Monday, September 14, 2020

WHS Staff News - Week of 9/14/20

I could not have asked for a better first week with students in the building! Thank You!!! With everything we had to overcome to get here, we should all be extremely proud. I hope some of your fears and concerns have been calmed with what we have put in place. We can't relax with our safety precautions and we need to continue to BE PRESENT every class, everyday for out students. 

I know this is not easy. Everyday I worry about teacher burn out and the amount of stress so many of you are feeling. Right now my best advice is, Focus on what you can control.


  
PD Opportunity
The Blended & Online Learning Course with Catlin Tucker  
If you are on Twitter, I'm sure you have seen/read some of her blog posts in the past. 
The district is prepared to pay for this online course that is self-paced and offer PD hours for those who take advantage of the course.  
If you are interested, please add your name to this doc. 

Department Meetings on "Concurrent Teaching" 
Concurrent teaching is the process of teaching students in the classroom and students online at the same time.
As I stated in my Remind message last week, we are starting the conversation about concurrent teaching and the options it provides. Dr. Elias (Director of Curriculum) will lead the conversation and share teaching strategies and resources with each group.

Monday 9/14 2:30 - 3:15 Math (HS) Room 501
Tuesday 9/15 2:30 - 3:15 Social Studies (HS) Room 141
Wednesday 9/16 1:35 - 2:15 
    PE & HE (HS & MS) Room MSMPR
    Related Arts (HS & MS) Room MSMPR
Wednesday 9/16 2:30 - 3:15 World Language (HS) Room 144
Thursday 9/17 2:30 - 3:15 Language Arts (HS) Room 138
Monday 9/21 2:30 - 3:15 Science (HS) Room 301

*Special Education teachers should attend the department meeting they teach more in. 

A Few Quick Hits
  • Fire Drills - For our first fire drill we will be walking through it first as per new State guidelines.  I will have more info on this later in the week.
  • Reminder that all Google Classroom post for AM classes should be posted at 8am daily

Lunch time offer from Parkwood Deli
Few important details.....

All orders MUST be in by 11:00 am so we can get them to you by 12:30.
All orders MUST be entered as a PICKUP as we do not typically deliver at this time.
Enter Pickup time as ASAP.
In the special instructions, they MUST include WALDWICK HS so there is no confusion.
Park Wood Deli & Catering

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Friday, September 4, 2020

WHS Staff News - 9/4/20


Yesterday was like no other first day I was ever apart of, but you all made it work! Great job! Yesterday 70 of 73 remote learners picked up their materials. As they came in, I asked them how the day went and they said:
"Better then I thought" 
"Went really well"
"You guys were so organized to starting the school"  
All of our hard work and attention to details paid off! Thank You! 

For this afternoon … Use the time at HOME after 12:44 to:

Plan for next week
Work on Safe Schools
Google Classroom Items
Invite the admin account to all your classes adminwhs@waldwickschools.org
Double check the name on your classes, Teacher’s Last Name should start each class title

A few updates:

Duty Assignments start on Tuesday

Hall Duty - Main Entrance / Art Wing please monitor the bathrooms and have students scan in using the QR code. Once they complete the form, their info will appear on the Google Sheet. I suggest you bookmark this sheet. Bathroom Check-In Sheet

Break Coverage - The four staff members that are providing breaks, please be on time.

Study Hall - students at home do not need to check in for attendance. Only worry about attendance for the students in the building.

Student Check-In via Genesis 
Students will be checking in for home via Genesis - The link below would be for internal purposes (Draft).

Page 1 - Students' display
Page 2 - Faculty display in Class Attendance - Post Attendance screen
Page 3 - Display in the Student's Class Attendance Tab.
Genesis Student Check-In

*This information will be shared with the students later today. 

For Tuesday and Wednesday - Student Helpers 
For the first in-person days of school (Tuesday, September 8th and Wednesday, September 9th) we are asking students to help freshmen and new students find their classes. Members of the Student Council and/or National Honor Society will be around the building helping out. Students will be allowed to leave class one minute early and arrive to your next class one minute late (if necessary) in order to help. The names of students are posted on your Calendar.

This morning I will be working on a video for students and parents which will included reminders about next week and what they need to know. Once It is finished I will share it with the staff as well.

Have a great weekend!!!

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Saturday, May 9, 2020

WHS Staff News - AP Testing Info / Academic Awards

Sorry for the Saturday post, but there is a lot going on. No action needed until Monday. 

This state memo was released last night regarding Virtual Graduation Celebrations -
NJDOE Memo 

AP testing will take place the weeks of 5/11 and 5/18. Penny pushed this schedule out last week.

5/12 - Calculus AP- starting at 1:30
5/13-AP Physics 2 - starting at 11:30
5/13 - English Literature- starting at 1:30
5/15- US History - starting at 1:30
5/18 - Biology - starting at 1:30
5/19- Psychology - starting at 1:30, Japanese - 3:30
5/20- English Language- starting at 1:30
5/21 - Economics - starting at 3:30
5/22- Spanish Language - starting at 3:30
*Please refer to the Calendar on those days to see a list of students who will be testing.

For the most part the AP testing should not interfere with our minimum day schedule. As we all know in a normal year, AP testing is a stressful time for most of the students taking them and even more so this year. I ask that we all be cognizant of this and be mindful of assignments and due dates for students taking AP exams.

If needed, AP students will be given two extra days to complete assignments from other classes. This small gesture will hopefully relieve a bit of the stress and worry some of them are feeling and allow them to focus on the AP exam. As always, the goal is to not overwhelm them.

Academic Awards 
With the official news that school will end on June 12, there is a lot that needs to get done. For the Department Awards I need the following information updated on the DOC. 

If the award winner is not listed please get that done by Monday at 3pm.
The ceremony will be recorded in advance and posted on June 3, so I need to plan out the presentations.
I just added a column “2020 Presentation Virtual Ceremony” on the Doc.

So two things, please update the Presenter and Presentation Column

I need to know if the presenter is willing to submit a video recognizing the award winner (Makes it personal). I am hoping most people will do this. 

If there is no one in the department that wants to create a video, then the write up (Most are done) would be used by me or someone else to record a video reading the write up. 

Please indicate ... I will submit a video or have someone else read it.
*Need name of presenter added on the Doc.

Once I have this information, I will push out to the presenters, guidelines for your video submissions.
If anyone would like to volunteer to present additional scholarship awards via video, please add your name to the bottom of the Doc.


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Monday, April 27, 2020

WHS Staff News - Week of 4/27/20


I hope everyone is doing well and taking care of themselves, both physically and mentally. The Admin Team and I have been working behind the scenes on plans for the rest of the school year, wether we are in school or if we have to finish the year at home. Just trying to be proactive on so many topics.


Decision Day 2020
May 1 is traditionally decision day for seniors. This year, seniors will be decorating their front door or room to share with everyone where they will be attending in the Fall.  Those pictures will be shared with me and I will be posting them on social media. As you see the posts, please consider sending a congratulations message to show your support. 

You are invited ... National Honor Society Induction Ceremony will be held virtually on Tuesday, May 5, 2020, at 6:30 p.m. Link: NHS Induction Ceremony (Live Ceremony)

Google Meet Extension you might want to consider
Google Meet Grid View
Shows everyone in a Google Meet

Nod - Reactions for Google Meet
Quick emoji reactions for muted team members

Google Meet Classroom Extension
This app adds a whiteboard into Google Meet for each participant with the extension installed.
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Monday, April 6, 2020

WHS Staff News - 4/6/20


March 13 was when this new world of virtual learning started; a day most of us will not forget.  Today marks 24 days out, 16 actual school days.  We are entering the fourth week of teaching from home, but I'm sure we have Spring Break on our minds. Not that we can go anywhere with family or friends; however, a break from the pressure of teaching, planning, responding to emails/Reminds and of course Meets. Balancing home and work has not been easy and all of us can use the time off.
I ask all of you to promise me that you will give work a break! Instead:

  • Read a book
  • Spend time connecting with family in your house as well as calling/FaceTiming family/friends that are not in your house
  • Get outside ... take a walk, go for a bike ride, do some gardening
  • Stay up late, wake up late
  • Do some Spring cleaning, if that relaxes you
  • Experiment in the kitchen
  • Start planning your 2021 Spring Break Mega Trip! You deserve it! April 12 -16
  • Watch less news! (30 minutes a day)
  • Do what makes YOU Happy!

I still will be tweeting birthday messages, sharing positive thoughts and connecting with other educators on Twitter but I will not be answering emails everyday or opening my computer each morning to look at my to do list.
If I have to get information out to you over the beak, I will send it via Remind. But that would only be something that was time sensitive/important.

 Access to the Building 
As of today the building is off limits to all staff until further notice.

 Homework over SpringBreak 
There should be no assignments given over Spring Break.
AP teachers, if you feel you need to provide students with study guides or materials to review I will leave that up to you. Please be smart about it. It is OPTIONAL, not required work for students.

 Wednesday Staff Meeting 
We will get together via Meet on Wednesday at 2:15pm. I will send the invite out later today.

 Second Semester Assessment 
In talking with the ScIP Committee and the Admin Team, we have drafted a plan on how to deal with the second semester assessment. The link below provides an outline and the why. I will talk more about this on Wednesday at the staff meeting but would like your feedback prior to Wednesday.
Drafted of Proposed Plan  *Staff Feedback  (Optional)


 A few Social Media Posts




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Monday, March 30, 2020

WHS Staff News - Week of 3/30/20


Hang in there! In the simplest of terms, this is what I expect from you ... 

You first, family second, student's third, curriculum fourth! 
KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid. (Be clear with your students, have reasonable expectations)
This journey we are on right now is a Marathon, not a sprint. 

Keep these things in mind. Here if you need me. 

Below is a tweet I saw over the weekend that I thought was right on about setting parameters and finding balance. 

 Staff PSA Video
I am working with Neil on creating a staff PSA to get our students/community to understands the importance of listen to CDC guidelines. I hope to have more information out later today. 


Rotation Schedule 
The rotation schedule has been updated untill Spring Break. No changes to the original schedule.
Special Bell Schedule Home Instruction Virtual School Days

 Virtual Spirit Week 3/30 - 4/3



Resources
Google Meet Grid view Extension (Shows everyone in a Google Meet - Brady Bunch like)
Link to get the Extension (Add to Chrome)

Screencastify
If you are into Screencastify, this coupon code CAST_COVID, will get you access to the unlimited plan for educators.  Go to their site, click on pricing and then put in the redeem coupon. 
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Monday, March 23, 2020

WHS News - Week of 3/23


Week one in the books! I could not be more proud of the entire WHS community for how we have handled all of this so far. I know this is hard. No one signed up to be a virtual teacher, but pandemics make us to do things we never thought we would have to do.  

Please stay positive with your students, follow up with them, check in on them, offer your help and most importantly, continue to over communicate with them. 

 Last night I went live on the Warrior Broadcast Center - if you missed it here is the link to Episode 1 Checking in with Carroll 

Starting tonight, there will be a weekly student produced Wake Up Waldwick LIVE show streaming via the Warrior Broadcast Center/s YouTube channel.  Mr. Meltzer and his students are determined to make sure the show goes on!


Gradebook 
The end of Marking Period 3 is Friday. Below are the dates and Laurie's email with all of the details and timeline.  I don't want any incompletes issued without my approval first and I don't anticipate my seeing a lot of good reasons to allow one.  There is no excuse for "I didn't have the time" by a student. If a student is missing work or has not completed an assignment, you the teacher need to follow up with the student and counselor.  

ELL Narratives - will be handled the same way as normal.  Laurie will be pushing more information out on this. 

GRADING OPENS FOR TEACHERS: Thursday, MARCH 26 @ 10:00am
GRADING CLOSES FOR TEACHERS: Wednesday, APRIL 1 @ 9:00am SHARP
REPORT CARDS RELEASED TO PARENTS: Friday, APRIL 3 @ 10:00am
Ms. Cassidy's directions/timeline

Schedule for Friday 3/27
Friday 3/27 was a scheduled "R" day.  It will be a Day 1, with Monday also being a Day 1 as scheduled.  

SGO's (I have received a few emails on this topic)
My first response to these questions is to worry about your lesson and students. Non-tenured staff should be thinking about them and figuring out if you need to adjust your assessment. If you have questions, please reach out to Dianna.
For tenured teachers, we have time. If you want to work on them, feel free. 
We have no guidance from the state on what to do with SGO's.  When we do, we will share that information.

Online Resources (Not adding to your plate, just sharing. No pressure)
Formative 
A few of our math teachers have a premium access account to the site Formative (we pay for it).  Like other companies, Formative is offering any educator a free premium account. It's a great resource for assessing students in all areas. Check out the site and see if it's something you would like me to give you access to.  I have to add your name to our school account. 

https://goformative.com/ (link to site)
https://community.goformative.com/videos (Link to Video Tutorials)

Zoom Resources
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