Hello BTM Families,
I would like to share a message that Mr. Johnston has shared with his students and their families. I am doing this because I don’t think I could do a better job of summarizing how the BTM teachers are feeling about the situation we are in, based on the conversations we have been having over the last couple weeks:
Our school is NOT closed, it’s true that the doors are locked, the parking lot is empty, and the halls are eerily quiet. However, the staff has been scrambling to prepare for this week as we move towards “remote learning”. Most of us are primed to offer some new academic assignments to our students. What we are desperately trying to figure out is how to replicate the countless “little” interactions that take place in the course of a school day. Things like greeting my students at the door, asking them if they need help when they appear confused, and sending them to the office for a snack when they missed breakfast are going to be incredibly hard to replicate in a digital format. I have a lot of Elvis memorabilia in my classroom and one of my prized possessions is my Velvet Elvis painting. My students and I often joke about why Elvis is crying: somedays it is because a student didn’t turn in their homework, another day it is because the Seahawks lost, but today I will tell my students it is a simple tear of joy because we are back together. My most pressing mission this week will be to reconnect with my students and to make sure they know that their school community is back and here for them. There are going to be hiccups along the way and it is most certainly going to look and feel differently but to be sure BTMS is back and open for business and I am here to help you and your student navigate this new chapter of school. Let’s go Bulldogs!
REMOTE LEARNING STARTING MONDAY
Families, we encourage you to establish routine with regular time or times every day for students to do school. We have been guided to create lessons that require an average of 15-20 minutes of work per class per day. Please work with your student to find the best place and time for this that will work with your situation. We have set up office hours by department for Tuesday - Thursday. Students can work out other times to correspond with teachers at a mutually agreed upon time.
Tuesday - Thursday Office Hours:
PE 8-9 AM
Math 9-10 AM
Lunch times 10 AM -12 PM
Humanities 12-1 PM
Science 1-2 PM
Electives 2-3 PM
BUILDINGS ARE NOW CLOSED!
As of 8PM Sunday, we have been asked not to enter our buildings in order to ensure they will be virus free when we return. This is an extra precaution as our Custodial Crew has been VERY BUSY disinfecting touch points throughout the building. We will not be able to access the buildings until further notice. WE ARE NOT THROWING ANYTHING OUT OR REMOVING STUDENT BELONGINGS! They will be sitting, quietly, waiting for students to retrieve them whenever we restart or are allowed to return to the buildings.
SPRING BREAK
IS NEXT WEEK SO, AFTER THIS WEEK, WE WILL START BACK UP ON MONDAY THE 13th! :)
Again, thank you in advance for your patience as we work through almost certain challenges along the way. We all wish we could be at school with your children. We miss them greatly! Feel free to contact me: morrisons@edmonds.wednet.edu
We wish you all good health and happiness.
In Partnership,
Scott
Scott Morrison (He, Him, His)
Principal
Brier Terrace Middle School
425.431.7837
3/26/20
Hello BTM families,
I hope this message finds you and your family safe and eager to learn. As you can guess, based on today’s (Thursday the 26th) email from Dr. McDuffy, we are busy getting ready to work with your children/students starting Monday. The BTM staff are working to contact students to ensure your students have all they need to proceed with Phase 3 of our School Closure, Remote Learning. We would appreciate your support in ensuring your child responds to emails and messaging from our staff. Our staff are contacting students through approved district methods, such as Skyward, Canvas, and Google Classroom. Students are very used to using these tools and should have little problem accessing them.
We are very eager to be working with your students again! We have also never done school like this before. This is going to be a learning process for all of us, so we would ask for patience as we start up and get things figured out. We will do the same with your children. I think Dr. McDuffy’s email spells things out pretty well, so I won’t repeat it, but I do want to draw your attention to the section about Progress Reports for 3rd Quarter toward the end. There is still time to complete missing assignments!!
One tool students may be asked to use as we progress further in Remote Learning is a video conferencing application called ZOOM. We have been using ZOOM in the district for a little while, and a lot in the last 9 days. I have been impressed with its ease of use. Below is a link to some short videos that may be helpful for students to familiarize themselves with these tools. Likely, the first video about joining a meeting will be the most important at this time.
Zoom Tutorial Help Center (videos)
https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-Video-Tutorials
I also want to draw your attention to another great resource which is the ESD Student Learning Resources Page below:
https://sites.google.com/edmonds.wednet.edu/esdresources/home
I encourage families to look through this site before Monday because it has some tips for using some of the technology we will be using and many great resources for learning, as the name of the page suggests.
Again, we look forward to working with your children again and thank you all, in advance, for your patience as we work to serve and educate your children.
In partnership,
Scott Morrison
(He, Him, His)
Principal
Brier Terrace Middle School