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I cannot express how disappointed I am to have our school year cut short but this unprecedented situation. Despite the mounting evidence that threatened our chances of returning to school this year, I was still holding out hope for some kind of miracle that would have me back in my classroom with my 41 students by year-end. Sadly, as determined by our governor last week, a happy ending to our academic year is just not in the cards.

Thus, as I struggle to choke back the tears, I regretfully write this letter to you today, to inform you of several matters as they relate to our classroom’s closure.

First and foremost, you should have received an email from the school with an assigned pick-up window for this week. When you come to collect your student's belongings during your assigned time, please plan to bring in and return the following items:

1. The yellow bin I sent home containing your student’s work.
2. Any and all books, (EXCEPT math books.)
3. Any other materials or items that belong to Ms. Jessica or the school, including Montessori materials, supplies, etc.

When you come into the classroom you will find an area designated for Snakes, another for Bears. Once you locate the stack of items belonging to your student, simply leave the bin and any included contents in the place of your stack.

I sincerely appreciate your help in this matter, as most of the items that I sent home with students as “additional material” are my personal property, and not that of the school. I technically cannot close up my classroom in its entirety until these items are returned, so I am depending on your help to get everything back in place before the week is over. Thank you, in advance, for your help with this!

This leads me to the next topic of discussion: the Chromebooks. As we were rushing to shutter the school and transition to online learning, several parents elected to borrow 1-2 of my Chromebooks, rather than checking out a school chrome book.

Due to the extenuating circumstances at play, I imagine that many of you would appreciate or benefit from the opportunity to hold on to those Chromebooks for another few weeks, or until the year is officially over. For that reason, I want to offer you the following option:

If you would like to keep the chrome book or Chromebooks you borrowed from me, I am offering you the option to purchase the Chromebook for the same price that I paid for them back in December. Therefore, you may choose to purchase the Chromebooks for the individual purchase price of $75 each.

If you are interested, please send me an email to let me know, and I will coordinate the purchase as needed.

If, however, you do not want to take ownership of your borrowed Chromebook, please plan to return it to my classroom when you return the yellow bin and books. If this is your chosen route, I would appreciate an email from you also, informing me of your intent to return the chrome book before the week’s end. In closing, if you have a Chromebook from our classroom, please send me an email to let me know if your plan.

On a similar note, I have several home-made computers that will be going home with certain students, the results of our efforts at the STEAM Fest.

I need to ascertain the recipients for two of our computer-building teams. The best way for me to do this is to host a Google Meet for the purpose of voting on the recipients. If your student hopes to be one such recipient and /or participated in these projects, please make sure they attend the aforementioned google meet this week, (an invite will be going out to the student email accounts detailing the event later today.)

For the remaining time left this academic year, I want to check in with every single student, EACH and EVERY week. As you may or may not be aware, I have opened up my schedule to provide students with a way to schedule one-on-one work sessions with me, Monday-Friday. It has been a true pleasure to be able to work individually with students over the last couple of weeks, and I believe we have managed to overcome some obstacles and knock-out challenges some students were facing. If there is anything at all that your student is struggling with, or if you believe your student would benefit from extra instruction on any given topic, you may schedule a session with me by clicking any of the available time slots listed in the attached calendar.

These individual appointments are IN ADDITION to my already established WEEKLY office hours, AS FOLLOWS: 12-12:30 pm Monday-Friday, and 11 am-12 pm on Fridays. Parents, if there is anything YOU would like to chat about, or if you have specific questions or concerns you want to address, please feel free to pop by my virtual office during these designated office hours.

On Fridays, I am hosting a group check-in at 11 am. During this meet on Friday I will be sharing the “Week-in-Rap,” (a favorite weekly lesson on current events for our Snakes and Bears,) sharing important updates and information, and offering a forum for the kids to reconnect with one another, in the face of our pandemic. That said, if your student has NOT yet had a face-to-face with me during the week on any given week, the Friday group meetup is the last chance to formally check-in for the week. Alternatively, students can check-in at a time and day of their choosing by using the appointment calendar or stopping by during office hours. Please help me by reminding your student to reserve or schedule a check-in with me each week, or plan to attend Friday’s group meet.

In other news, I wanted to make you aware that our classroom website is now up and running, and can be accessed at www.classcoup.com.

This website is designed to serve as a portfolio, or digital yearbook for our 2019-2020 school year. You will find a page devoted to The Weekly, (my weekly newsletters, like the one you are reading at this very moment.) There is also a section for resources, a list of websites and links to material to enhance and augment your at-home learning, as needed. The links on that page will also note log-in instructions, in some cases.

Under the portfolio tab, you will find photo albums and videos shot throughout the year. Please be advised, there is a sub-category under the “Portfolio” heading titled “Student Work.”  On this page, you will find a showcase of works completed by our Snakes and Bears. (This page is continually evolving, and open to suggestions if there is anything you might like to add.)

The website also provides my information, credentials, and background, as well as a way to contact me directly. The aforementioned appointment calendar is available on the last page of the website, so those appointment slots can be booked directly through the website.

Finally, I have also added a page for ongoing, supplemental lessons and assignments, for those students who wish to do more, after completing the required, daily ELA and Math assignments housed in Google Classroom. This extra work will be accessible via this Padlet, also accessible from the website by visiting the subcategory under the "resources" umbrella.

It has been an absolute honor to teach your students this year. Your students are some of the best kids I have had the pleasure to work with, and I am confident that each and every one of them is destined to do great things in this world.

Teaching is such a unique profession because it requires the teacher to shoulder multiple responsibilities in addition to instruction. The most significant step I took this year was to get to know each student on a personal level. In doing so, I believe I was successful in ascertaining a source of inspiration within each kiddo. I know you are all struggling to juggle your responsibilities while at the same time assuming responsibility for your child’s learning at home. I want you all to know that I will be here to provide assistance in any capacity to you and your kiddo(s) from now until school returns next fall.

I know your kids, I know how they work best and what challenges they might have, and I am poised and ready to step in and help at your request. If all else fails, you all have my cell phone number, so remember that I will remain but a text message away.

In closing, I would just like to say thank you. Thank you, for all of your ongoing support, patience, and understanding this year. Thank you for your contributions to our classroom, for volunteering your time to make for memorable field trips and class parties- most of all, thank you for raising your student to be a part of this team of DLI Super-Students. These kiddos will forever occupy a permanent place in my heart.

Wishing you all a safe, swift return to the good life.

Thank you,
Jessica Benson

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This is an optional lesson and assignment for students that have completed their other work for ELA and Math, and desire to learn more!

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Using what you now about interpreting various types of media, making inferences and and determining point of view, to write out a chart comparing the two points of view on this issue.

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"Mrs. America" and the fight over the ERA

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One of the reasons HISTORY is so important to your education is this: It is only by studying history that we can truly understand where we are in the present. That is especially true for American history and the topic discussed in the lesson.

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Part 2 of Optional Lesson (American History)

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Part 2 of Optional Lesson (American History)

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Video from TED YouTube Channel

This is part 2 of your assignment about the ERA movement. We have discussed this singular issue regarding ERA, and we have looked at the debate from both sides. Now let's watch this video on how to go about exercising your right to voice your opinion, but in a positive way, to contribute to dialogue rather than polarization.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

How do you want to be perceived when it comes to discussing polarizing issues?

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

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This is part 2 of your assignment about the ERA movement. We have discussed this singular issue regarding ERA, and we have looked at the debate from both sides. Now let's watch this video on how to go about exercising your right to voice your opinion, but in a positive way, to contribute to dialogue rather than polarization.

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Mary Ellen Hannibal: How you can help save the monarch butterfly -- and the planet

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Monarch butterflies are dying at an alarming rate around the world -- a looming extinction that could also put human life at risk. But we have just the thing to help save these insects, says author Mary Ellen Hannibal: citizen scientists.

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Use any of the following codes to join a lesson for our class. (All OPTIONAL, not required assignments.)

1. DJSBU

2. QXRBH

3. NTLBR

4. JFNCM

5. HONIG

6. OGLXU

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With Google's free online calendar, it's easy to keep track of life's important events all in one place.

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This website is designed as a portfolio for all things pertaining to my Fifth Grade classroom at Renaissance Academy.