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The Patrick Henry Post

September 11, 2020

The PatrickHenry PostSeptember 11, 2020

Week 2 of Virtual Learning

Pictured above is one of my favorite moments this week - connecting with not only two of our staff members, Mrs. Bryant and Mrs. Terrance, but also the newest addition to the Patrick Henry family, Mr. Gus Terrance! One of the most amazing benefits to virtual learning has been our ability to connect with one another on a more personal level, because many of us are literally sharing our homes through our screens. Though virtual is not our ideal scenario, it is opening up some new opportunities to connect on a different level. We love meeting your family babies, dogs, cats, and imaginary monsters that live under the bed!


Our teachers this week spent their time working with students to acclimate them to not only the basics of the iPad and Teams, but also to some new apps and new forms of academic content. They also spent a lot of time building routines, teaching the expectations, and establishing strong relationships both between student and teacher, and among the students. We are so excited to report that our student attendance rates have been consistently high over the past two weeks, and we are SO PROUD of our families for committing to this virtual learning process. Thank you for all of your efforts to get your students online every day on time for their virtual academic day. You are making this a real learning environment for our students!

What does virtual learning really look like?

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Read Alouds

Ms. Willard's class is pictured here with her screen shared and a book being read aloud to her class. Ms. Willard paused the reading to ask questions and allow students to think deeply about the story and express not only their understanding of the book but also their thoughts and feelings about the content of the story.
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Getting into the swing of things

Ms. Wildermuth's kindergarteners are pictured here as they listen to a story that their teacher read aloud to them, just like they were in the classroom!
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White board work

Ms. Butler's first graders are pictured here as they practiced a writing activity on their white boards. Students were able to write, erase, and try again as they learned a new skill.
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Reading intervention

Ms. Evans has been popping in and out of classrooms left and right - have you been able to catch her yet?? She's got her Interventionist hat on this week as she helps assess students and break them into intervention groups.
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Reviewing the expectations

Teachers have been wise to make visual cues for their students to remind them to mute their microphones when it's time to listen, to sit up when it's time to learn, and to stop eating/drinking when lunch and snack time is over.
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Learning new technology

Ms. Williams is pictured here giving her students an assignment on a new platform called Nearpod. Students are able to access videos, resources, links, and assignments, and teachers are able to provide feedback through this app!
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Class Discussions

Ms. Jackson's students are learning how to speak one at a time for class discussions. It's tough to learn the virtual rules, but worth it once you have that first awesome discussion with your students!
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Headphone happiness

Byron is proudly displaying his gaming headphones that have been repurposed for learning. We had an extensive conversation about how these headphones are awesome while he's playing MarioKart, but that they are pretty great for school too!
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Celebrating Students

Ms. Ivory's amazing songs have survived into the virtual world! Pictured here, her students were goin through their morning routine that includes song and dance to get them in the right frame of mind for school. Awesome way to start the day with positivity and fun!
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How to ask for help

Students have been using a variety of methods to communicate with their teachers during the virtual lesson. Christopher is showing us how he raises his hand to ask a question. Others use the hand feature in Teams, and others use the Chat feature to ask questions. It's been great to see teachers use many resources to get their students engaged in learning!
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Safety Lessons

Mrs. Ayeni, our school counselor, has been able to push in to continue her guidance lessons for our students. Pictured here, Mrs. Ayeni was teaching them safety tips with hand motions and easy to remember sayings.
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Student Connections

School friendships are one of the most important parts of childhood, and we are working hard to keep those strong throughout this virtual experience. Students are given opportunities to chat with each other, talk through the camera, and connect in new ways!

Welcome to the first week of PreK!

Our youngest students joined us for their first week of school this week and we were so excited to welcome them back into the Patrick Henry learning environment. They did a wonderful job of learning the iPad with their teachers and families helping them, and they were so engaged in their first week of learning. Well done to ALL of our staff, students, and families in getting our prek students ready to learn!
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Ms. Patti

Ms. Patti's preschoolers are pictured here learning some of the virtual expectations through clever visual cards. Welcome back to Ms. Patti and her students!
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Ms. Smith

Ms. Smith's morning routine has continued in the virtual world with a good morning song, and it really gets us all going! Welcome back to Ms. Smith and her students!
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Ms. Munnelly

Ms. Munnelly's students were ALL in attendance this week! Amazing attendance record already! Here they were learning about the expectations for the virtual classroom. Welcome back to Ms. Munnelly and her students!
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Ms. Valentine

Ms. Valentine's class is pictured here with their class expectations to review all together. Not only does prek review them on screen, but they also sent out the laminated copy of the expectations for families to review at home. Welcome back to Ms. Valentine and her students!