What does all virtual mean for students at West Liberty High School?
Most classes will all be on Google Classroom. Their teachers will post content including assignments, lectures and discussions that students will participate in. The majority of the classes is considered asynchronous learning, meaning that students are not logging on at the same time as their peers and teachers to learn together. Most assignments are done on their own time, but within the deadlines and due dates teachers have set.
Are there parts of classes that are mandatory attendance at a certain time with attendance taken?
There are a few teachers that will have a weekly check in with students, either individually or as a class. Students will be notified via email or Google Classroom.
How can parents follow courses and schedules?
Google Guardian Email Updates - weekly summary email with missing assignments, upcoming assignments and activities for each class. A teacher has to invite you, after you accept for that class, then you will receive the summary for the rest of your child’s classes as well. (In the link there is a comment about whether your school has G suite- we do.)
Teachers will have trainings on Sept 16 and 23 on how google can communicate with Infinite campus, so hopefully there will be advancements in the notice of information for parents and avoiding double entry on the teachers standpoint as well.
Lastly, have your student log in and show you around their google classrooms. One EXCELLENT feature is that when teachers post a due date, it automatically includes it on their google calendar.
Do our students have an adviser or homeroom this year?
The students first period class (or first part of first period if they have two classes during the first block) is their adviser for the trimester. To reduce the amount of transitions in halls and contact with other students and teachers, we decided that having advisement with their first hour teacher would be the safest option. The teacher listed for their first hour class is their adviser and will be responsible for disbursing information that goes out via advisement. This will likely be done via email with virtual only students.
Are office hours set for each class and is that an appropriate way for parents to communicate with teachers or is it reserved for students?
We are going to put a document together that will include teachers office hours. When that is complete, I will include the link in this document as well as push it out in an email. As far as parents go, please email the teacher and ask for a specific time to meet, due to privacy laws for other students. You could email them during their office hours and if they are not meeting with a student at that time, they may still be able to meet with you during those office hours.
How do I help my child stay organized when all of this is so new?
Here is a short slide show with tips and links to other resources to help your child be a successful online learner.
Google tips for students
Email
Create folders in gmail to sort mail and notifications. Create a folder for each class to help sort emails that way.
If you get a lot of emails at once and are feeling overwhelmed. Check the email and write down in your planner or on a to do list what you need to do to complete the task. Then, go onto the next email. This allows you to get through emails and stay organized, but not feel like you have to get it all done at that moment.
Archive emails that you have read or completed and won’t need again for future reference.
Use your Google Calendar to keep track of due dates and your schedule. You can set up repeating events, for example, if you have practice every day you can add that in there with a start and end date.
If you have a thought like “I wish my email could do this for me…” Google it! You are likely not the first person to think that and someone may have already built an add-on for you to utilize.
Check out the library website. Ms. Butcher has put together resources from how to check out a book to using helpful google add-ons.. https://sites.google.com/wl.k12.ia.us/cometlibrary/home