Navigating Online Learning

Knowing the ins and outs of all the online learning platforms can be a challenge.
So here are some quick tips and information for you!

Google Classroom
For security reasons only your child’s email address can access our google classroom. On our classroom page
students can chat, share photos of their work or themselves, submit assignments, and direct email each other.
I do not want strangers to be able to see any of that content or contact your children in any way so for their
safety only student emails work. If an email address that is not listed in my class roster attempts to sign into
our classroom they will get an “invalid” notification…meaning they simply can’t get in. So you must use your
child’s school email, example…31jsmith@manistiqueschools.org
jsmith@manistiqueschools.org

Once your child is logged into google with their email account they can navigate to “google classroom” and get
into our class to see all their assignments.

When in google classroom there are 3 pages: Stream, Classwork, People

Stream Classwork People

This is like the class homepage. It
is just a place for running
conversations. Students may post
and comment to communicate to
their teacher and to each other. This
page is just like a news feed. You
do not need to read or comment on
any of the stream feed if you don’t
want to. (if students struggle to
make smart choices with this
freedom they will be muted and lose
posting privilages)
Use this page to gain Your child can do 2 things from this page.
access to your child’s 1. Directly email Mrs. Partyka
weekly assignments 2. Directly email their classmates
PARENTS - I can not monitor or see
and other subject
material
material.
what students send between their personal email
accounts. It is 100% up to you to know who your
child is communicating
mmunicating with and what is sent.
Please notify me if you notice any suspicious
communication between students and their peers.
 What is all the stuff in the “classwork” tab inside our google classroom?

This is the most important tab. It is

where I will post the weekly
assignment document.

We will do these only once a week. The

assignment is listed on the weekly schedule,
but the actual work is found here in this tab.
These links here are all
just short cuts and
shows you what is in
This is where you can find
our classroom. You
the link to our weekly class
likely don’t ever need to
zoom meetings!
click on these.

Ms. K is providing extra reading supports for

the whole building. You do not need to
complete these assignments. They are
optional and are just for extra practice.
The only links in here are
for yoga and mindfulness.
They are just extras and
you don’t need to do
anything with these unless
you want to.

These are your children’s old writing

assignments. My plan was to print them, bind
them, and send them home at the end of the
year. If I delete this tab their work disappears,
so until I can print them I have to leave this tab
here. You do not need to do anything in this
tab.
Student Accounts
Although we didn’t have a lot of screen-time during our school day your child used several learning platforms when
school was in session. But, since we have been out of school for nearly a month it won’t surprise me if your children
have forgotten their log in and password information for the sites we were using. If you child has made a few attempts
and is still unable to log into a site please message me on classtag and I will send it to you. If the need arises and new
resources are available I will notify you of the resource and your child’s log in information, but for now we are going to
stick with what we know!

The 4 sites we have been using all year and will continue to use during distance learning are:

Freckle Xtramath MobyMax Readworks

Keeping in Touch with classmates – (while social distancing)

Zoom, is a video conferencing tool. With this tool I can have an online “meeting” where all the
children in our class can join. We can all see each other and hear each other. It is a great way to reconnect
with classmates and say hi! Here are some features and some quick tips to using it.

How to join a zoom meeting/ online class?

In order to join the meeting you must click on the invitation link. I will be putting the links on our google
classroom page and send them every Wednesday thru ClassTag.

The meeting link would look something like this…

When you enter the video conference, you have the choice to either have your video on or off and making
sure to allow the audio. These setting will make sure we can see and hear you once you are in. When inside,
you should be able to see the other classmates! When we have our first “zoom” meeting we will learn some
of the features of zoom so you and your child can navigate the system as easily as possible.

**ZOOM Security** – The company has been making a lot of upgrades to their system to thwart any
attempts for strangers to access our classroom session. Only those with the link can get in…so I will not be
posting the link on my webpage. I will only post it inside our secure google classroom and on ClassTag. When
you enter the video conference you will be placed in a waiting room. If I do not recognize a phone number or
name I will not admit that person into our class meeting. So parents if you are on a phone and you don’t get
into the meeting and are stuck in the waiting room it may be because I didn’t recognize the number. Send me
a message thru classtag to let me know it is you and what number isn’t being allowed in and I will admit you.
How is my child “graded” during distance learning?
Grades will look different for Marking Period 4. I am going to continue entering grades into powerschool. But, at this
time % grades will not be taken. All assignments will be graded on a “credit” or “no-credit” scale.

*Credit - If your child completes the assignment they get full credit points…yes, even if they get every question wrong.
Your child attempted the work and did their best, so they will get full credit for their efforts. Distance learning does not
give them the benefit of listening to me teach a lesson, they don’t get to work with me and do a few practice ones
before they attempt it on their own. For the most part, students are working independently as best they know how, and
I want to honor that by making sure they receive full credit for the hard work and effort they are putting in.

*NO Credit - If your child did not complete the assignment they get no credit points for that assignment.

It is my understanding that all students will be promoted to the next grade level unless talk had already taken place that
retention would be in the child’s best interest. This promotion however doesn’t mean that your child should take the
next 2 months off of school and do nothing. The learning they do from home during this time will only benefit them.

Any work they do in the next two months will:

1) strengthen their basic understanding of general academic concepts.

2) teach them valuable skills about learning to work independently.
3) develop their decision making abilities when they pick/choose activities from the choice board.
4) help them learn time management skills when finding a daily schedule that works for them.
5) “broaden their horizons” to experiencing new things.
6) teach them to be creative and problem solve when they get stuck on something.
7) help them take control of their learning by choosing the learning topics they want to pursue.

The “Big Picture”

With all that being said top education experts across the country
are telling parents they shouldn’t stress about their child’s
academics in “these uncertain times”. They suggest we all take a
step back and think about the “big picture”. Remember that less
can often be more. During this time of distance learning we are
all being encouraged to broaden our definition of learning, try
new things, and focus on what matters most. In times like these
families should focus on their safety, health, emotional well-
being, reaching out to family, friends, and neighbors offering
support in any way they can. Each family is dealing with this
national health emergency in a different way. So I just
encourage you to try your best and reach out to me. We are all
in this together and I truly want to support your family in
however you need me too.
Thanks for all you do,
Mrs. Christine Partyka