OVS Weekly Update

Learning Coach Training Next Week

Topic: Attendance refresher & K12 Q & A

Where: 60 & L- Learning Coach Lounge

When:

• Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday mornings at 10:30-11:30

• Tues/Thurs afternoons: at 1:00-2:00

Learning Coaches are encouraged to attend trainings while their learners are in class. However, you are welcome to attend ANY training, as EVERY session is the same! You are always welcome to bring your non-school aged children to trainings.

MAP testing

All OVS learners will take the MAP reading, math, and science MAP assessments the week of August 27th. Refer to information below to sign up for your learners' sessions.

Order OVS T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats

Deadline to order is Monday, August 20. Click the link below to order, today!!

If you have questions or concerns about your K12 curriculum, your learner, pacing guides, etc. Your learning facilitator is your first line of support. Their contact information is below, on our website, and in your student handbook. Please stay connected!

Ms. Megan Rogers

Kindergarten-1st grade facilitator

Email: megan.rogers@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-9367

Mr. Mark Dowling

2nd-3rd grade facilitator

Email: mark.dowling@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-9548

Mrs. Sarah Nommensen

4th-5th grade facilitator

Email: sarah.nommensen@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-9453

Mr. Thomas Gamble

6th-10th grade Math facilitator

Email: thomas.gamble@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-9447

Ms. Molly Felten

6th-8th grade Social Studies & Science facilitator

Email: molly.felten@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-9325

Ms. Jill Robison

6-8th grade Language Arts facilitator

Email: jill.robison@ops.org

Phone: 531-299-6965

Whew! We made it through the first week. It has been such a joy to meet all of our new learners and learning coaches and welcome our returners back. This week, while stressful, is my favorite part of this job. I hope you can tell! The positive energy this week was palpable. Learners were excited!!! However, we know that our learning coaches may feel overwhelmed and stressed, along with excited.

We feel the same way!

As you reflect on this week, please remember these important things:

• We are here for you.
• We are all in this together.
• It will get easier.
  

Please continue to communicate with us. Thank you to parents and learners who have reached out if there are errors, concerns, questions, etc. We need to know, so we can support you.

Take some time this weekend to relax and breathe and continue to have those great conversations about learning at home!

It is an honor and a pleasure to work with you and your learners!

-Wendy

OVS learners will take the NWEA-MAP assessment the week of August 27-31. OVS has a modified schedule during the week of NWEA-MAP testing, and learning coaches must sign their learners up for TWO testing sessions.

Click HERE to sign-up, today!

Parents-using the link provided, choose a time for your student to take the Math and reading assessments. You will need to sign up for 2 different time slots. Please keep your child in mind when signing up, as you want the most accurate data to guide instruction.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email your child's Learning Facilitator.

The MAP test is vital to student learning here at OVS as we use the student data to guide their instruction and growth. Learning facilitators will share about the MAP assessment with learners during learning center time next week.

The purpose of this first week of school was to get acquainted with the computers, K12, and one another. We realize attendance for this week will be minimal, as it wasn't a full week.

Please be aware that we our attendance weeks are from Friday-Thursday the following week. Friday, August 17th-Thursday, August 23rd is the first week of attendance that we will be tracking. During this time frame your learners will need to have the appropriate amount of hours logged based on the number of courses they are enrolled in. Full-time learners are expected attendance at home should be 27 hours. OVS takes attendance for the 3 hours that they are at the learning center.

If you have issues with attendance, please let your learning facilitator know. It is HIGHLY recommended that you attend LC training next week to support your understanding of attendance.

As shared during orientation, logging attendance daily is recommended practices.

K-5 learners- LCs log ALL activity on K12 and Off K12

6-10th grade learners- LCs log only activity that occurs off of K12.com (reading a book, powerpoint, journaling, etc.)

Other attendance notes:

• The first day that is available to log attendance is August 15th. If your learner did work on August 14th, please log it on August 15th or another day.
• If you are a K-5 learning coach and you are using the K12 attendance app, the courses are listed as course numbers, not names. We are aware of this and are working to adjust this.
• Refer to the below tutorial on how to log attendance.

Did you know that you can track your learner's materials through your learning coach login? Click on your LC name in the top right corner. Go to "My Info" and then "My Orders" to find tracking numbers and additional information.

This week:

It was great to finally meet all of the Learners and Learning Coaches this week! I am looking forward to a great school year. Please let me know if you have questions.

Next week:

We will be focusing on Classroom Procedures and Getting to Know one another so we can build our classroom community. Learners will also start working in SeeSaw. I will be sending information to you about SeeSaw, it is basically an online portfolio of work. I can add activities for learners to complete, they post them, and then I can see them and so can you! We will work on getting everyone connected to SeeSaw.

I have setup Online Lessons for next Friday, August 24th. We will spend time making sure all learners can get logged in, hear with headphones, and talk during the session.

Resources:

Here is the link to our class Symbaloo page in case you need it!

This week:

We had a fantastic week of Orientations. It was great to see our returning families as well as putting faces with our new learners. I threw a lot of information at you this week. Hopefully as you get into your coursework it will all start to click.

Next week:

My goal for next week is to lay the foundation for the school year. We need to be comfortable with each other in order to work together. We will be doing some team building activities to become more proficient with OneNote, Class Connect and Seesaw. We will be doing a Quick Write about ourselves. We will then practice reading it out loud and will be recording our voice using Seesaw. Learners will need to come prepared with one interesting fact about themselves.

We will also be getting into Class Connect during our face-to-face time in order to become more familiar with the tools. Our first official Class Connect session will be on Friday, August 24th. I can’t wait to get this year started!

Resources:

*Click here or on the word Symbaloo to visit a page of visual bookmarks to resources for each subject area. I will be adding to this throughout the year.

*In case you’re not quite sure what Seesaw is about, click here for a short video tutorial.

It was so wonderful to see all of you at orientation! I hope it wasn’t too overwhelming for you! If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to call or email!

A couple of notes:

• · There are no pacing guides for GUM and Vocabulary. You should do both every day. GUM should take about 20 minutes and Vocabulary should take about 15 minutes.

• · Here is the link to a sample pacing where I put the lessons in for each subject each day. Download it and adjust the days as you see fit.

· 4th Grade:

o https://omahaps-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/enommes784_ops_org/Eb_Gtgl0CbBCt5MyeQtVoRMBDVQ3b8chT2jC-7Zdr7YkZg?e=xEetiz

· 5th Grade:

o https://omahaps-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/enommes784_ops_org/ETqXz17BiXRJihz056hIB6EBfIQV10-DdTadsP2D6GLavg?e=qZkj46

· Here is the link to the PowerPoint that was done at presentation for you to reference.

o https://omahaps-my.sharepoint.com/:p:/g/personal/enommes784_ops_org/EaahwlJlFzVIgAqlIfobN7wByTan_tAdEZJS3uWXtI1tDg?e=KkPcZz

I want to thank you again for coming this week and I look forward to a wonderful year!

Week in Review:
Thank you to everyone who attended the orientations this past week. It was great to see all the new faces and reconnect with returning families. We covered A LOT of information. PLEASE feel free to reach out, as some of you have, and ask all the questions you need. Despite the daunting task of a new system or method it does get easier and we are here to help you any way we can.

Looking Ahead:
I am looking forward to working with all your learners. I will be splitting my time between the high school and the middle school. I will try to be punctual and proactive with my responses, but please be patient as it may take a little longer than normal pending quantity.

This coming week we will continue to review procedures and policies. We will also begin working on the curriculum and any needs your learner may have. The new fluid model will allow us to address concepts and needs based on where your learner is rather than teaching to the middle. Keep us posted with any concerns or needs for your learner. We will make note of them and address them during our face-to-face time.

Should your learner have a question or struggle, please encourage them to reach out to us. If they are reserved, then please email the appropriate teacher and we will make note of that need and address it. We are a team and encourage all parties (facilitator, coach, and learner) to communicate.

Resources:
There are countless resources on the internet for math. Throughout the year I will post some here that could assist your learner or yourself. Learning coaches can use these to check the work of a learner or preview topics. This week’s resource can be effective for all courses. It provides procedures and solutions for algebra, geometry, and more. I would encourage coaches to use it sparingly with learners so they don’t rely on it for solutions. It can be effective to check your learner’s work.

Symbolab

Weekly Online Math Lessons:
Online lessons will begin regularly, for Math, the week of August 27th. We WILL have a required session for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade learners Friday, August 24th at 9:15. Each teacher will be working with a grade level.

Most online sessions will not last the entire block of time, unless needed for individual help. We will work in mini-lessons addressing specific needs.

The schedule for regular online Math sessions is as follows:

• Math 06: Mondays @ 9:15 – 10:00.
  
• Math 07: Mondays @ 10:15 – 11:00.
  
• Math 08: Fridays @ 9:15 – 10:00.
  
• Algebra 1: Wednesdays @ 1:00 – 2:00.
  
• Geometry & Honors: Tuesdays @ 1:00 – 2:00.

Looking Ahead:

I am looking forward to working with all your learners. I will be splitting my time between Social Studies and Science in the classroom. I have several science activities ready for this week as well as team work activities in social studies.

This coming week we will continue to review procedures and policies. We will also begin working on the curriculum and any needs your learner may have. The new fluid model will allow us to address concepts and needs based on where your learner is rather than teaching to the middle. Keep us posted with any concerns or needs for your learner. We will make note of them and address them during our face-to-face time.

Should your learner have a question or struggle, please encourage them to reach out to us. If they are reserved, then please email the appropriate teacher and we will make note of that need and address it. We are a team and encourage all parties (facilitator, coach, and learner) to communicate.

August Activities:

Earth Science: Mystery Map, Scientific Data Inquiry, Desertification experiment

Life Science: Madagascar exploration, Taxonomy pyramid

Physical Science: model of an atom, Boiling Point exploration, Speed activity, Density lab

World History: Timeline activity

Geography: Map activity

American History: Antifederalist/Federalist ideals comparison

Weekly Online Science Lessons:
Online lessons will begin regularly the week of August 27th. We WILL have a required session for all 6th, 7th, and 8th grade learners Friday, August 24th at 9:15. Each teacher will be working with a grade level.

Online lessons are only for science, not social studies.

The schedule for regular online Math sessions is as follows:
Physical Science: 10:15 - 11:00 AM Mondays

Life Science: 1:00 - 1:45 PM Mondays

Earth Science: 10:15 - 11:00 AM Fridays

There are no online lessons on holidays or teacher work days.

What a great first week…. It was so fun to see our returning learners and meet our new ones! This is going to be an exciting year at OVS! Thank you to our Learning Coaches and Learners for coming to school this week with good questions, positive attitudes, and a spirit of collaboration.

As we discussed, there can be a lot that is overwhelming at the beginning of any new school year. Recognize that we are here to help. Please don’t hesitate to reach out! By October, I imagine we will all feel like our skills have improved.

Next week, your learners will continue to be introduced to procedures and expectations. This is true in both ELA and Computer Applications. It is my goal to lay a good foundation so that all students will feel comfortable and knowledgeable in what they are doing in school, in K12, and with their technology. By laying this foundation, students can focus on their learning!

Speaking of learning….I notice some learners are getting a jump start on tasks in ELA and Computer Apps. Way to go! Keep that pacing guide at the forefront. It will help you stay right on track!

Should your learner have a question or struggle, please encourage them to reach out to us. If they are reserved, then please email the appropriate teacher and we will make note of that need and address it. We are a team and encourage all parties (facilitator, coach, and learner) to communicate.

Online ELA lessons will begin regularly the week of August 27th.

The schedule is as follows:

6th ELA-Mondays, 10:15 to 11:00

7th ELA-Fridays, 9:15-10:00

8th ELA-Mondays, 9:15-10:00

*Most online sessions will not last the entire block of time, unless needed for individual help.

Reminder….all students will attend their first online lesson Friday, August 24th at 9:15.

Have a great week!

I am so thrilled to begin another year at OVS!

K-8 Art will begin the first week of September. Students DO NOT need to complete any coursework before then. I will be emailing learning coaches and doing learning coach training about art in the coming weeks before the first face to face class.

If you have any questions or would like more information please contact me - shannon.barry@ops.org.

If you are having issues with your student's device, please email your issue/concern to this email address: ovs-techhelp@ops.org

Parents will get an email response following your submission. One of our staff members will email parents back to provide assistance, so be sure to check your email after sending your concern.

We are a dynamic and nurturing community of learners that empowers students to reach their individual potential by providing a creative atmosphere for innovative learning and academic excellence.

Future ready, today.

Growth mindset

Positivity

Collaboration

Integrity

Self-advocacy

Accountability

The first K-8 Virtual School in the state of Nebraska.

Email: virtualschool@ops.org
Website: ovs.k12.com
Location: 4640 S 59th St, Omaha, NE, United States
Phone: (531)299-0269
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OPSVirtualSchool/
Twitter: @OPS_Virtual