Students,
The semester may be over but you were never given the chance for closure nor an opportunity to make sense of the world around you so posting one more time. For this, I am messaging to lend you all my love and support however I can. Between watching a pandemic unfold in real time, having your semester cancelled, witnessing the underbelly of racial injustice and protest unfolding around you, some of you having family members and loved ones lost or sick, being uncertain of what next semester will bring, and whatever else you may be privately processing -all while developing your identity in your teenage years- I do not need to ask to know that there is a lot of pain and hurt and fear. I do not have all the answers for you (and I have no interest in telling you how to feel because whatever you are feeling is valid and you have the right to feel that way... I'll say it one more time for the people in the back: WHATEVER YOU ARE FEELING IS VALID!) but I want to offer you whatever support I can and my heart and ear to give you a voice and a place to process the world around you. Please please please reach out to me for anything. I am more than happy to be here for you as a teacher and someone who loves and supports you. Best, Mr. B
0 Comments
Grades are in and the semester is officially over! Email me if your stressing out about not being able to see your grade and I'll let you know.
Thank you all for being a part of my class this semester. It didn't play out the way anyone hoped and I really wish we could've finished all the projects and other weirdness y'all had gotten started this semester, but mother nature had other plans. Regardless, I'm very happy for the time we had at the beginning of the semester as well as how we kept putting one foot in front of the other and kept moving forward. To me, this semester was a reminder that often times the most important learning in a school has nothing to do with the content learned, but the intangible skills that are needed to have a happy, successful and meaningful life. For this semester, that skill learned was how to deal with adversity and uncertainty. Whatever your challenges and struggles have been these past months (and beyond), take solace in the knowledge that you will grow stronger from this and better able to overcome your next obstacle. For those curious about parts of the classroom they may have missed:
Thank you all again for taking the time to participate in my class however you did so. And I hope it goes without saying, but I would love to have all of you back in my class again in the future (Foundations -> Concepts -> Applications -> R&D) or even for you to stay in touch, whether that is stopping by the class or reaching out whenever you'd like. Until then, stay safe and keep on hanging in there. Just giving a one week warning on final grades! The assignments you see in Synergy now are all the assignments that are going to appear until the end of the semester. This includes the SMART goal and response for this week as well as the final learning reflection. Additionally, there will be no final exam (consider that percentage in the grade book effectively exempted). But regardless, here is the final exam schedule for all of your classes incase you missed it:
For all Seniors, grades are due TOMORROW, May 12th! I think you are all set, but reach out to me with any last second concerns and I'll work with you. I'll try to get in touch with you all because I feel like I missed out of sending you my parting love, but I do want to say I have been thinking of you each every day and it meant the world to me to see some of you at the drive-by-graduation. For all non-Seniors, grades are due on May 18th (next Monday), and I am perfectly happy entering grades or any remediated assignments up to that date. It is my goal for everyone to be happy with their grade this semester so it is not a distraction from more important things (such as your health, your mental well-being, and your excitement to learn to name a few...) so I am more than happy to stay flexible in accommodating to whatever your concern or need is. You just have to reach out to me and let me know! I'll follow up here next week with a 100% voluntary survey and to send my farewells, but in the meantime, I hope you and your families are staying safe and that you're finding some sort of direction or meaning in these unusual times. Hey all you cool cats and kittens! It's been a minute since the last post, so hope all is well. Just giving an update on the last few assignments for this class. The only remaining assignments for this semester (which are all put in synergy now) are:
There is no final exam, so consider those points in the gradebook exempted. And of course, the 5 grades above ^ will still only be entered in the gradebook if they help your overall grade. The learning reflection format and grading will be the same as previously so I won't go into detail on it (but please ask if you are uncertain), but here are the resources you need to get it done:
Lastly, as there are now less than three weeks until school is officially over, if you have any grade concerns make sure to reach out to me. Even if you have been AWOL for awhile I am more than happy to be flexible and work with you to make sure you are happy with the ending of the semester. Starting this week I am adding assignments in the gradebook. Currently in Synergy, you will notice an assignment for the SMART Goal for today, the SMART Goal response at the end of the week, and learning plan. Submit any one these and you get the credit for it, don't submit one and it will stay blank. This is true for if you complete some or all of the assignments.
In case you have missed the memo up to this point on what a learning plan is (this same info has been on the resources page all year in case you didn't know), it is a way to track more long-term projects or learning which you individually are working on (as opposed to the SMART goals which are tracking work for each week). And for reference, plan on the learning plan encompassing what you plan on learning for the remainder of the semester, which is just shy of one month. I have a template below which you can fill out and submit and on this I break down your learning goal into three categories:
To complete the learning plan:
Scheduling Check Ins Lastly, I'd like to add another reminder about scheduling a check in where we briefly discuss the following:
Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope you got the chance to travel far and wide and it was full of adventure...just kidding, I know we have all been cooped up inside and doing our part to curb the spread of infection. I hope you have been able to make the best of these circumstances and have been able to get some needed relaxation and above all else staying healthy :). Here's what we need to hit the ground running for this last stretch of online education:
Scheduling Check Ins If you didn't see it and are concerned about grades, read the previous blog post first. What I would like to do this week before entering SECTION 3™ of this course, I would like to check in with everyone to make sure you're good to go to have a successful remainder of the semester, whatever that means for you. I'll be doing this over zoom, slack or phone, whatever your preference and it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. The topics to discuss are:
***WHAT I NEED FROM YOU*** to schedule a time for me to connect with you on the link here: /marsberwanger.youcanbook.me/ The options are to schedule a one-on-one zoom meeting time (preferred), Slack call, phone call, just join one of my office hour times (just be patient if there is a large number of other students), or we can keep it text over slack. Whatever your preference, it shouldn't take more than 5 minutes, but I'm scheduling them on 15 minute increments to give some wiggle room. If your preference is to just log on to my office hours that is fine as well and you don't even need to fill out the link above, just see my office hour times at the bottom of this post. Portfolio Learning Reflections Aside from SMART Goals on Monday and response on Thursday (or Friday if you prefer), the last grade in section 2 will be a learning reflection (if you don't know what I mean by section 2, then please read the blog post below). If you do not do this assignment, it will not count against you, and especially because I anticipate this first week back may get hectic for some of you, please do not stress about this too much as I would prefer you to be ready to go next week than to get frustrated on completing this more tedious 100% voluntary assignment. If you do complete it, however, it will count as grade replacement for a summative grade weighted at 50 points (again, see the post below if you are curious how this works). I digress, here is the assignment: 1. Download and fill in the following document: learningplan_reflectiontemplate.docx
Office Hour Info Monday & Wednesday:
https://zoom.us/j/131605025?pwd=VHdIUVEyakRlVlFBUUFYVlVxZm82UT09 Meeting ID: 131 605 025 Password: felicia In case you missed the excitement, the school sent out information about our policy on grades in light of the building's closure for the remainder of the semester. I'm not going to repeat it all because I trust your reading skills and it is rather long, but I will link it HERE
The key takeaway for many of you is that March 13th date. If you are looking at your gradebook now, I guarantee that there is no way your grade can go down. I'll say it again: YOUR GRADE CAN NOT GO DOWN NOR WILL I PENALIZE YOU FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO COMPLETE WORK. Sorry for the all caps, that was a little aggressive on my part :). I understand that for many of you this transition to online school has been challenging, that perhaps your home has not had the same resources conducive to a successful distance-learning environment, or maybe you have to or will have to take care of someone who is sick; above all, I understand that this is a trying time for our community as a whole and it is important for us all to remember that there are more important things than grades and so I promise if grades are in any way impeding with your well-being I will do everything in my power to make sure that is not the case. With all of that said, I am a teacher because I believe in the importance of learning (and learning how to learn) and because I genuinely love being a part of your growth and so I am going to keep doing whatever I can to do so. Personally, I've always wished I could teach without grades so this does not rock my world. However, I understand that you probably have some grade worry, so let me outline precisely what my grade plan is for this class below and outline the three distinct Sections(™) Grades for Engineering I am viewing the semester-long breakdown of grades for this class into three sections: the first section being when we were in school (1/6-3/13), the second section being this limbo period when no grades have been/will be recorded (3/16-4/17), and the last section when this updated policy will be implemented and grades can be entered (4/20-5/20). I hope this clears questions up, but if not then don't start sweating bullets; I plan to speak with everyone individually (more on this later) before I take any action in the gradebook. Gradebook Section 1: When all was normal (January 6th-March 13th)
Gradebook Section 2: When all was confusion (March 16th-April 17th)
Gradebook Section 3: When we got closure and began acceptance (April 20th-May 20th)
Final notes on Grading Sorry I just made you read an essay! I hope it adds clarity at least as I know grading has been a big uncertainty in your lives. I will be putting out information in the next few days about getting to meet with you (remotely of course!) individually to check in and to clear up any confusions to prepare you for success. Until then, remember to take care of yourself and those around you and know that I'm missing and thinking of you all :) If you missed the news, Governor Kemp announced that schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year. What this means for grades and how this effects distance learning are to be determined, but I will be sure to keep any info I hear of posted both here and in Slack. There are a couple things which it doesn't mean, however, and which will still be true:
For this class specifically, nothing is changing for this week and the week after break (continuing individual learning and posting SMART goals and responses on Monday/Friday, and having a learning reflection which after the break which I will speak more about then). And in light of the fact that many of you will understandably have questions, concerns or just want to check in, I will hold office hours tomorrow for the times listed below. 10:00-10:30 12:00-12:30 1:30-2:00 https://zoom.us/j/131605025?pwd=VHdIUVEyakRlVlFBUUFYVlVxZm82UT09 Meeting ID: 131 605 025 Password: felicia Keep hanging in there for now and know that I am thinking of all of you <3 This week I'm going to start having office hours where I am already online and available for any questions anyone has. This is not a mandatory class attendance nor is it a lecture. I'm staying steadfast to my promise to not give you busy work, and I believe for this class where everyone is doing different work it would not be worth everyone's time to dedicate an additional four hours a week for an online lecture. The intention for this is just to be more accessible without you having to set up a definite time to speak with me or write your questions down in an email. And of course, I am still available outside of these times as well :)
With that said, I will be online in Zoom this week at the times listed below. You don't have to wait till your official class time (see the post below if you're don't know what I'm talking about when I say class times- in short Wheeler teachers are coordinating when/if video meetings will occur for each class block starting this week), it makes no difference to me. And, I can be available beyond the 40 minute time-frame if the time is needed, I'm just not anticipating this being wanted.
https://zoom.us/j/131605025?pwd=VHdIUVEyakRlVlFBUUFYVlVxZm82UT09 Meeting ID: 131 605 025 Password: felicia In case you missed the memo, all public schools in Georgia will be closed until at least April 24th (that's three school weeks from now for those of you counting). Additionally, for the sake of maintaining consistency between classes and to keep y'all from getting your schedules stretched thin, what Wheeler is doing now is for any scheduled face-to-face/zoom session to fall into the following, Monday-Thursday.
9:00 – 10:00 First Block 10:30 - 11:30 Second Block 12:00 - 1:00 Third Block 1:30- 2:30 Fourth Block I was planning on starting to have office hours starting this week where I will be available on zoom for any questions, and I will still do this and just schedule it to fall into the times above. I'll post more details about this Sunday. Additionally, Friday is now being reserved for students to catch up on work, communication between students and teachers to get on track, and teacher collaboration. As I am not assigning any specific assignments on Friday this isn't particularly relevant to our class other than I am 100% fine with you not turning in your SMART Goal responses in Slack on Friday, but instead submitting them the Thursday before or any day up to the Monday after (or later, I'm stressed about it). I will remain fully flexible on any and all deadlines while we are adjusting. Lastly I wanted to give you a reminder of the *tentative* schedule for this class that I posted when we still went to school (those we're the days!). I'm moving the learning reflection until after Spring Break because I feel like it's been a little rushed for many of you, and I feel like a full-blown portfolio check wouldn't really be relevant for the circumstances so I'm removing that. Instead, I'm saying to pick one or the other IF you want to remediate any past summative grade. And I'd also like to give one last reminder to not stress too much over these dates and assignments, they aren't grades and they can only be remediation; the intention is to keep you engaged in learning and school and not to overwhelm you with assignments.
|
Archives
June 2020
Categories |