Recent Announcements 2019-2020
Learn at Home Week 3
Learn At Home Week 3 Video Conferencing On Wednesday April 22nd at 3pm, we will try out our first video conference. This is purely voluntary and a chance for classmates to reconnect and say hi. It will only last for 10 to 15 minutes. We will be using Google Meets/Hangouts. If you are using a mobile device or tablet, students will need to download the Google Meets/Hangouts from the app store. If using a computer, the preferred browser is Google Chrome. Shortly before 3pm, there will be a link on the banner in Google Classroom (where it says our class name and there is an emoji of me) that will invite students to join our hangout. I will have more specific instructions on Wednesday but hopefully it will give students a chance to see their classmates and friends! Google Meets/Hangouts is a secure SCDSB approved method of video conferencing. Maple Grove House Teams and Points! Our Maple Grove House Teams have started up again! Every time a student wears their house colours (or house team shirts) when filming their Community Circle Flipgrid, they earn 10 points for their house teams! Current house team points are posted on map.scdsb.on.ca. Pixton Class Photo Our class comic photo is nearly complete! If your child hasn’t made their avatar in Pixton, please have them complete it at pixton.com as soon as convenient.  Best regards, P. Johnson |
Learning At Home Week 2
Learn At Home Week 2 Week 1 A huge thank-you to students and parents for trying out the activities in week 1! I thought students did an excellent job with their digital citizenship using Google Classroom (posting on topic, not spamming etc). It was especially nice to see all the wonderful “hello” messages on FLIPGRID (including the pets). I also appreciated students commenting on announcements or assignments when they needed extra help or clarification. Let’s build on those successes as we continue with our online learning community! Week 2 Week 2 will be building on activities from week 1. Each day will have a Literacy and Numeracy activity (except for Friday which will be devoted to Social Studies and Music). I try to provide choices with all of our assignments as well as choices as to how student’s show their learning. I continue to be very sensitive to the amount of work assigned (both as a teacher and a parent). I fully understand and appreciate this is a stressful time for families. If you can’t complete all of the assignments, that’s okay. Similarly, if you want extra work for your child, I have posted an “Extra” assignment for the week. Google Slides Students will need to have access to Google Slides. If your child is using a tablet, please download the Google Slides app. Social Studies and Music Ms. Potts continues to be our Music teacher and I would like to welcome Ms. Salerno as our new Social Studies teacher. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Best regards, P. Johnson |
Welcome Back!
Learn At Home Information Sheet Welcome Back Hello! Welcome back after an extended march break to our new ‘virtual classroom’. In this information sheet I will outline details about our new virtual learning environment. Goals This first week will be about 1- getting everyone set up and comfortable with our Google Classroom, 2- trying out some apps and websites we will be using in our learning and 3- building our virtual classroom community (we are going to take things slow to start). Google Classroom We will be using Google Classroom as our virtual learning environment. SCDSB (Simcoe County District School Board) chose this platform which is great news for us since our class has been using it since last September. Recently I sent everyone an email about how to access it, in case students have forgotten. Please make sure your child can login to Google Classroom (website on a computer or app on a device) using their school Google accounts (username@scdsb.on.ca) followed by their 4 digit password). They are used to logging into Google (or a Chromebook) but need to remember to add @scdsb.on.ca to their username. Breakdown of Google Classroom In Google Classroom there is the STREAM section which lists every posting in chronological order as well as the CLASSWORK tab, where work is collated and assigned. In CLASSWORK you will see LEARN AT HOME-WEEK 1. This is where I will post all of the proposed activities for each week. It is organized with an: OVERVIEW (what to expect from this week and what you need). There are also Youtube videos of the land acknowledgement and Oh Canada, which are items we used to use to start our school day. Students may like to have them as a way to start their at home learning, too. DAYS OF THE WEEK activities that are broken down from Monday to Friday, EXTRAS in case you want to add them in (such as music, movement breaks and extra practice). ASSIGNMENTS and FEEDBACK: During the week, sometimes your child will be asked to submit work. This will be done directly in Google Classroom and feedback on the work will also be given in Google Classroom (more information will follow next week about this). Devices I understand that access to devices can be a challenge when moving to online learning so quickly. I try to design activities to work on any device (computers, Chromebooks, tablets, phones) but we are sure to run into some difficulties along the way. Apps (tablets/phones) and Websites (computers) we will be using: Flipgrid: https://info.flipgrid.com/ -Flipgrid, endorsed by SCDSB, allows students to record their answers by recording a short video. The video is private and can only be seen by our class. Raz-Kids (see blog post below for more information): https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login?_ga=2.185357036.419713663.1586102294-636770089.1586102294 -Raz-Kids is an online Reading Program Pixton -A comic creator. It is all web based so no need to download an app. Works across devices. Cospaces (website as well as a phone and tablet app) -Students already have accounts (they login with their Google account information) -Creates virtual environments Apps we will likely use in the near future: -Google Slides -IXL (there is an app and website): https://ca.ixl.com/ -Nearpod (website and app) https://nearpod.com/ Videos I post in Google Classroom Videos I create are hosted by Google Drive. This means that only people who are logged into our classroom (using a SCDSB Google account) can see the videos. Occasionally I might post videos from Youtube. You may need to use another device to view them if Youtube is blocked. I might also repost Youtube videos to our class blog for easier access. Video Conferencing This is something we will work towards. The preferred SCDSB video conferencing tool is Google Hangout/Meets. Zoom is a popular tool right now however there are security/privacy concerns with their software. So if we do any video conferencing it will likely be with Google. Thank you Thank you for all that you are doing to support your family during this difficult time. I am here to help. If you have any questions about our new virtual classroom, please email me at pmjohnson@scdsb.on.ca |
March 25th: At Home Online Reading Program
During this break from the classroom, I have signed our class up for an online reading program at home. Each student has their own Raz-Kids reading account and is set to their approximate reading level. They are terrific books! To access: A computer or Chromebook: Go to https://www.kidsa-z.com/main/Login Enter your teachers name as follows: pmjohnson Have your child click on their name. Their password is the first 4 letters (all lower case) of their last name as it appears on the school's attendance. Please let me know if you have any difficulties (through Remind or my email which is located on this page). Best regards, P. Johnson |
Students Building Strong Structures out of Paper
Students were given up to 30 pieces of paper and tape. Their challenge was to build a structure that could support a pile of books.     |
Visualising a Story
Recently, I read the story "Fuzzyland" to students. This story is about a warm fuzzies (which symbolize appreciations and kindness) and cold pricklies (which symbolize put downs and negative feelings). It takes place in a fantasy land. Students were asked to visualize Fuzzyland and then afterwards, work in teams to try and draw a map of it. The results were amazing!   |
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