Speaker 1: The 2021 school year has been off to a great start, and we're so proud of our students, our teachers, our staff members, our administrators, for all the hard work. My name is Jennifer Bingman, I'm the Director of System Accountability and School Improvement, and today we're going to be talking about the importance of attendance. And I'm so thankful that today I have Ms. Christina McKeever, the principal at Walkersville Elementary School. And so welcome, Christina, we're so happy that you took time out of your busy schedule to be here today. Thanks, Jen, for having me. So what we know is that student attendance during our virtual learning is just as important as it is when students come face-to-face. And so one of the ways that we're paying attention as to whether students are attending school is if they're attending their synchronous sessions, their Google Meets with their teachers. So Ms. McKeever, can you talk a little bit about why is it important for students to engage and attend their synchronous sessions, and why, and what are you seeing teachers do when they're working with students in their sessions?

Speaker 2: So the first thing I think about when I think about the importance of the synchronous sessions is the building of rituals, routines, and relationships with our students, and how critical that is in a face-to-face classroom and even more critical in our virtual classrooms. So the synchronous sessions really afford our students and our teachers an opportunity to connect. And then through those connections and the building of relationships, we foster a positive learning environment, and that's the opportunity for our students to engage in direct, explicit instruction with their teachers. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to be in and out of several of our classrooms. In one fifth grade classroom, one of our teachers was modeling for her students how to set up their notebooks, how to take notes in their notebooks, and then modeling how to use the standard algorithm for multiplication. A lot of our instruction in elementary schools follows the I do, we do, you do model, and the synchronous sessions are the opportunity for the I do and the we do so that when students are working on their playlists asynchronously, they have the instruction that they need to complete their learning.

Speaker 1: Absolutely. And the relationships are so important. And so I love to hear the fact that teachers are taking the time to build those relationships when they're working with those students. And I can say from my own children who are in the secondary school that they were talking to me about how teachers are providing direct instruction, they're having discussions with students, they're providing opportunities for students to ask questions. Just yesterday, my daughter said that she was struggling with an assignment and she needed help and she was trying to describe it and the teacher couldn't quite follow what she was saying. And so my daughter was able to share the screen and the teacher was able to look at it and give that feedback exactly what she needed in order to help her to be successful. So the teachers are doing a fabulous job in making sure that they're building those relationships and connecting with students and supporting them in their learning. Absolutely.

Speaker 2: And we think of our older learners in the elementary school in fifth grade, but I also saw our first graders engage in one of the paths lessons, which is the social emotional learning curriculum. And the teacher was teaching them to imitate her and act out different animals and guess the animal. So they were practicing muting their microphones, unmuting their microphones and giggling and laughing with each other and creating that spontaneous classroom that you see in the face-to-face classrooms as well.

Speaker 1: I love that. So another piece of the way that we are monitoring student attendance and student being a part of the learning experience is also through the use of our learning management system, Schoology. So what are your teachers and what is your team paying attention to when students are utilizing Schoology, like what are they paying attention to?

Speaker 2: So our teachers all have grade books where their assignments populate, and that's the quickest way to take a glance to see who's completing the work and who isn't. But there's an analytics session of Schoology that is excellent for our teachers to be able to see who's logged on, what they've logged on to, and how long they've logged on. So that gives them a little bit of insight into who may need additional support, and maybe it's somebody that they want to invite into a small group later in the day or invite to a tutoring session after school hours to complete that work.

Speaker 1: So I'm hearing that teachers are really paying attention to each and every student, the amount of time that they're in there, and then what they're doing. Absolutely. It's important for students to know that teachers are paying attention to those details.

Speaker 2: Well, and another way that our families can help is there's also a parent account. And so our parents can be part of and remain part of that active partnership by creating their own Schoology account, and that access information was sent home to all of our families. And we're excited to have them be part of the conversation and to be able to reach out to teachers and share what they've noticed that their students need assistance with or what seems to be coming easy to them.

Speaker 1: So as a parent, I know that I rely heavily on the use of Schoology to monitor my own children. And it's so important because I can see what's been posted that my child needs to do. I can see the feedback that my child has received. I can see if there's missing work. Sometimes I have to take into consideration that, you know, it takes time for teachers to grade assignments. Just because they submitted it, it doesn't automatically give them a grade. It takes time. And so I ask questions to my own child so that I know that they're on top of it. They're getting things completed and getting it turned in. But for parents who aren't in Schoology, how would you recommend them to be able to get that information so that we can get more parents connected if they aren't already?

Speaker 2: Our teachers are truly the experts right now in all things Schoology, so reaching out to the child's teacher is the first place to go for assistance. And if they're not available, you can send them an email or you can contact the front office for more information.

Speaker 1: Wonderful. Thank you, Ms. McIver, for all of that. I really appreciate that information. So what we know is that it's very important. We have a need to maintain flexibility when monitoring our students' attendance in virtual learning. And so we are taking that time to think through and look over the week to determine student attendance. And because what we know is that student attendance in virtual classroom is just as important as it is in person. And as Ms. McIver said, the teacher is the key. Always reach out and stay a part of your child's education.