Thread by @CFloresNews

#HappeningToday AISD will have their first of two virtual briefings to give families an idea of what back to school will look like. I will be following along and posting here, and that stream will be on AISD’S Facebook page.

THREAD:

AISD starting by saying families &staff have asked for more check-ins like this, even if they don’t have answers. They also promise the virtual learning will be more comprehensive in the fall, acknowledging instruction in spring was inconsistent family to family/school to school.

Right now, the plan is online learning only from August 18-September 4, and once the district receives guidance that it’s safe to return in person, families will still have the option to go 100 percent remote.

AISD now providing instruction on how to request devices/WiFi hotspots. The district will soon activate their AISD Cloud Technology Distribution link, which you can create an account from the instructions pictured. Families who can’t access this can contact their school.

AISD insists remote learning will be different than it was in the spring, listing these ways:

Here is what the first three weeks of remote learning will look like.

At the beginning of the day or week, students will open the AISD portal to get oriented in the learning for the day or week.

During the day, learning will be both synchronous - meaning teachers will direct learning over a Zoom call - and asynchronous - meaning it will be self-guided by students.

During learning tasks, teachers can change learning choices to match the additional support or enrichment a student may need.

English learners will be provided bilingual/ESL teachers. Opportunities to develop all four language domains - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - will be provided using both technology tools and non-technology activities.

For special education, each student's ARD committee will have the ability to modify the student's IEP as appropriate for virtual instruction. Special educators have online instruction curriculum. Teachers will use a variety of strategies to meet individualized needs of students.

More on special education - AISD will provide teachers with resource & frequency expectations for communication with families about academic expectations, will maintain and publish office hours, and continue the Special Education Parent Dashboard.

They're now getting to professional learning for teachers. This continued through summer. Teachers have access to 500 lives sessions over the summer. There have been almost 14,000 registrations for these sessions.

Here are the four main priorities with the professional learning for teachers ahead of the fall:

What's next - family and staff will receive surveys to help AISD see how many plan to return to school in-person or online. At this point, answers don't need to be final. As AISD gets closer to first day of school, they will survey all family and staff again, and adjust plans.

An AISD app is coming soon, which will provide notifications from specific campuses, will help you follow campus/distric social media, allow access to student grades and attendance and teacher emails, help locate campus information, and gain access to district calendars.

First question in Q-and-A: How has the district better streamlined info for parents? AISD says communication will be key, setting up routines and engaging early will be essential, and they’re building in time the first few weeks to help students/parents learn/navigate tools.

Second question: How will tutoring be conducted. It will vary by teacher and student, but teachers will use assessment info to determine student needs. They have the ability to use small group or whole group features.

Third question is about curriculum, and when teachers will receive material to prepare instruction. Teachers have spent the summer working on curriculum, those are being completed this week.

Fourth question is about special education curriculum. District says answers will be individualized, and best answers will come from students’ teachers and campus. Resources will be rolled out next month.

Fifth question about balance of synchronous/asynchronous instruction. Leadership working to make sense of TEA direction/incorporate guidelines into plan. They like balance of synchronous/asynchronous b/c of flexibility, but committed to increasing synchronous learning.

Sixth question about supportive services available to students. AISD is stressing social/emotional learning. They know students will have a lot of experiences to process, and are committed to partnering counselors with families to provide support for students.

Seventh question about access to classrooms. That will be more thoroughly addressed during tomorrow’s virtual session.

Eighth question about what tangible objects - packets, workbooks - will be available. AISD still planning to make packets available to students unable to access devices - if there’s a delay getting them those devices - and they’re reviewing inventory of instructional materials.

Ninth question about how PE and library time will be handled. AISD working on those details now, but plan to have students see PE/art/music teachers at least once a week, both by synchronous and asynchronous learning.

Tenth question about what preparation is available to teachers. Professional learning team is coming together, and have received feedback from teachers.

Eleventh question - how will they asses students, particularly English as Second Language students. Those processes are being finalized, and will be done one-to-one, engaging and partnering with families.

12th question on what packets will be made available after recent update from superintendent stated they won’t have all the Chromebooks they need by the start. The tech team is working on getting the devices needed, for now they’re waiting on learning materials from the TEA.

13th question about when district will shift from district-wide meetings like this to campus-specific meetings. The district is creating a family engagement tool kit.

14th question about training available for families. They are creating training videos and will be posting those soon.

15th question about blended learning. Sounds like at some point it's going to be 100 percent remote or in-person learning, not blended. But right now, teachers are working on best curriculum to keep them flexible.

16th question about whether at-home learners will have the same teachers as in-person learners/will certain teachers be online-only/if in-person student's school closes will they have the same teacher when they start online. This is still under exploration.