WELCOME BACK!

Hello Division 11 Families,

I have started reaching out and am enjoying hearing back and connecting with each of you via email and over the phone. I have loved getting to see the photos of all of you doing activities at home. It feels different teaching from home and not beginning the day as a community when I open the classroom door in the morning. I miss all of you and the relationships we have made is going to keep our connections strong. Let’s stay connected in the meantime using email, the blog and through phone calls. If you have any questions or need to get in contact feel free to send an email or if a phone call is preferred, we can arrange a time to have a conversation.

I have started this blog as a way to communicate and stay connected. On this site I will be sharing activities, resources, and some helpful tips to keep learning happening at home. We are going to start off slowly to allow everyone the time to familiarize themselves with navigating the blog. We are all learning together and as Division 11 understands, learning takes patience and time.

It will take me some time to get things organized for learning at home but for now I can hopefully answer some questions that might be on your mind:

• How can I get in touch with you?I will be working at home on school related things and tasks between 9AM to 3PM. If you send an email, I should answer pretty quickly. I am happy to answer questions or just chat, please don’t be afraid to contact me.
• When do we start?I will hopefully have this blog fully functioning by Monday, April 6 and have some activities you can complete each day.
• Do we have to use Epic!?I have added your child to our classroom on Epic!. It is not something you have to use along with Raz- Kids as libraries are currently closed. It is important to be reading at home everyday, as you know kids love it and it is important for literacy development. Please do not feel like you need to Read on Epic! everyday but some books for learning will be assigned on there to complete activities.
• Will there be a lot of screen time involved? My hope is to continue play-based learning at home similar to what we would do in the classroom. That will look different for everyone because we all have different materials and supplies at home, and THAT IS OKAY!
• What is FreshGrade and why did I receive an email to sign up? I have plans to create FreshGrade accounts for each student so that they can share photos and videos of their learning with me. Only the student, parent, and myself can see this information.
• Where can I find communication from you? I will be sharing communications here (the classroom blog) and through email.
• Do I need to schedule a full day 9-3 of school? No, learning at home will look different for everyone as all learning does. Realistically, 1-2 hours is all that will really get done. It is important to keep routines happening at home. For example, when children get up in the morning have breakfast, brush teeth, get dressed, discuss activities for the day etc. plan food and physical activity breaks. Be flexible, some activities might not get done, it might not be the right moment for the learning to happen. Children learn most when they are engaging in what they are curious about! If you follow their interest you will all have more fun.

Thank you for your patience as I learn new platforms and explore different ways of supporting you and your child learning at home. Remember we are going to start of slowly together as this is our first time experiencing this type of learning. I look forward to connecting with you more!

Thank you,

Ms. Toor