Learning With Chromebooks: The Chromebook Touchpad

Hello Team Remote Families! Today's blog post is the first in a series to help students get the most out of their Chromebooks.

The Chromebook Touchpad

Similar to tablets and smartphones, the Chromebook's touchpad recognizes "gestures" or hand movements. See the list below to learn more:

Move the pointer: Move your finger across the touchpad

Click: Press or tap the lower half of the touchpad.

Right-click: Press or tap the touchpad with two fingers.

Scroll: Place two fingers on the touchpad and move them up and down to scroll vertically, or left and right to scroll horizontally.

Switch Between Tabs: If you have multiple browser tabs open, swipe left and right with three fingers.

Change How Your Touchpad Works 

You can tap your touchpad to click, or change the direction you scroll. Here's how: 

1. At the bottom right, select the time. 
2. Select Settings (the "gear" icon)
3. In the "Device" section, select Touchpad (or Touchpad and mouse). 
4. Change how your touchpad works: 

• Turn tap-to-click on or off. 
• Choose type of scrolling: Turn off Reverse (swipe up to move the page up). Turn on Reverse (swipe up to move the page down).

Google Classroom Support for Students and Families and a Reminder About Open House

Let's face it...teaching and learning remotely has a unique set of challenges for students, teachers, and families, including hardware and connectivity issues, miscommunication between school and home, and a general confusion about what is expected. I am hopeful that we can work together to address these challenges as we progress through the school year. WGMS Principal Steve Dunham made an excellent analogy in a recent blog post, comparing the opening of the school year to the early stages of a marathon. I am hopeful that we will all adjust to our new routines to provide the best education possible in these circumstances for the benefit of our students. 

In the absence of face-to-face in-person instruction, parents and guardians are our best resource to support students at home. Nonetheless, frustration levels may run high when students are unable to connect to synchronous meetings, or parents aren't sure how to help their children navigate Google Classroom, Zoom, Seesaw, Operoo, and all of the other links and resources that have been thrown your way. I applaud your efforts and want to support you as best I can. 

To that end, please feel free to check out the video playlist below called Two Minute Drills: Google Classroom for Students. Each video in the playlist provides a short (two minutes or less) explanation of how to accomplish a task that has been assigned via Google Classroom. As we progress through the various stages of this marathon of a school year, I am hopeful that the workflow routines for students will become ingrained to help us all coast toward the finish line!

Two Minute Drills: Google Classroom for Students

Open House Update

The Team Remote Open House website is still available for parents and guardians to meet each teacher. Please click the link below, locate your child's teacher(s), view their introductory video and complete their Google Forms surveys. Surveys will be open until the end of the week.

Team Remote Open House Website: 

https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/remoteopenhouse/home?authuser=0

School Pictures & Operoo Update

Say Cheese! 

School Picture Day for remote students will be held at your child's "home" building. Please see the dates and times for each school listed below.

East Hill

October 6th, 3:00 - 4:00

Onondaga Road

November 17th, 10:30 - 1:30

please use the Gym entry rather than the front entry

Split Rock
November 4th, 10:00 - 1:00

students can enter the main entrance and proceed to the library

Stonehedge Blue (K-2) & Stonehedge Gold (3-4)
November 3rd, 6:00 - 8:00 PM

WGMS (5-6)

• 5th Grade: November 3rd, 3:00 - 5:00 PM 
• 6th Grade: November 5th, 3:00 to 5:00 PM
• WGMS Gym

CMS (7-8)

• Last Name L-Z Students: November 3rd, 12:00 - 3:00 PM  
• Last Name A-K Students: November 5th, 12:00 - 3:00 PM
• Please note that the dates are reversed from Mrs. Lozier's previous communique so that A-K/L-Z students don't miss synchronous classes.

WGHS

• 9th & 10th Grade: September 21st and 22nd, 2:45 - 3:25 PM 
• 11th & 12th Grade: September 24th and 25th, 2:45-3:25 PM
• Lower Gym

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Operoo Update

Thank you for helping your child set up an Operoo account to submit daily attendance. It sounds like many of you were successful in doing so! Nonetheless, there seems to be a glitch with email notifications. For the time being, please use the Operoo website and log in with the credentials that were established upon registering for Operoo. 

Operoo Website: http://www.operoo.com/

Team Remote Open House

Hello, Families! Our Remote Learning experiment is up and running and I am pleased with how smoothly the first couple of days have unfolded, all things considered. As our teachers have been getting to know their students over the course of the week, we would like to invite you to our Team Remote Open House to give you an opportunity to meet the teachers! 

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, our virtual Open House will be an asynchronous event rather than a live Zoom meeting. Each teacher has created a short video to introduce themselves, their curricula, and their expectations. After you have viewed their video(s), there is a short survey for you to complete so that teachers can collect your contact information and review any questions or comments you'd like to share. 

The following link will take you to a Google Site organized by grade-levels so that you can locate your child's teacher(s) and reply to their surveys. You will also find a short welcome message from me on the home page explaining how to navigate the Site and view the surveys in "full screen" mode. 

Team Remote Open House Website: 

https://sites.google.com/westgenesee.org/remoteopenhouse/home

Since this is an asynchronous event, you are welcome to "attend" at your leisure. Team Remote Open House will be available on Thursday, September 17th. I would ask that you "attend" by completing the surveys on the Team Remote Open House Website by Friday, September 25th. 

I am VERY PROUD of the time and effort our teachers have put forth to make their students' learning experience a positive one in these unusual circumstances. I hope you find their video introductions as sincere and informative as I did. Thanks for visiting and we all look forward to working in partnership with you to make this school year a success for our students.

Attendance Procedures

Hi, everyone. We will soon be implementing a new attendance procedure for our remote learners. This will mainly affect our 5th - 12th grade students as our K-4 students meet daily with their teachers in virtual class meetings. K-4 teachers will be responsible for documenting attendance in SchoolTool. 

On Friday, September 18th, parents and students in grades 5-12 should be on the lookout for an email delivered to students' school Gmail addresses from Operoo/CareMonkey prompting students to create an Operoo/CareMonkey account. This account will be used for attendance-taking purposes for our remote students as well the hybrid students on the days they are not in the buildings. This new attendance procedure will take place starting Monday, September 21st. 

Here are the parameters specific to 100% Remote Students:

100% Remote Students:

• Will receive a survey M-F
• The survey will be emailed to them at 7 AM
• The survey will close at 10 AM
• Students must complete the survey to confirm their daily attendance
• If students do NOT complete the survey by 10 AM, they will be marked absent.
• Teachers do not need to take attendance in SchoolTool for students that are remote (not physically sitting in front of them). However, teachers may take attendance nonetheless for their files to have a record of students attending their classes.

Operoo

When students receive the initial email from Operoo/Care Monkey, they will be prompted to create an account. After the account is created, students  will receive a survey that asks them the following:

1. I am working on school work from home today. 
• Yes or No
2. I attend school in-person on (Check all that apply) 
• Monday
• Tuesday
• Thursday
• Friday
• None (100% Remote)

Once the survey has been submitted successfully, students will receive a confirmation email from Operoo/CareMonkey.

Goal for the Week--Connect

Our goal for the week is to make sure every student can connect with their remote classrooms. 

Hopefully all the pieces are in place to make our first week of remote learning a success:

• Chromebook--✅
• Communication from Classroom Teachers--✅
• Google Classroom Invitations--✅
• Zoom links--✅

We expect there to be some hiccups along the way. Some of you, for example, may notice that your child's schedule has been changed at the last minute. This is especially the case for some of our students in grades 9-12 as we have recently assigned more teachers to cover remote classes to help make class sizes more manageable. By recently, I mean last night! Please be patient as we get the newly assigned faculty members up to speed--you should hear from your child's teacher later this week. High School students might also find that their schedules include synchronous classes that don't necessarily follow the M/T (9th & 10th grade) - Th/F (11th & 12th grade) pattern as some classes are being offered based on teacher availability.

Some other concerns and what you can do: 

We didn't get a Chromebook yet

Please contact the main office at your child's home building. We have technology specialists assigned to each building who can arrange for you to pick up equipment, including Chromebooks and compatible chargers. In the meantime, students can use other devices if you have one available in your home. Here is a video tutorial explaining how to use a Mac or PC to log in to the Chrome Browser.

My child forgot her password

Please review the Parent's Guide for username and password conventions. If you need a password to be reset, please contact the Tech Department: wgtechhelp@westgenesee.org

We haven't heard from our child's teacher about Google Classroom or Zoom

Please contact the teacher via email (here is a link to the Staff Directory). Please note that some teachers are newly assigned to Team Remote and it may take them a couple of days to establish their virtual learning spaces and communication protocols. 

The Zoom link that was shared doesn't line up with the bell schedule 

Please note that Zoom allows teachers to schedule meetings in 15 minute increments (i.e. 9:00, 9:15, 9:45, etc.). The teachers are trying their best to schedule synchronous meetings as close to the bell schedule as possible. 

My child's first day is Thursday/Friday. Are they supposed to do anything before then?

Some teachers may have assigned asynchronous activities for students to complete prior to their first synchronous meeting. Others may be waiting until Thursday to get started. Please refer to the teachers' communiques about their expectations.

I am hopeful that the logistics of our remote learning experience will eventually fall into place and appreciate everyone's patience as we work behind the scenes to make that a reality. If your children are successful in connecting this week, we will be on our way!

Here We Go!

I think I can speak for the entire Team Remote faculty when I say that we are excited to get started with the 2020-21 school year! The first day of "live" classes for most of our remote learners is Monday, September 14th. This includes all of our K-4 students, A-K middle level students, and 9th & 10th grade high school students. The first "live" day for L-Z middle level students and 11th & 12th grade high school students is Thursday, September 17th. Please note that there may be some exceptions to the schedule described above. Some senior courses, for example, are scheduled on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Daily Schedule

I have asked the teachers to reach out to you via email before the week is over to introduce themselves and and share information about how and when students are expected to connect with their virtual classrooms. Teachers will spend the first days and weeks of school getting to know their students and building a sense of community. As we settle in, teachers' instructional delivery will have more structure and more rigor than it did during last year's spring school closure.

 

For parents of students in grades 6 - 12, please refer to SchoolTool for your child's schedule. K-5 teachers will reach to you via email with their daily schedules. Students will be expected to check in with their teachers daily. On synchronous days, there will be live virtual meetings during regularly scheduled class periods. On asynchronous days, teachers may post something in Google Classroom, for example, for students to do independently. Any support you can provide at home in terms of helping your children develop routines will be much appreciated, especially when students are not required to attend synchronous virtual meetings with their teachers and classmates. Please see the links below for middle level and high school "bell schedules" for daily schedule information.

• Bell Schedule: WGMS & CMS
• Bell Schedule: WGHS

Technology

We anticipate that there will be some technology challenges. If there are problems with your school-issued Chromebooks or log in information, please contact the Technology Department at wgtechhelp@westgenesee.org. We also understand that parents may not be experts in using instructional technology tools. In traditional classrooms, teachers typically set aside time for students to learn how new tech-tools work before they are tasked with using the tools to demonstrate learning. Modeling new technologies for teachers and students, in fact, is one of the best parts of my "day job" as an Instructional Technology Coordinator. I always learn something new every time I work with students--they aren't afraid to click the buttons to see what they do! 

Now that we are teaching and learning remotely, I put together an "Instructional Technology Survival Guide for Students and Families" to help you help your children. Check out the slide deck below for a brief overview of some of the instructional tech-tools teachers are likely leverage, including some "how-to" videos for each (Pro Tip: Click the "full screen" icon for a better view of the slide deck). One each slide, you will notice a few things:

1. I am obsessed with using my bitmoji--it is part of my communication strategy as I share information with teachers, students, and the community. It is also a fun way to model effective strategies for teachers when they create remote learning materials for their students.
2. Each slide has a brief overview of an instructional technology tool that teachers are likely to integrate into their instruction.   
3. In addition to a brief overview, you will also find an "explainer" video for each tool. Click the tool's logo on the Chromebook screen in my virtual classroom to view a video tutorial that demonstrates how to use the tool(s) from the student point of view. 
4. If you would like to reference the videos without scrolling through the slideshow, you can view them on a YouTube playlist. 

Instructional Technology Survival Guide for Students and Families

 

Why You Should Use a School-Issued Chromebook

I've been fielding some questions about Chromebooks over the past few days: 

"Do I need a school Chromebook? Can't my child use our family computer?"

"My child already has a Chromebook. Do we need one from the school?"

"My child has an iPad. Will that work?"

School-issued Chromebooks are the preferred device to help make your children's remote learning experience a seamless as possible. The Technology Department manages them and has the ability to push out applications like Zoom and other tools the students will be using. In the spring, some families grew frustrated when they tried to access school materials on devices like iPads or weren't properly logged in to the Chrome browser on family computers. We don't want the technology to be an obstacle to your children's learning and encourage you to pick up a Chromebook at your child's "home" building on September 9th. See below for pick-up times at each building:

• East Hill: 1:00 - 3:00 PM
• Onondaga Road: 12:00 - 3:00 PM
• Split Rock: 12:00 - 3:00 PM
• Stonehedge: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
• CMS (grades 7 & 8): 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• WGMS (grades 5 & 6): 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• WGHS: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Chromebook Help for Families

The Technology Department has put together a handy Parents' Guide to Chromebooks to help you and your children understand how to care for the Chromebooks and accomplish some common tasks. Topics include: 

• protecting your Chromebook from damage
• connecting to your home wifi
• logging in with West Genesee credentials
• using the camera
• accessing learning materials
• using Zoom
• shutting down
• troubleshooting

A hard copy version of the "Parents' Guide..." will be sent home on the 9th when you pick up your child's Chromebook.

If you need help with your Chromebook or your login information, please email wgtechhelp@westgenesee.org.

What Will Remote Learning Look Like?

Hi, everyone. I'm sure you are wondering what remote teaching and learning will look like for your children. Our remote teachers will be working closely with one another as well as their in-school colleagues to create engaging learning experiences for their students and deliver a consistent curriculum across grade levels.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

Two words that best describe our approach to remote teaching and learning are synchronous and asynchronous. 

• Think of synchronous learning as a "real-time" experience. Teachers will use video conferencing tools like Zoom or Google Meet to connect with their students at regularly scheduled times. 
• Think of asynchronous learning as an "on-demand" experience where students will be assigned tasks that they can complete independently or with parental support. 

Expectations for Grades K - 4

Students in grades K-4 can expect daily synchronous interaction with teachers with at least 30 minutes for math instruction and 30 minutes for English Language Arts. Teachers may also schedule short synchronous sessions to meet with individual students, small groups, or the whole class at various points throughout the day. When they are not online with their students, teachers will design asynchronous activities for students to complete independently or with the support of a parent or guardian. Daily student attendance is required.

Expectations for Grades 5 - 12

For grades 5-12, students will be scheduled in classes similar to their in-school friends, with some students attending regularly scheduled synchronous classes (i.e. class periods) via video conferencing tools on Mondays & Tuesdays and others attending on Thursdays & Fridays. 

• For freshmen and sophomores, synchronous learning will take place on Mondays and Tuesdays with a "bell schedule" that mirrors that of the high school.
• For juniors and seniors, students will attend synchronous classes on Thursdays and Fridays with a "bell schedule" that mirrors that of the high school. 
• For students in grades 5-8, the breakdown of synchronous/asynchronous instruction will be designated by students' last names--A-K are synchronous on Monday and Tuesday; L-Z are synchronous on Thursday and Friday. The "bell schedule" will mirror that of each middle school. Please note that expectations for 5th grade will be more like K-4 than 6-12 in terms of a daily schedule.

On their non-scheduled days, students will be assigned asynchronous tasks from their teachers. On Wednesdays, teachers will have an opportunity to collaborate with their colleagues and set up office hours for students  to connect with teachers for enrichment and/or extra help. *Please note that there may be some exceptions to the scheduled dates listed above based on teachers' availability.

Attendance

Daily student attendance in required, even on asynchronous days. It is the students' responsibility to check in with their teachers to verify their attendance. One strategy teachers may employ to verify attendance, for example, might include posing a question on Google Classroom for students to answer. 

Flipped Instruction

In an effort to get the most out of their synchronous interaction with students, many teachers may be "flipping" their instruction. Check out the video below for a brief overview of Flipped Learning.

Chromebook Pick-Up 

Teachers will be leaning heavily on a variety of instructional technology tools to design engaging learning experiences for students as well as establishing a workflow to evaluate student work and provide feedback. While the tools teachers leverage will vary by grade level and subject area, one thing is certain--students will be using school-issued Chromebooks to access their digital class materials. The "pick-up" date for Chromebooks and other learning materials will take place on September 9th at each building. 

• East Hill: 1:00 - 3:00 PM
• Onondaga Road: 12:00 - 3:00 PM
• Split Rock: 12:00 - 3:00 PM
• Stonehedge: 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
• CMS (grades 7 & 8): 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• WGMS (grades 5 & 6): 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
• WGHS: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM