 On September 8, third grade teacher Ali Resch's classroom was set and ready for the first day of virtual learning!
A Note from Mr. Gates
What an amazing first week of learning at Hollin Meadows! In spite of all the challenges with virtual learning, by the end of the week, our attendance rate exceeded 95%! We continue to work with families to resolve technology issues and ensure all students are able to log on every day. Thank you for your patience, understanding, flexibility and feedback as we work to make virtual learning a successful experience for everyone.
As always, please contact me with your questions, concerns and suggestions - jmgates@fcps.edu
Sincerely,
Jon Gates, Principal
Mondays
Live instruction on Mondays will consist of morning meeting and small group instruction. To begin the day, please have your child log-on by 8:30 a.m. for attendance and morning meeting. At the end of morning meeting, teachers will provide independent tasks & activities for students to work on for the remainder of the day. Monday classwork will be posted in your child's Google Classroom. Throughout the morning, students will return to work in 30 minute small group sessions. You should have been contacted about the time your child is scheduled.
Since this is our first Monday assigning independent work, we are still working to figure out the "just right" amount. If you see your child getting frustrated, please don't hesitate to step in and make adjustments. Our teachers are relying on your feedback on how clear the directions were, the difficulty of the work, amount of screen time, etc. Please don't hesitate to share. Again, thank you for all your hard work!
Meet the Specialists
Hollin Meadows has an amazing group of teachers who work with your students in art, music, physical education, band, strings, library and Chinese! Click on the following link to meet them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeEItGUZifA
Back to School Night
Mark your calendars - our annual Back to School Night will be held virtually this year on Thursday, September 24 from 6:30 - 8 p.m. Additional information about BTSN will be shared next week.
Beginning of the Year Assessments
In the next few weeks your child will be taking a variety of assessments across content areas. The purpose of these assessments is to determine students’ areas of strength and growth. This data will help drive the teacher's instruction and enable differentiation to best support your child this school year. These assessments will not be graded. To ensure equity, these assessments should be completed independently by the student. Below are a few suggestions on ways to encourage your student, rather than help, while they take assessments in the virtual environment.
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Remind your student that the assessment is not graded and will be used by their teacher to help them learn this school year. It is okay if they do not know the answer to a question as it will tell the teacher that they need help to learn that concept.
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Examples of How You Can Encourage Students During Test Taking
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Please Avoid Using These Ideas While Students Take a Test
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- I noticed you are working hard on this question, keep it up
- Go back and read the question carefully
- Try your best
- Take your time, if you need a break get up a stretch
- Sound out the word, use the part you know
- Reread, think about what makes sense
- Don’t spend too much time on any one question
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- Providing the answer or hinting at the correct answer
- Giving the definition of a word
- Sounding out a word with a student
- Counting with a student
- Process of elimination with the student
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Parent Consent to Use Digital Resources
Our teachers will use a variety of digital resources to support student learning and promote communication and collaboration with students and families. Some of the digital resources your child may use this year will require your consent before they can be used. You can find our school’s list of the resources along with the parental consent form here.
Please contact our School Based Technology Specialist, Laurie Marichak, at lmarichak@fcps.edu or an administrator if you have questions about the digital resources we’ve chosen to use this year.
Required/Mandatory Forms
Electronic form submission by parents - FCPS 24/7 (Blackboard) accounts within the weCare@school (weCare) module. https://www.fcps.edu/resources/parent-communication-overview/wecareschool
Parent Resource Center Series
The FCPS Parent Resource Center is offering several webinars over the next few weeks which may be of interest to families. Below are the dates, topics, and registration information.
Friday, September 18:
FCPS Parent Resource Center Free Webinar: 10 Ways to Stop Power Struggles & Start Motivating Your Kids (10:00-11:30a.m. OR 6:30-8:30 p.m. - Register Here)
Thursday, September 24:
FCPS Parent Resource Center Free Webinar: Encouraging Positive Behaviors at Home Series - Setting the Stage for Good Behavior: Routines, Procedures, & Expectations (10:00 - 11:30 a.m. OR 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. - Register Here)
FCPS Cares
FCPS Cares is an opportunity for parents, staff, and community members to recognize FCPS employees for going above and beyond to help others and show they care. We invite you to submit your story so we can all acknowledge the good work of our Hollin Meadows staff members.
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