I started reviewing students' efforts to date with regard to math, and many, many students have been engaging in a large amount of math practice and learning. I am so proud of these students and so grateful to their families for continuing to provide these practice opportunities to students. While some may believe math is a dry subject, the reality is that mathematical thinking underlies almost all we do and to understand math well is a real advantage in anything you do. If you look at every decision related to our response to coronavirus, you will find mathematics.
Since our students have chromebooks at home, it is easy for them to access multiple math practice sites. I can easily see evidence of their practice on my computer at home which guides the kind of coaching I can do for families. For example, yesterday I sent almost every family a note about their child's efforts to date with these math practice opportunities. For those who are doing less or no practice, I was able to reach out with opportunities to help and guide. With every note, I acknowledged the fact that I realize that every family is facing different challenges with regard to the coronavirus--I want to be sensitive to that.
Throughout the week, I'll review and respond to a large number of student learning efforts and plan more for the weeks to come. I expect that whether we return to school or not, the long term learning will include the following:
- a system-wide assessment to see how children are doing.
- more study and learning about fraction with as much hands-on, meaningful project work as possible.
- focus on completing either 5th grade Khan Academy or IXL--two practice sites that are worthy learning/practice for students
In addition to math, I'll support my colleagues in coaching students with a grade-level biography project. This is a signature project that students engage in every year and one way we can continue the positive teaching/learning in a somewhat similar fashion to what it would be like at school.
