time to connect about how schoolwork is going, rather than a time for parents to converse with the teacher. If parents have questions, they can e-mail to set up a Zoom meeting with their child's teacher. Teachers will send out a weekly schedule for these sessions so you will know ahead of time when that meeting will take place. *Pre-K students will meet as a whole group in a Zoom class meeting.
Weekly Synchronous Zoom Class Meetings Your child's teacher will let you know what time their daily Zoom meeting will be. All Zoom meetings will be between the hours of 9 and 11 a.m. or 1 and 2 p.m. This will be a time for the whole class to see each other and their teacher. It will be a class meeting, a read-aloud, discussion, etc. Please help support your child's online time participation in the synchronous Zoom calls.
The information in this email, plus details about logging into Seesaw, will also be available on the Walden website and as printable downloads by Friday.
We look forward to interacting with all students as we transition to an online community where we will continue our academic, social, emotional, and artistic journeys together as learners in the Walden community!
Warmly,
Director of Curriculum
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