April 17, 2020 | We Made it Another Week! DISTANCE LEARNING CONTINUES NOTES FROM SCHOOL LEADERSHIP Garhett Wagers, Headmaster Making Upgrades and Seeking Connection
With each passing week, I see our teachers grow in their facilitation of distance learning and our students expand their sense of independence. One thing I know we all long for is more interpersonal interaction. The use of Google Meet has helped, while also highlighting how much we miss being together as a community. I certainly miss eating lunch with students, receiving handshakes and fist ... READ MORE Bobbye Hicks, Head of Lower School Distance Learning in Lower School: Week Four!
My fingers are hovering over the keyboard while I think through my observations, emotions, and the reality that we are ending week four of distance learning. We launched Google Meetings this week with our students, and the teachers all share how wonderful it is to simply see the faces of their students. We all miss the connections of a routine school day on the St. Mark's campus. The rhyme and rhythm of children's voices and laughter as they move in and out of our ... READ MORE Matt Burgy, Head of Middle School Distance Learning in Middle School: Week Four!
As we have assessed our programming over the past few weeks, I have continued a practice that I normally undertake while we are at school. I have been on a "listening tour" of our middle school, hearing the questions, concerns, and comments of the multiple constituents we serve to make the middle school experience the best it possibly can be given these strange circumstances. An important part of this listening tour is the collection of data (something ... READ MORE DISTANCE LEARNING UPDATES Hello St. Mark's Families,We are so grateful for your ongoing support during Distance Learning. This week, we are providing more tips for iPads and Google Meet. More iPad Tips and Tricks: - This tip is useful for anyone, but necessary for McGraw-Hill ConnectED users (students in 2nd - 8th for e-books for math, science, and/or social studies) as this must be set so that they can take online assessments through ConnectED or open their e-book in the iPad app
- This fix is for any of our students using school owned iPads in the blue Logitech, keyboard cases
- Restarting the iPad is similar to a person getting a good night's sleep. If you are experiencing issues logging into the portal, with apps crashing, or experiencing any other minor glitches while using an iPad, then you may want to try restarting it. Restarting the device seems to refresh it and remove minor, but obnoxious glitches. We recommend restarting your iPad once every week or two.
More tips for Google Meet:
- The Nod Chrome extension works with Google Meet to allow participants to silently interact with each other. This tool is only available for use with the Chrome browser on a computer and is not currently available for tablets, like iPads, or smartphones.
- If you, or your nanny, or your lower school student are joining a Google Meet started by a St. Mark's faculty or staff member, and you do not have a St. Mark's Google account, then please be sure to enter your student's first and last name so our teachers can identify who is joining the call. This will help us to maintain the security of our calls.
- There are more details on Google Meet, our videoconferencing platform available here.
Pioneer Day Movies:
We are excited to celebrate the work of our current 3rd grade students and our graduating class of 8th grade students! - Each year, the 3rd grade students create a video to demonstrate what they learned about American Pioneers. At the end of the pioneer unit, they invite their families to campus to debut their film as a way to celebrate all they learned. Due to COVID-19 and the move to Distance Learning, the 3rd grade students were unable to host this year's Pioneer Day. Please help us celebrate the work these students did this year by watching their video here.
- Our 3rd grade teachers would like to help celebrate the Class of 2020, our current, soon-to-be graduating 8th grade students, by sharing the Pioneer film they created when they were in 3rd grade! Take a trip down memory lane and view their pioneer video.
As a reminder, you can find all of these tips and many other resources on the Parent Student Tips and Tricks Resource Board in the Portal, and many of our teachers are also adding these resources to their specific class groups.
As always, if you need any help or technical support, please email helpdesk@stmes.org.
Sincerely,
Allie Sarahan Director of Technology Elise Banks, School Counselor A Blessing for Absence
As we move further and further into our time away from each other, the little things that are missing become more clear to me. The smiles and hugs in the hallway, watching recess from my classroom window, hearing the scuffle of feet coming into the chapel each week to gather for prayer. There are so many things that we take for granted in our lives that have become clear in this time when we are away. This week in our all school staff meeting I closed with this blessing from the poet John O'Donohue. It is a blessing for absence, and it spoke to me this week because there are so many absences in our lives and with them come grief and ... READ MORE Lands' End Customer Appreciation Sale
Stock up for next year! Lands' End is offering a Customer Appreciation Sale. Save 40% on school uniforms and free shipping, with no minimum. At checkout, enter the promotion code BEACH and PIN 1234. The sale ends on April 20, 2020. Visit the Lands' End website and enter the St. Mark's School Number: 900181900. |