Last Week of April 2020

Hello families. I want to start this blog post by thanking each and everyone of you. Here we are, basically 5 weeks since we have been out of the school building. You all have been busy doing so much. Working - many as essential workers, many from home. Wherever you have worked from you have found ways to step in and take on the role as educator to continue your child's education in whatever form works best for your family in this crazy time. It has been challenging and I recognize that, and I want to say thank you to all of you for what you are doing. You have all been on my mind. I do not know what this time has looked like for all of you, I know it has looked different for each and every family. I think about you all constantly. Not just the students, but you parents as well. I cannot tell you how much I worry for those of you who are essential workers. I want you to know I am beyond grateful for what you do, and wanted to take some time to express that to you here. Thank you! You all are rock stars, and appreciated beyond measure.

 

Here is what I want to update you on as far as learning goes. I will be adding a weekly spelling list and the little stories that go with the spelling sounds to my At Home Learning link on my staff page. This should be done by midday Monday. This will be the spelling list and the matching stories that went home weekly in the homework packet. This is optional, not at all required. I thought it might be something that is familiar and in line with what we would be normally working on if we were in school. If you want to do the spelling you may print it, or simply write the words out on a separate piece of paper. You could also find some fun ideas on my staff page as well. Visit it on the link here. Ms. Shaw's Staff Page. Also, do not forget all district grade level learning can be found on the hub which you can access through this link. DistrictDigitalHub. 

You do not have to turn in any work to me at all. This is because I have made the decision not to collect and grade any material. I will simply be rolling over grades from 3rd quarter. In math any new learning would have been in new content areas we had yet to learn, and those will simply still be X's on the report cards. In science and social studies, those grades would have been affected by new standards being taught in class, and now we cannot do that, so those will be rolled over. If you have any questions or concerns about this, please feel free to contact me at ashaw@fusd1.org and I will be more than willing to discuss this further. I do want to put out there that if you have any desire to modify your child's learning a bit more, feel free to reach out to me and we can work together to see what we can do this last month or so of school.

Is there anything else I can do for you and our students at this time? Please reach out and let me know. I am still here for you. Please say hello to our kiddos! Read them a story for me, and give them a big squeeze! Stay healthy, stay positive, stay home! 💚-Ms. Shaw

GrabAndGo Meal Updates April 20, 2020

Happy Earth Day. We have some updates to our Grab and Go Food Services, so I wanted to update for all those who are participating in this program.

Friday services will now include weekend meal dispursements, meaning when you pick up Friday's breakfast and lunch you will also be given additional breakfasts and lunches for the weekend. 

There will be changes to the mobile food services. They will be reduced to Monday, Wednesday, and Friday distribution. On Monday they will give food for Tuesday, on Wednesday they will pass out food for Thursday, and on Friday they will serve meals for the weekend as well, so you will still be able to pick up enough meals for the week through the meal sites. 

There will also be a new mobile route for the Knoles and Sinagua area. These sights and times will be:

• 1001 N 4th St. (8:30 am-9:00 am)

• 2701 E. Industrial Dr.  (9:02 am-9:35 am)

The Coconino High School meal site location has been closed at this time, but you may attend any of the other sites to grab a meal. If you were going to Coconino for your meals, you are encouraged to go to Killip now, they are the closest to Coconino.

For more information regarding the Grab and Go meals please click on the following link. grabandgo.

If you have any questions regarding meals, distance learning, or anything else please feel free to reach out at anytime (ashaw@fusd1.org). Remember - stay healthy, stay positive, stay home! 💚 - Ms. Shaw

Easter Weekend Updates

Happy Easter to all those who celebrate. Although the day was different than past celebrations, we still felt ways to reach out to loved ones and make the day special for each other. I hope the same happened in your households. Finding a new temporary normal it seems. Kind of like this blog. It is so different updating you all on the distance learning instead of what is happening in our room. Here is your update no matter....

Distance Learning: Phase 2 of our distance Learning began last week. If you missed my explanation of Phase 2 you can catch up by reading last weeks blog by clicking on this link here (Phase 2 Distance Learning Link). The one thing I wanted to clarify is that the lessons will be updated every week, for a new week of learning. They will be updated by the weekend for the following week. With that being said, this weeks plans are already posted on the HUB.

The other thing I want to make clear is that you do not have to feel obligated to complete these lessons. You are free to pick and choose what suits you and your child's needs for the week. Teaching your child from home (possibly more than one) in the middle of a worldwide pandemic is A LOT! We want to urge you that your top priority is the health and safety of you and your family. You are not under any pressure to complete any of this! If you were to do one thing every day with your kid, read a book. That would be enough. This is where we are....

This is exactly where we should be. It looks different than what we are used to school looking like, but this is not traditional school right now. Allow you and your student all sorts of grace! 

Wi-Fi Access: Here is something cool, for those of you who would like to access the lessons via the HUB but need wireless access FUSD has now made wi-fi accessible at their sights in the bus lanes and parking areas in front of their buildings. These areas can be used to access FUSD-LEARN wireless network and content will be filtered to ensure it is being used for educational purposes only. If you choose to use these area to access the HUB or other content assigned by your child's teacher you MUST comply with social distancing practices! This is not an opportunity for students to visit and hang out with each other, they must remain within social distance guidelines. 

Grab and Go Food Services:  DeMiguel Elementary School is being added to the list of locations where you can pick up breakfast and lunch for your youth. For more information you can click on the link (grabandgo).

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and made some unique and amazing memories! Stay healthy, stay positive, stay home. 💜-Ms. Shaw

Remote Learning Phase 2 April 5, 2020

Hello families. We will begin our Phase 2 of remote learning this week. Phase 2 is also accessible via the FUSD Digital Learning Hub. You can access the Hub via this link here (FUSD DIGITAL LEARNING HUB), or you may visit the district website and access it through there (District Home Page). When you are in the Hub you will see a list of grade levels on the right hand side of the screen. You may pick your child's grade level and you will get a set of lesson plans for the week. Lessons will be for all 4 content areas (math, reading, science, and social studies) as well as specials (art, music, and PE). There are also links for Bilingual/English Language Learners as well as our Specialized Education Program. Please do not feel overwhelmed by this. Just click on the link that you feel best suits your child's needs and that will be what your child will work on for the week

As you look at the lesson plans please keep in mind that they are written for a weeks worth of plans. You are not expected to do everything in one day. Pick and choose what you will do when. This is at your pace. Also keep in mind that you do not have to do everything! Your most important job is still to focus on staying healthy and finding your balance while your family is at home. If you do not finish everything that is in that weeks lesson, that is perfectly fine! You decide what is best for your family EVERY SINGLE DAY! We are simply providing the lessons to be used at your discretion. Give yourselves grace, this cannot look like regular school. It is not. It is emergency remote teaching and learning. 

Most of you have reached out and said you have access to internet and devices. Hopefully the online Hub works for you. If for some reason you experience any kind of troubles, please let me know. If this method does not work for you and you will need paper packets mailed to you, please let me know. If we do send paper packets to anyone upon request, they will not be returned to the school, the district, or myself. They will remain at home upon completion.

As far as grading goes, this is where we stand. All FUSD students will only be able to receive the grade they earned at the end of 3rd quarter for any standard, with the opportunity to do work to higher that grade. They will not be able to earn any mark lower than that 3rd quarter grade at the end of the semester. As of this week I am not going to ask for the work from the HUB be turned into me via email or any other way. Honestly, I am still trying to figure out how this will work for first graders and what I will even want to assess. When I figure this out (hopefully by the end of week) I will let you know how it will work. Thank you all for your patience.

If you have any questions about any of this please reach out and ask. I might know the answer and did not think of putting that information here. If I do not know I will 100% reach out to Principal Reasor and find out for you. 

If your kiddos need anything please reach out and let me know. I miss them everyday! Please tell them The Queen says "Hello" - they will understand what this means, and hopefully it will make them laugh. It has been our inside joke this year, courtesy of Liliana. Let them know I am hugging them super tight, and give them a big squeeze for me so they can feel it! Let them know I love them dearly! -Ms. Shaw