I'm going to be part of a team trying to figure out a distance learning solution for a parochial K-8 school. I wanted to tap into the TexAgs network to find out what your families and schools are doing now with respect to distance learning.

I understand some of you are at various stages in the school shutdown process so you may not be in full distance learning scenarios.


What are your schools doing? What technology (both software and hardware) is being utilized to keep students on track in a school closure situation?

Google classroom.
Canvas.
Zoom.

A&M is planning on using Zoom. I am supposed to get training on it tomorrow.

My wife is a teacher here in New Hampshire. We were freaking out a bit at first because they announced that the teachers would still have to come in and support remote learning, while my kids (K & 2nd) would be at home where I would be supervising and teaching them, while trying to do my job remotely.

Luckily, the superintendent got enough blowback and said you could come or do it remotely, as a teacher. Yesterday, the teachers all put together packets and the parents came and picked them up today. So the kids will go through these assignments for whatever period of time, until I assume more has to be printed/picked up depending on how long this goes.

It's a real challenge with the younger ages and puts a lot of strain on the parents. I don't think they were very mindful to this at first, but are now waking up to it and we're finding a little bit of equilibrium.

I have to go to the kids school Friday and pick up a school issued ipad for the 2nd grader and the pre-k will get a packet of work put together this week by his teacher. I am not sure what app we will be using for the 2nd grader though. This is a small private school for what its worth.

This is innovation. We need to figure out how to augment in class learning with a more meaningful enrichment and learning services approach.

All the world is a charter school now...

Khan Academy might be a good option to consider.

I'm in KS (Blue Valley Schools/Overland Park) and supposedly one of the top districts in the country.

Last nights announcement by the governor caught everyone off guard...even our Superintendent.was not aware.

I have twins in K and a 2nd Grader. At the moment we don't have any idea what the plan is...if there is one. We do not have iPads for 2nd and below...the rest of the grades do. Teachers have reached out saying they are waiting to hear what we will be doing.

Our private Classical school will be using Zoom starting on Monday. First time the school has ever tried using technology in the school (outside of basic overhead projectors and the like).

Ok, sounds like we aren't the only ones adapting here.

Some information that might be helpful:

• We have iPads but not enough for the entire school.
• Technology use has been sporadic depending on individual teacher comfort
• We started with the packet pick up style, but that was with the anticipation that this was going to last just a few weeks. Our spring break is not until April.

Zoom looks to be an option. Is there a steep learning curve? Any special equipment required?

Anyone using Microsoft Teams?

I am a math and science teacher in a rural district. This also caught us off guard, as we had spring break last week.

I teach high school, so most of my students are used to using canvas or Google classroom. I am using Zoom to have "office hours". That way, the kids will be able to ask me questions real time if they need any assistance.

I'm setting up all their assignments over Google classroom, and providing instruction via videos on a YouTube channel I created. each week, I will post links to the videos, instructions to complete assignments, and anything else needed via Google classroom.

I have used Zoom to tutor students from across the country. It is very easy to use, and there is not a steep learning curve. It also does not ask for personal information, if you are concerned about that for students. I am just having my students use their school email and password which they use to access everything at school. The only other bit of information and ask for is a name. I am having them put their first initial and last name for their name.

If you have any other questions, let me know. Our school doesn't have a set protocol: each teacher is figuring it out on their own for the most part.

Dallas ISD - for middle school - they have a pre-issued Chromebook (but are still figuring out how to get internet access to everyone).

The teachers are using Schoology and Google Classroom to distribute and collect lessons, which is something they had been doing for some assignments the couple years I have had my daughter there. The district uses Power School for grades.

These are the folks who hosted the Ed tech conference I went to last fall. They have a link to resources down a little bit on their main page.

https://thelearningcounsel.com/

Tech and TTUK12 use Blackboard and the video conference tool it has called Collaborate. Other schools use that as well.

Google Classroom and Zoom.

My 3rd and 6th graders are using Canvas and Zoom. The 3rd graders have chromebooks and the 6th graders have ipads. I'm pretty impressed with what their teachers have done. The 3rd grader does a zoom meeting in the morning. The teacher had a whole class discussion today and read them a chapter from the read-along they were doing. Then they have modules to work through on Canvas that also link to some other websites like Lexia for reading and Prodigy for math.

The 6th grader has two zoom meetings a day: a math/science one and a language arts/social studies one. The 6th grade has been using Canvas the whole year so it is not new to them to get their assignments on Canvas and turn them in through that interface. They also offer an optional math help zoom session as well.

The zoom meetings have been really nice for the kids to see each other and talk with their classmates and teachers. I think it's made a big difference in helping them feel like they are still part of their classroom. The teachers always take the first part to just chat with the kids to see what's going on and to share thoughts - one kid is showing off his riding on his unicycle right now with the class, ha ha.

I'm at a private American school overseas. We are using Google Classroom as our primary platform. Google Hangout is used for one-on-one support with the teacher. Google Meet is for video meetings with the whole class. I'm also using Zearn and Khan Academy for math.

Just had a book read to my 4 yo pre-k son by his teacher via zoom. It was the first time I've used it but it was so much fun watching the kids react to being able to see each other again. Definitely lifted his spirits since he doesn't understand what's happening or why his birthday next weekend had to be postponed.