March 16 2020

Dear 8th Grade Social Studies Families:  

Shifting to a totally online class at this point in the school year might be a big shift in some classrooms but I'm confident that my students are prepared, well-practiced and already technologically literate enough to take on the challenge.  We have been utilizing Canvas as our primary class platform since the beginning of the school year and students should be fluent in the pieces of the application that we use regularly.  

We will continue our class as usual.  I will post agendas 3x per week and will expect that all students work through the agenda in a timely manner before the next class posting.  I will try to keep work clear and concise.  We will continue to respond to prompts in discussion threads and some of those will require posting by a specific time to keep the conversation moving.  In terms of graded assessments, we will continue to utilize our Portfolio and Collaboration Assessment in conjunction with quizzes to make sure that we are seeing proper growth and mastery of skills and concepts.  As usual, the resources posted will cross a number of mediums and sources.  We will try to continue to incorporate current event articles and connections with our US History Curriculum.  I encourage families to use the articles and topics to hold conversations of your own.  

Feel free to contact me with any question or concerns.  I will always respond quickest to direct email [email protected]. I am also available for phone calls or video conferencing if needed.  I will likely be available to conference or respond quickly throughout most regular business hours Monday-Friday.  I'll plan to always be available to respond to email/chat in realtime daily M-F from 11-12pm and 4-5 pm.  Those times may vary as this unfolds.  I'm looking to begin using the "chat" feature within Canvas to connect during the realtime sessions.  

Students will not be required to log in at any particular time in the day for my class but they should login daily as it would follow the school calendar.  I understand that everyone's life is disrupted and want to remain as flexible as possible while continuing to service your student's academic progress.  Please stay connected as needed and I will do my best to support the students.

Be safe and well,

Mike Levy