A Message to My Parents

I sent this to the parents of my students this afternoon. As much as maintaining connections with students is my top priority, it is also super important to check in with the grownups as well. I try to limit my emails to twice a week, so as not to overwhelm them with information while still ensuring they know I am here for their children. 

Good afternoon "Big People" of 8 Gaudet,

I hope that you are doing well, that your families are safe and healthy, and that you have been able to take some time to get out in the sunshine these past few days. 

To help get a sense of how things are going, I would really appreciate it if you could take 2 or 3 minutes to fill out the Emergency Remote Learning Check-In I have attached (blog readers, you can make a copy of what I created here - feel free to take and adapt, as I did from the AMLE website). I plan to send this out at the end of each week, so that you have a quick and easy way to let me know how things are going for you. 

There have been some assignments posted on the Google Classroom over the past week, and this will continue to be updated as we move forward. I want to underline for you that there will be no judgment, no negative repercussions, and no calls home from the principal if your child does not engage in academic work at this time. I will touch base to check in, but it is far more important to me that children come out of this experience with as little trauma as possible. We don't know how long social distancing measures will be in place, or what will happen in our communities and in our families over the coming weeks. It is very important that we all take care of ourselves - however that needs to look for individuals and families. 

If you have any specific concerns about academics, the transition to grade 9, or your child's mental health, please don't hesitate to reach out. If something comes up for you or your family that you want me to know about, you are always welcome to email me, or to call the school number and leave a message (our principal checks regularly, and will let me know if there is someone I need to call back)

I plan to send out an article each week that you may find interesting / informative / helpful. Today, that article is A Trauma-Informed Approach to Teaching Through Coronavirus. I am sharing this article with you so that you know a bit more about the reasons I am doing the things I am doing right now. There are also suggestions that you may find helpful in your own interactions these days. Please do not feel obligated to read this article, I am only passing it along if you are looking for some more information about what I consider to be best practice as a middle school teacher.