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It’s Great to BEE Back!

We finally made it to Day One! Even with a global Zoom outage, our teachers and students managed a quick pivot to get our virtual learning off to a strong start. Obstacles come at us daily, but we are like water, moving around anything that tries to stand in our way. I was in awe at how hard our teachers, students, and parents have worked to get us to this point, but it’s just the beginning! We are going to need all of the support we can get in order to continue with our early success. 873 students logging in each day is no easy feat, and as each day passes, we are able to troubleshoot more problems in hopes of getting 100% daily participation!

Another challenge we are facing is our dwindling technology inventory. We gave out tech to pretty much anyone that needed something; however, we are quickly finding that our newly enrolled students are having trouble receiving quality working computers and many of our unenrolled families have not returned their technology. While we continue to collect those and contact families that may no longer be at Brandon, many families collected a device from us but then decided to either purchase their own, or were potentially given two devices. If you feel like you are in good shape with technology, and have a district device that you would like to repurpose for another student, we would be glad to take it back! Please feel free to stop by our school any day between 8am-2pm. Simply put a note with your child’s name on top and we will take it directly from you. This would be extremely helpful to us, and it will allow all Morris Brandon students a chance to receive a device. Furthermore, don’t forget that in November, the district plans to go 1:1 with Chromebooks to all students in first through twelfth grade.

As we continue to move deeper into the virtual learning tunnel (don’t worry, I see a light!), I want to remind you of a few important points:

  1.  Studies show that it takes approximately 10 school days to become well-adjusted to a new learning environment. Be patient and we will garner feedback from stakeholders after this timeline through a thoughtful stakeholder survey.
  2.  It’s okay to provide support to your young ones during this adjustment period, but remember, we want our learners to become independent and our teachers want you to be able to go about your day while they do the heavy lifting. Be ready to begin relinquishing control. We will begin Parent University in week 3 which will be a time when grade levels can come together and begin to hear more about class from their teachers in a whole group setting. 
  3.  Remember our Virtual Parent University pop up page on MorrisBrandon.com. This is a place that we continually update with new information around our new way of learning. We are posting new instructional videos daily. Want something else there? Let us know!
  4.  Keep submitting videos using THIS link. We want to hear your child’s name and why they are excited to be at Brandon, or a video of your student reciting the Pledge of Allegiance to be featured on our AM announcements.
  5.  Return surplus technology if you have it (see above!).

I hope you have a great second half of week one. Remember, we have an internal tech support number using our MC tech teacher Shandre Brown. You can text or call her at 334-521-8226 between 7:30 and 3pm on most days. She can provide a decent amount of support; however, 404-802-1000 is the district support line. Continue to reach out to your teachers as well for any individual support or feedback.

Take care!

J

© Copyright 2020 Morris Brandon PTA.

Website sponsored and maintained by the Morris Brandon PTA.

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