Ruby Van Meter Letter to Families 4/27/2020
4.27.2020
Ruby Van Meter Students, Families, and Caregivers,
We hope everyone was able to get out and enjoy the sun and warmer temperature this past weekend. Here a few updates as we approach a new week in distance learning.
1. If your family requested internet service for your RVM student, we will be handing out individual hotspots this Tuesday, April 28th from 11-3 pm and Wednesday, April 29th from 11-3 pm at Ruby Van Meter. Your family may have been issued a hotspot device through another DMPS student. If that is the case, you won’t need an additional hotspot device. Hotspots can support up to 15 users.
2. If you requested a laptop and have not yet picked it up, we will be handing them out this Tuesday, April 28th from 11-3 pm and Wednesday, April 29th from 11-3 pm at Ruby Van Meter. If you need a laptop and have not requested one, please contact your student’s teacher to request one.
3. Online resources provided by the district are accessible at DMPS@Home. This will be the homepage for all district information for distance learning. Check it out!
4. If your student uses a communication device and it is currently at school, please arrange a time for pick up with your student’s teacher. We will offer 2 opportunities for laptop/device pick up, this Tuesday, April 28th from 11-3 pm and Wednesday, April 29th from 11-3 pm at Ruby Van Meter.
5. Your student’s second learning packet will be arriving at the beginning of the next week on May 4th. This packet will be more individualized based on your student’s current instructional levels. Please contact your student’s teacher if you have any questions.
6. In order to provide higher engagement and opportunities to learn, we have decided to use Microsoft teams to have your student join a virtual classroom. Teachers will be reaching out to you this week to have you join a virtual classroom through a link. They will support you through connecting through your laptop and phone. We have included instructions below.
Virtual classrooms are a way for teachers to connect with students through a live video connection with multiple participants. Teachers and students can talk back and forth as well as students to connect with peers. All participants can use this time to connect with one another, share experiences throughout the closure, ask questions, review lessons, and just say hello while seeing familiar faces. We miss all the students and families and look forward to seeing everyone this week so please join a virtual classroom!
As always, the health and safety of our students, families, and communities are most important. Please continue to follow the CDC guidelines and follow updates from the district on COVID-19.
RVM Administration, Cindy Weisz, Jennifer Brindle-Rothman, Laurel Friedman
710 28th Street Des Moines, Iowa 50312 515-242-8220 Fax: 515-242-8223
Getting Started With Microsoft Teams
Tips and Protocols for Successful Virtual Engagement Check out this Teams Quick Start Guide for a visual overview of the entire platform. Join “Learn about Teams” for detailed directions.
Joining a Virtual Meeting in Teams
Check out this short video resource from Microsoft Teams about joining a virtual meeting. This is a great resource to share with staff members when you send an invitation to a Teams Meeting.
When joining a meeting, start by entering with your mic muted and choosing if you want to appear with video by toggling the three switches underneath the purple Join Now button.
Setting Up and Managing a Virtual Meeting in Teams
Check out this short video resource from Microsoft Teams about creating a virtual meeting and inviting participants. Detailed directions can be found in Learn about Teams on the “Meeting Basics” channel. These are great resources to share with staff members who might be setting their own meetings with PLCs and other teams.
1. Select New meeting in your calendar in Teams.
2. Type in a meeting title and enter a location. An online meeting is created by default.
3. Choose a start and end time and add details as needed.
4. Enter names in the Invite people box to add them to the meeting. Note: To invite someone outside our organization, type in the appropriate email address(es).
5. See DMPS staff availability in the Scheduling assistant to see available times in a calendar view.
During your meeting, do you want to share something on your screen with everyone? Select Share .
Select what you want to share:
• Desktop lets you show everything on your screen.
• Window lets you show a specific app.
• PowerPoint lets you show a presentation.
• Browse lets you find the file you want to show.
• After you select what you want to show, a red border surrounds what you’re sharing.
• Select Stop sharing to stop showing your screen.
Effectively managing a virtual meeting can make it more user-friendly and successful. Try these management tips:
• Ask all attendees to mute the microphones when they aren’t speaking. This improve sound quality.
• Use the Chat in a meeting for questions and responses, or to indicate who wants to speak. Ask another member of your team to moderate the chat, repeat questions verbally for all to hear, or add documents to share.
• Sharing your screen can be helpful when walking through a process or referring to a resource or website.