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    HIMS Instructional Best Practices

    Taking Attendance:

    Take attendance 2x per day: Once in the morning and again at the end of the scheduled live day.  Students may enter for part of the day, enter after a session begins, or only be able to enter live instruction part of the time. Students who attend in a live session would be considered present.

    When a student does not attend a live session, mark the student as pending (see below), and make contact with the student/family to verify attendance.

    Verifying attendance:

    1. Make multiple (at least 3) attempts to contact the student or family through various modalities (phone, email, etc.)
    2. Inquire and explore how the student was engaged in or attending to a learning activity for the day, and what supports are needed for the student to participate.
    3. Develop a plan of support to ensure the child is connected, has access to materials if unable to join live sessions, and knows how to find Schoology work, videos, etc.
    4. Use ’family connection time’ in your schedule to make these contacts.
    5. If unable to verify attendance within 24 school-day hours, contact your attendance specialist and your school principal for support.

    In Power Teacher:

    For each student, enter one of the following in the attendance box:

    • A - Absent if you know they are not participating
    • N - Nothing (leave blank) if you know they are participating
    • P - Pendidng if you are unsure which one to enter; then verify attendance (see above) and update the record within 48 hours.

    Admin Note about Attendance:

    • We want to have a positive attendance system vs. punitive.
    • The goal is to bring our students in and keep them engaged in the school community.
    • Positive attendance will include, but is not limited to, live instruction, completion or participation with asynchronous activities, and any 1 to 1 or small group check ins or communications Use of Live Attendance, Schoology Analytics, Email/ Phone conversation and Schoology submissions are all useful tools for gathering attendance data.

      

    Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
    Synchronous Best Practices:

    Before the Live Session

    • Post a weekly general agena
    • Create your meeting link with the naming convention:
      • "Teacher Last Name, Class Period, Live Class"

    During the Live Session

    • Do not start the live class right away, give students a few minutes to get logged on. When students sign into your class, have a slide open with one or more of the following
      • A "Do Now"
      • A Learning Objective for the session
      • A List of things students will need to have open or in front of them for the lesson
      • A fun fact or community builder
      • Consider having music when students log in o the meeting and giving students choice in the music
    • Please do not police how a student shows up to class:
      • For example, we will not require students to turn on their camera, dress a certain way, or do the meeting from a specific place in their home. View this infographic for more details and guidance.
    • If students are leaving to do some individual or group work and then returning to the whole group live session, have clear expectations around timing.
      • Consider leaving your meeting link open if students go off to do activities in case they need to return with questions.
    • Prioritize activities that allow for students to engage in student discourse and sense making
      • We encourage the use of breakout rooms and smaller groupings so students can have authentic connection
    • Do not deliver more than 20 minutes of direct teaching instruction 

    Ending the Live Session

    • End the live session with an optimistic closure and a clear outline of their tasks
    • Have a "To Do" slide at the end with the activities students should complete in their asynchronous time and show them how to do this and where to submit
    • Students should have an opportunity to do any work and community builders or SEL activities presented synchronously in another way
      • For example, if a student is absent from class there is a suggested activity/make up that can be completed
        • If you need to record a portion of your live lesson you could ask students to turn off their videos so they will not be shown in the recording
      • Create an updated that explains what a student could do if they missed synchronous time and post at the end of the period

    Example Synchronous Lesson:

    This is just an example. It will be different for different classes, but notice that student interaction and relationship building is prioritized as the main portion of this time.

    9:00am-9:05am: Soft Open - "Entry" Slide is up with something for students to do or write in the chat. Music is playing and you are welcoming students
    9:05am-9:15am: SEL Check In Activity
    9:15am-9:25am: Any of the following: Highlighting student work from asynchronous time, recapping last live lesson, grounding in Today's lesson, explaining tasks/modeling
    9:25am-9:45am: Breakout rooms, individual work time
    9:45am-9:50am: Share out, Optimistic closure, Asynchronous activity assigning

     

    Asynchronous Best Practices

    There are many ways that asynchronous time can be used:

    • Clearly post the asynchronous activity instructions in the calendar, in a folder or as an update- make it predictable and clear where you will be posting and show students the activity in the live session
    • Maintain availability during this time and have clear procedures for how students can contact you
      • Will they email you through Schoology or Outlook email?
    • Schedule 1:1 or small group for students with IEP/ 504/ ELL/ Academic Enrichment and AVID and other students that have been identified as needing Tier 2 support from your ongoing assessments. Be sure to coordinate with case managers to see if they will be supporting the small group or you will be.
    • Schedule 1:1 or small group time for differentiation
    • Asynchronous work should be able to be completed during the allocated 50-minute asynchronous time. There should be no “homework” on top of this time.
    • Be creative with what ways students can show their learning. Learning output should not all be written.
      • Record a video or narration/ audio file to show evidence of thinking and learning
      • Use of draw or dictation tools

    Wednesday

    Advisory:

    • For the first few weeks, consider taking the first or last five minutes of your advisory to give students a moment to view their calendar for Wednesday and ask any questions about their asynchronous tasks if needed
    •  Follow the Character Strong calendar Bethany emailed out

    Small Groups:

    • Purpose: Small groups with students that need tier 2 support based on your ongoing assessments
      • We recommend looking at student work/ listening to their work/convos on Thursday/ Friday and decide with whom you want to check in with on Wednesday
    • If you plan to meet with a student in a small group on Wednesday, share this on M/T in live class time
    • Clearly post the small group schedule on your page in a predictable space
    • Create a calendar invite for small groups and in description write who is meeting in the small group
    • Only use time that is allotted for your period to decrease overlap

    Asynchronous Activity:

    • Build time in on Monday/ Tuesday to go over the asynchronous work that will be given on Wednesday
      • Where to find it, how to do it and where to submit it
    • Make a calendar invite for asynchronous work or an assignment calendar invite with description of activity students should be working on
    • This is not the time to introduce something new: the asynchronous work should be focused on further practice of M/T curriculum or an SEL activity.
    • Make the asynchronous activity
      • Fitting of the time constraint (30 mins)
      • Relevant
      • Clearly posted
      • Easy to find
      • Predictable
    • Some suggested activities
      • A Forms Survey
      • Discussion Board
      • An exit ticket activity to review work from M/T
      • Extra practice
      • Reading
      • SEL activity

     

    Digital Citizenship for Students:

    Work with students to establish what digital citizenship looks like in your classroom and clearly post it as a community agreement on a slide or on your page. Here are some examples of things to discuss:

    1. When to mute
    2. What is considered appropriate language/images
    3. Comfort level with camera
    4. Use of the chat: When and how can they write in it, what should it be used for
    5. When to use school technology vs. personal technology
    6. Changing name, background, etc.

     

    Teaching Students Tech:

    We will teach students technology ”modules” in different periods on 9/14-9/18, with action items for them to practice during asynchronous time. Extra support will be provided during tech office hours on 9/16. The modules will be available in a tech folder to be posted to your Schoology page.

    1. Schoology
      1. Calendar/events
      2. Where to find feedback
      3. Where/what they should check daily
      4. How to submit
    2. Teams
      1. how to add their pic for when their camera is off
      2. view options,
      3. hand raising, screen share, mute, chat, how to turn off banner notifications/sound
    3. Digital Citizenship Best Practices
      1. Changing Name
      2. Digital Footprint
      3. Being Safe Online
    4. Microsoft Outlook
      1. Accessing email
      2. Sending an email
      3. Checking email
      4. Creating folders
      5. Setting up notifications
    5. Using a Planner
      1. Digital Planner through Outlook or Schoology Calendar
      2. Physical Digital Planner
    6. Office 365 + Organizing Computer
      1. Creating folders
      2. Bookmarking/ Favoriting Websites
      3. Using PowerPoint and Word
      4. Sharing Work
      5. Saving Work

    Resources will be provided to support each period in their “tech module”. There will also be community builders at the start of each period.