Author Archives: Bigelow PTO

Bigelow 3.0: Distance Learning at Bigelow

Bigelow 3.0 has been officially launched! Please note:

  • Before 7pm on Sunday, April 12

Your child will receive an invitation from his/her/their homeroom teacher with a zoom meeting link to Monday morning’s “Weekly Preview” at 9am.  At the “Weekly Preview,” all homerooms will meet with their advisor to preview the assignments and schedule for the week.

  • Between Sunday April 12, 7pm and Monday, April 13, 8:30am

Each cluster will send an email via Aspen and Schoology to parents and students with a link to the weekly learning activities, the schedule (which remains the same each week), and to a new goggle.doc form with zoom links to all office meetings each day.  These revised forms should be easier to read and their links more accessible to students.  Beginning Monday, all learning activities are now required assignments.

Finally, Bigelow created a FAQ for students based upon the survey they filled out last Monday after viewing the 3-part “Mr. Harrison’s Messages” screencast. Please share it with your children. FAQ for Students – Bigelow 3.0

Bigelow 3.0 Information

Student Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Bigelow 3.0

Q: How will I get the weekly schedule?
For now, at the beginning of each week you and your parents will get an email through Aspen and Schoology with your schedule and assignments.  In the near future, you will also soon receive them through your new student school gmail account.

Q:Are there going to be specific blocks of time where it is a class?
There will be no “class”, just office hours during the week for all of your classes. 

Q: What does “directed learning” mean?
“Directed learning” are the tasks and assignments that teachers provide for you and that you will complete independently as best that you can each week.

Q: How can we see our office hours?
ALL office hours are on your schedule. Links to them,  including to the Weekly Preview on Monday morning, will be posted on the weekly activities template that you will receive each week.

Q: What time do we have to eat?:
Whenever you are hungry, but be mindful of your schedule and responsibilities.

More questions and answers at: Student Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Bigelow 3.0

For help with schoology, gmail accounts, and other technology questions, please go to this site NPS Family Tech Support   Or email: familytechsupport@newton.k12.ma.us

Message from the Bigelow counseling staff

Dear Bigelow Students, Family, and Community,

We miss you all! We have been thinking about what we can offer to help us all stay connected and to support us all in this new, unfamiliar time.

We have created a page on the Bigelow Counseling website as a place for you to find different kinds of resources to help guide and support you over these weeks and beyond. We tried to fill it with a mix of practical resources, ideas for taking care of your mental and emotional health, and some fun things to do while you’re socially distancing at home.

Even though we can’t see you at school, we are still checking our email and voicemail. Please reach out if you feel like checking in would be helpful. We will try to update this page with new information over the next few weeks so check back and let us know what other content you’d like to see.

Meanwhile, keep your distance, wash your hands, stay (virtually) connected with others and take care of yourselves!

Wishing you good health and comfort,

Dr. J, Ms. Pierce, Ms. MacNeil, Ms. Reddick, Ms. Morrow, Ms. Capoccia

Calming Strategies

Ideas for self-care

More at: Bigelow Counseling website

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Distance Learning: April 5 Parent Meeting on Google.Meet

TONIGHT: Meetings for parents on the new distance learning plan at Bigelow that begins Monday, April 6. Norms for this large gathering: Video Conferencing Etiquette

Sunday, April 5, 7:00-8:00pm
Clusters 6A, 6B, and 7C: meet.google.com/tvr-fvqo-vny

Sunday, April 5, 8:15-9:15pm 
Clusters 7D, 8E, and 8F:  meet.google.com/vka-imwh-heg

Materials that I will be presented tonight:

Please record any questions you have after the meeting in the Bigelow Parent Meeting Parking Lot, and you will receive a response emailed to you: Parent Meeting Parking Lot

Tonight’s sessions are for parents only. Students will view “Mr Harrison’s Message,” a 3-part screencast of the student powerpoint, on Monday morning.

Message from Mr. Harrison: Bigelow version 3.0

Dear Parents,

I hope you and your family are doing well. We are now ready to launch Bigelow version 3.0!  This version of online schooling is complete with a schedule of directed learning activities and daily office hours. Thank you for your patience as we built this new version from scratch.

I invite all parents to a meeting on google.meet on, Sunday, April 5, to learn more about this new distance learning plan. There are two sessions:

Both sessions will cover the same material.  I will do a screencast with some background information about the plan, and then share with you a 3 part “Mr. Harrison’s Message.” This three part screencast and a follow-up survey will be emailed to all students on Monday morning for their viewing.

If you can’t attend your cluster’s meeting time, you may join another time.  We are trying to balance the size of the meetings as much as possible.  Due to size limits, this session is for parents only.  Students will view “Mr Harrison’s Message” on Monday morning.

Please mute your microphone when you join the google.meeting and enter all questions in the chat list.  After the screencasts are shown, Assistant Principals Courtney Rau-Rogers and Lucas Mogensen will moderate the chat list and ask your questions aloud for all to hear. In addition, we will record the meeting, and post it on the Bigelow website afterwards.

In the spirit of growth mindset, the plan is not perfect yet. There will inevitably be some bumps along the way as we get technology and pedagogy to sync.  Nevertheless, we are moving onward–Bigelow 3.0 or bust! Hope you can virtually join me tomorrow evening.

Best regards,

Todd

NPS Student Gmail Activation

From the NPS IT Department

Dear Families,

Students in grades 3-12 have already been issued login information to various Newton Public Schools tools for online learning. This includes the Google Suite of Tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, etc). In an effort to increase communication between students and teachers including the sharing of learning resources we are turning on Gmail for students beginning on Monday, April 6. We hope to have this implementation completed in the morning on Monday, though it may take until Tuesday to fully implement. Here are some additional details about this rollout:

  • Student Gmail will be INTERNAL ONLY meaning emails can only be sent to and from recipients within the Newton Public Schools Domain (newton.k12.ma.us). Students will be able to email each other, to email faculty and staff, and to receive email from faculty and staff. Restricting email in this way helps ensure a more secure environment for students.
  • NPS does maintain an archive of all documents and email generated by students. This is to ensure safe and secure use of these services.
  • Every year students are provided with instruction on the acceptable use of technology in a school environment as well as on how to be a good digital citizen. All students are expected to abide by the district’s Students’ Rights and Responsibilities Handbook, including the Acceptable Use Policy, Acceptable Use Guidelines and the Rules of Behavior and Discipline of Students.
  • Student GSuite accounts are subject to Google for Education Privacy Policies and Google’s online use policies.

It is also important that parents play an active role in monitoring student online behaviors and email use, and provide guidance on the proper use of online tools. Below are some resources you can use with your child in teaching them about acceptable use of online tools:

Please see Gmail Login Instructions for two methods students can use to access their account. For technical assistance with logging into your child’s account, please email us at familytechsupport@newton.k12.ma.us.

Thank you.

Steven Rattendi
Director of Information Technology and Library Services

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