Gratitude and Kindness

If ever there was a silver lining to "pandemic" teaching and learning, it is the increase in comfort and skill among our teachers in integrating instructional technology in meaningful ways into their professional practice. Google Classroom and other Google productivity tools like Docs and Slides are now utilized district-wide. Some teachers have experimented with other useful tools to great effect. 

4th Grade Kindness Wall

Take, for example, the "4th Grade Kindness Wall" below which was created with a digital tool called Padlet. Think of Padlet as a digital bulletin board where users can add notes with text or multimedia to collaborate. Kudos to Mrs. Petosa for helping her students spread kindness as a character trait!

2nd Grade Gratitude

Making connections with students while teaching remotely has been both challenging and rewarding. Using her iPhone and the iMovie app, Mrs. Mannion captured her students' gratitude and joy as she and Mrs. Mullen delivered holiday cheer to their students' homes. Mrs. Mannion said she felt like a movie star--the students were starstruck seeing their teachers "in-person" for the first time!

District Updates

Food Services
Meals for the week of December 28-January 1 (5 days)

• Delivered on December 23, 2020

All orders must be made from the Remote Learners Bundles menu. Here is a link to our Food Service Department in case you have any questions regarding school meals, or you can email your questions to wgfoodservice@westgenesee.org.

Remote Materials Pick-Up for Grades K-4

Remote students should plan to pick up their next set of materials on Tuesday, January 5th, from 3:00 - 4:00 at your "home" building. These materials should get your child through the end of March.

Reminder About Remote Learning Expectations

Now that ALL WGCSD students are learning remotely, at least temporarily, principals have shared some basic expectations for success:

1. Be on time and prepared for class by having your class materials on-hand and any asynchronous assignments complete
2. Dress for success--wear school appropriate attire
3. Minimize distractions like cell phones, pets, and background noise

All of us at Team Remote wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday and a healthy new year!

District Updates and LWC: Google Drive--Finding Your Files

Hello, Team Remote Families! This week's blog has some updates from around the district as well as more tips for "Learning with Chromebooks." Be sure to check your "home" building's Principal blog for more information.

District  Updates

Strategic Planning: Calls for Commentary

Every year the District's Strategic Planning Team comes together to review progress make toward improvement and make recommendations for continued growth. One of the key pieces is feedback from our community, staff, and students. Lisa Craig and Steve Dunham, the Strategic Planning Facilitators, would appreciate you taking a few minutes to fill out this form as your unique viewpoint and perspective regarding the District's next steps will be a huge help to the team. Here is the link. Thank you for your participation!

Elementary School 

• December 12th: Elementary report cards are available online. We will not be mailing hard copies of report cards home. Report cards will be available to view via the Parent Portal on Schooltool this Saturday at noon. Click here to access the viewing instructions. Here is a short video that also explains how to access the report cards online. If you need a hard copy of your child's report card mailed to your home, please contact your "home" building.
• December 24th - January 3rd: Schools are closed for holiday recess.
• January 4th: School Reopens
• January 5th: Remote Student Supply Pick Up--for all K-4 students at your child's "home" building, 3:00 - 4:00
• January 18th: School closed in observance of Martin Luther King holiday

Middle School Yearbooks

CMS

Click here to place your order! Yearbooks are currently $25, but the price will increase to $30 on February 1st. Please email Mrs. Canterino at mcanterino@westgenesee.org if you have any questions.

WGMS

Click here to place your order for your 2020-2021 WGMS Yearbook! Yearbooks are currently $25, but the price will increase to $30 on January 1st. Order your Yearbook now through January 29th to be entered to win a $50 Visa Gift Card.

Middle School - High School 

• December 18th: End of 15 weeks
• December 21st: Monday/Tuesday cohort--synchronous classes on Monday only and asynchronous on Tuesday 
• December 22nd: Thursday/Friday cohort--synchronous classes on Tuesday and asynchronous on Monday
• December 23rd: asynchronous/office hours for all students
• December 24th - January 3rd: Holiday Recess
• December 28th: 15 week progress report will be available for viewing in SchoolTool (directions are posted in SchoolTool for your convenience)
• January 4th: School Reopens
• January 18th: School closed in observance of Martin Luther King holiday
• January 29th: Grades close for 2nd marking period

---

Learning With Chromebooks: Google Drive--Finding Your Files

If your Google Drive is anything like mine, it can be overwhelming to locate files. Think of "My Drive" as the place where all of your files and folders are located. To help access content easily, you can add a "star" to a file or folder--think of a star as a bookmark. You can also search Google Drive and filter your search based on a variety of criteria. In the video tutorials below, you will learn how to 

• Move files and folders within My Drive 
• "Star" a file or folder
• Search Drive to locate your files quickly.

Google Drive: Move File or Folder

Google Drive: Add to Starred

Google Drive: Search Drive

Common Sense Media: Information for Families

Hello, Team Remote Families! This week's blog diverges from my traditional communique about the goings-on for Team Remote to include some resources for families that pertain to students' digital well-being from a trusted source--Common Sense Media.

Common Sense Media

When I was a kid, I remember sitting in front of the TV with my family watching '70s classics like the Muppet Show, Sonny and Cher, and the Gong Show. Flash forward to today and family time in front of the TV is so much different! My own kids couldn't care less about what is on cable TV--they have access to all the media they can handle on their phones, diving down the rabbit hole on TikTok and YouTube for hours on end. 

Even before the pandemic, today's young people have been immersed in the world of digital media for better or worse. One of the resources I rely on to assess the impact of digital technology on students is Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization that provides education and advocacy to families to promote safe technology and media for children. 

It is the mission of Common Sense Research to provide parents, educators, health organizations, and policymakers with reliable, independent data on children's use of media and technology and the impact it has on their physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development.

Their Research Program was recently updated to include some data-driven insights into families' and educators' experiences with media and technology. Although this information isn't necessarily related to WG's Remote Learning modality, I thought you might find it insightful to review some of their most recent research. One thing I learned--some of the most commonly mentioned personalities teens say they trust for news on social media or YouTube include PewDiePie and Beyonce rather than their local news media! 

• The Common Sense Census: Media Use by Kids Age Zero to Eight, 2020
• Children, Executive Functioning, and Digital Media, A Review, 2020
• CSM/Survey Monkey Poll: Teens Don't Like Online Learning but Still Prefer to Play it Safe, September 2020
• Tweens, Teens, Tech, and Mental Health: Coming of Age in an Increasingly Digital, Uncertain, and Unequal World, July 2020
• CSM/Survey Monkey Poll: How Teens are Coping and Connecting in the Time of Coronavirus, April 2020
• Teens and the News: The Influencers, Celebrities, and Platforms they say Matter Most, 2020

Click here for more of Common Sense Media's research articles. Note: You may be asked to create a free basic account on Common Sense's website to review the full reports. You might also be interested in Common Sense's "Parents Need to Know" pages with helpful information about digital applications that are popular with young people like Fortnite, Snapchat, TikTok and more. 

---