7th & 8th Grade Religion Class-Week of March 30th

Posted on Mar 29, 2020

Hello Parents and Students,

I hope everyone is healthy and adapting to our new norm of practicing social distancing and participating in virtual learning. It was so heartwarming to see so many of our Falcons last Friday as we drove down the streets of our neighborhood. Thanks to all for the enthusiastic greetings from your porches and curbs. We miss our Falcons!

We are now entering our third week of virtual learning  The Jr. High teachers have continued to communicate daily with eachother discussing the aspects of our virtual program that are working well, as well as those aspects of the program that may need to be changed to benefit both our students and parents.

Communication

Communication is such a vital component to the success of our students' education.  Our teachers are committed to making themselves available to both students and parents.  Please feel free to email Jr. High teachers during the school hours of 8:00 AM-3:00 PM and we will do our very best to respond to your questions and concerns in a timely manner.

In order to enhance our virtual learning, the Jr. High teachers will continue to communicate with our students using live virtual meetings on specified days of the school week, at designated times. The days and times of these meetings will be listed on each teacher's blog.

I will be hosting live Zoom meetings on Tuesdays and Fridays for my 7th & 8th Grade Religion classes at the following times:

1:00-1:15  7th Grade Religion

1:15-1:30  8th Grade Religion

***Links for these meetings will be posted to my Google Religion classrooms on Tuesday and Friday mornings.

Although students are not required to attend these meetings, students are encouraged to sign on with any questions or concerns they may have or just join in to say Hello!

 

***7th Grade Religion***

This week, we will continue on with our unit on the beliefs and practices of Judaism.  We will be covering Jewish worship in the synagogue and Jewish family life & customs.

***8th Grade Religion***

On Tuesday of this week, I will be reviewing chapter 10  "Working for Justice" with a video I will be filming and posting to my classroom stream. ***The test for chapter 10 is scheduled for Friday of this week.

***Important Note to Students and Parents:

This week, we will begin "Block Scheduling" with our virtual Jr. High curriculum,  This virtual program and its guidelines are described below:

Thank you for your patience and continued support as we continue to navigate the e-learning forum.  As Mrs. Nash mentioned in her Friday, March 27th video message, the junior high teachers are working diligently to present meaningful lessons to help students progress academically.  We feel strongly that our junior high students will be best suited following a block schedule. We believe that 2-3 hours of classwork each day is a realistic and manageable expectation for our junior high students.

 

Beginning Monday, March 30th, we will implement a block schedule.  Students can expect to receive assignments in their various subjects on the days listed below: 

*See Specials section below

 

 For example, all students should be checking their Math, Science, and Global Studies Google classroom streams for their assignments on Mondays and Wednesdays. 

 

Please know we are trying to provide our junior high students with a quality education by keeping them motivated, engaged, and accountable with our e-learning program.  We understand that every household faces its own challenges. If there are ever any extenuating circumstances (illness, internet interruptions, etc.) that may prevent our students from completing their assignments in a timely manner, please notify the homeroom teacher through email. Parents and teachers working together, maintaining effective communication, will surely enhance the success of our students' education during this challenging time.

 

GUIDELINES FOR STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS WITH E-LEARNING:

 

Teacher Blogs

The junior high teachers’ blogs, located on our SJF website, will reflect an overview of the subject matter being covered for that particular week.  Blogs should be checked weekly by parents and students for any other pertinent information or communications from our junior high teachers. Assignments will be posted to our teachers’ individual Google classrooms. 

 

 

Attendance

On e-learning days, students are required to complete the Google attendance form located on their Google Classroom Math class.  Completing the attendance form is necessary as it is evidence of e-learning.  In the event a student is not able to participate in e-learning on a particular day due to illness or unforeseen circumstances, parents/students are to notify the student’s homeroom teacher.   

 

Assignments

Teachers will post assignments to their Google classroom by 8:30 a.m. on their subject’s scheduled day. Assignments should be completed by the assigned due date and time. Grades may be lowered on those assignments received after the due date. PowerSchool will continue to be updated so that parents can monitor that assignments are being completed in a timely manner.
 

Teacher Support

Teachers will be working throughout the hours of the school day (8 a.m. - 3 p.m.). Students may email questions using their school Gmail accounts. Emails received by the teachers after 3:00 p.m., may not be replied to until the following school day.

Each teacher also has online office hours in order to be available for student (or parent) questions about assignments, e-learning, etc. Please check teachers’ blogs for online office hours times and sign-in information. Thank you for your patience as our teachers are providing assistance to many of our junior high students.

 

Specials

The junior high students have previously joined Google classrooms for Spanish and Library. Mr. Mulchrone and Mrs. Corley have created Google classrooms for gym and art. Students should join the gym and art classrooms using the codes below. 

 

Gym: 7th and 8th grade code:  ghlprdt

 

Art:   7th Grade code:  jzhiwsv

 

           8th Grade code:   qpwpwdp

 

Assignments for each special can be found on each teachers’ Google classroom.  In addition, each of the specials teachers’ blogs will have a designated section for 7th & 8th grade students. 

 

Technology Support

If you experience a problem with your ChromeBook, please notify your homeroom teacher. We will work with our technology team to address any problems.