As most of you know by now, the Governor closed school districts for onsite learning through Friday, April 17. This means schools are currently scheduled to reopen on Monday, April 20. We have a total of 62 cases of COVID-19 in Arkansas and that number is expected to increase over the next few weeks. The Governor repeated his desire for maximum flexibility during these trying times and I know he is sincere.
There are numerous resources for you to consider as you are making plans to continue with educational opportunities for your kids. You may already have all the resources you need, but below are a few links that may be of interest to you, most of which we have already sent out.
Apple Virtual one-on-one coaching sessions with Apple Professional Learning specialists are available for free to help educators hone their approach to online student learning and workflows. Send an email to appleprofessionallearning@apple.com to request a virtual coaching session.
The App Store has curated the Learn and Study From Home collection to help educators and parents get the most out of their Apple products.
Find best practices for how to clean your Apple products here.
Winsor A new series of online professional development workshops is being offered to our members by Winsor at no cost. You read that right - absolutely free! These sessions will be delivered by Winsor’s Orton-Gillingham certified reading specialists. This is a perfect opportunity to sharpen teachers’ skills and refine how they teach and how their students learn.
Beginning immediately, you can sign up for any of the professional development workshops here. All sessions are first come, first served. These sessions will fill up fast. To sign up today, click here.
In addition, Winsor is providing three weeks of lesson plans that parents can use to teach and reinforce progress in reading for their children, grades K-5. There is absolutely no cost to parents, schools, or districts to download these resources. To download, go to: https://bit.ly/2QqALbi.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (HMH) As a resource during this coronavirus pandemic, HMH is offering Waggle (https://www.hmhco.com/programs/waggle) free of charge to districts as they navigate these changes in instructional delivery and virtual learning environments for students. If you would like to sign up, please reach out to Michael Ward at Michael.ward@hmhco.com or Danna Fox at Danna.fox@hmhco.com to get started right away.
Comcast Comcast is offering qualifying students and parents eligibility for 60 days of free internet through Comcast Internet Essentials during the pandemic.
Scholastic Scholastic has opened a website with free instructional content for students while away from school. They are designed to limit the need for printing and allow students to learn independently or with their families. Click (here) for additional information on Scholastic Learn at Home. This is just FYI for schools to review for use as a resource. As always, we appreciate our partners for stepping up to try and help our students and schools in a time of need. Look over the lessons. They may be a help to your district, and it is free!!
We will continue to keep you updated as new information comes in.
Dr. Richard Abernathy AAEA Executive Director