Mr. Z's Grade 4 Class – Remote Learning Update #3

Hello again! In light of the school closure now extending through May 4^th, we have developed new plans for supporting student learning remotely during this period. Please read this entire letter, since it has important instructions about how to get schoolwork for your child as we move forward. It is a long letter – my apologies in advance!

To get this new phase of learning off the ground, I need to provide every family with their student’s user name and password for the child’s school Google account. This will allow students to get in to our Google Classrooms. I am not allowed to send these passwords via email, so I need families to call me.

PARENT/CAREGIVER ACTION ITEM #1

Call Mr. Z at (413) 342-1490 to get your student Google user name and password. I will also provide a second user name and password that students will use to log in to their accounts on third-party educational websites, like Typing Club, ReadWorks and others.    

PARENT/CAREGIVER ACTION ITEM #2

Try to log in to Google Classroom on the device your student will use for school work using the Google user name and password I gave you. You should do a web search for “Google classroom sign in,” and then go to the top page in the search results list and log in there. More on how to log in below.

What Kind of Device to Use

The device a student uses should ­not be a Smart Phone. The ideal device will have a keyboard, like a desktop computer or laptop. Tablets like iPads will work, especially for just reading texts, but they are not nearly as good for typing, which the students will be doing.

**IMPORTANT** If your student does not have access to a computer with a keyboard, please let me know as soon as possible and we can probably get a Chromebook from the district delivered to you.      

What Web Browser to Use

The Google Chrome web browser provides the best user experience when working with Google Classroom and the other Google tools we will use (Docs, Forms, Drive, Slides, etc). It is also the browser your student uses at school on a Chromebook, so it will be familiar. However, I have tested visiting Google Classroom using the web browsers Firefox on a PC and Safari on various Apple devices. These all seem to work fine, but I can’t guarantee that all the features we may use will work as well on these other browsers as they might on Chrome. If you want to download Google Chrome to your student’s device so he or she can use that browser, it is available for free on the Internet. Also, I am attaching a letter to this message from our IT Teachers that provides directions for setting up the Chrome browser to deliver the best user experience to your student, just like at school. 

THANK YOU for reading this far! Here are some other quick tidbits to inform you about plans for schoolwork going forward.

QUICK TIDBITS ABOUT PLANS FOR SCHOOLWORK GOING FORWARD

* Starting on Monday you will get a weekly email from me that provides an overview of and links to the work available for your student for that week. This work will be available via the Google Classroom you will (hopefully) access after getting this message.

* Remember that this work I provide is not required, will not need to be turned in to me, and will not affect your child’s report card. These activities are suggestions to keep your child’s skills sharp and the learning going during this school closure period. Please do what you can, when you can, but PLEASE don’t stress you or your child out if this feels like too much. Do what’s right for you and your family!

* I will “share” a unique Google Doc titled “Talk with Mr. Z” with every student in the class. (Your child will know what I am talking about when I say it is “shared” by me and them.) This Doc will serve as a sort of private chat room between your student and myself for school-related discussions (or for just catching up – I really miss your kids!). Please feel free yourself to look at the Doc at any time.

* Families with students who work with Ms. Foley will receive additional instructions for supporting learning remotely.   

      

WAYS TO CONTACT MR. Z

You can reach me at my new phone line (413) 342-1490. You can also email me at jzyskowski@northampton-k12.us