Schools, Arkansas PBS offer services amid virus

A classroom is shown in this 2015 file photo.
A classroom is shown in this 2015 file photo.

Arkansas organizations are making services available to aid teachers and parents of elementary and secondary school students who will be doing academic lessons at home for the remainder of this school year.

The services were announced in the wake of Gov. Asa Hutchinson directing that all school buildings be closed to on-site instruction as a way to slow the state's spread of the coronavirus that causes covid-19. Public school students are to do school work at their homes using online and paper packets of lessons and in consultation with their teachers.

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, a Hot Springs public residential school for gifted and talented juniors and seniors, is making available academic content and resources for use by teachers statewide. Those resources are online at asmsa.me/resources.

Instructors involved in the residential high school's Coding Arkansas' Future and Advanced Biology Plus programs provide advice for anyone who may not have conducted remote instruction before. Additionally, Arkansas educators can find lessons from the school's physics and mathematics instructors as well as college admissions tips and other resources.

The Arkansas Center for Exceptional Families, working with experts in the state, is hosting a series of Zoom webinars to support families with children who have disabilities. The first webinar will be at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Leaders of the sessions include Ann Shillingford-Butler, Renee Speight, Peggy Schaefer-Whitby and Kashena Ross.

The specific topic is "Managing Stress and Daily Routines."

The purpose of the series of three webinars is to provide parents with useful information and support during the covid-19 pandemic. The webinar series comes as parents of all children -- including those with special needs -- are serving as teacher, therapist and playmate to their children.

The Center for Exceptional Families is sponsoring the webinars by sending registration information to the families it serves across the state.

The center has set up a Facebook event page for registration at www.facebook.com/events/671451206952618/

PBS

Arkansas PBS has expanded its viewing options for students in kindergarten through eighth grades who are using, or would like to use, the public television network's education resources.

Livestreaming, new broadcast channels in gap areas and access through mobile apps and on other devices are available to students and their teachers and families using alternative methods of instruction, or AMI.

The educational programming and classroom materials are produced in partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

The current "Arkansas AMI" broadcast model will continue through April 17, and Arkansas PBS will work with the state education agency to determine the next steps as long as kids are out of school due to covid-19. "Alternative methods of instruction" is what the state of Arkansas calls the lessons done by students at home when schools are closed for reasons that can include inclement weather, contagious diseases or utility failures.

"We listened to viewers who are in gap areas of our broadcast coverage and have been working diligently with cable and satellite providers -- and the Arkansas Cable Television Association -- to establish our Arkansas PBS channel in those areas,"Arkansas PBS Executive Director Courtney Pledger said.

"Additionally, by making the content, including 'Arkansas AMI,' accessible across platforms, we're ensuring that every family has access to our educational programming during this critical time, no matter where they live."

Expanded Arkansas PBS broadcast coverage includes West Memphis on Comcast/Xfinity cable channel 151, and cable channel 17 in Texarkana on Sparklight, formerly Cable One.

ALTERNATIVE METHODS

Viewers can currently watch "Arkansas AMI" on the following platforms:

• A daily broadcast on ARPBS-1, the main channel of what was formerly called the Arkansas Educational Television Network, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 17. Additional information, including content by grade and related resources, is available at myarkansaspbs.org/arkansasami.

• Livestream at myarkansaspbs.org/arkansasami.

• On demand by 10 a.m. each day, and archived, at myarkansaspbs.org/arkansasami. These videos will remain available for the entirety of school closures due to covid-19 and longer as online rights allow.

• The free Engage Arkansas PBS app for iPhone and Android.

• The PBS Video app on mobile and streaming devices, including Apple TV and Roku.

• The Arkansas PBS channel for YouTube TV subscribers.

Five Arkansas Teachers of the Year host segments of each AMI day. The daily schedule of program blocks is:

• 8-9:30 a.m.: Grades Pre-K through two.

• 9:30-11 a.m.: Grades three through five.

• 11 a.m.-1 p.m.: Grades six through eight.

Content is aligned with current state and federal standards. The programming is flexible enough to serve as both supplemental and fundamental basis for instruction based on the needs of school districts.

The Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education sends digital packets of materials, including materials in Spanish, to each school district, and schools will determine how to distribute these materials to families. Lesson plans can be downloaded by individuals, parents, caretakers and others who want to use the resources at myarkansaspbs.org/arkansasami.

Additionally, PBS is partnering with World Channel on a content block for students in grades six through 12, which will be made available from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday on ARPBS-4 World, an Arkansas PBS digital subchannel. Information on how to watch World Channel is available at myarkansaspbs.org/channelinformation.

Anyone needing assistance with the broadcast or finding Arkansas PBS on TV should contact Arkansas PBS at 1-800- 662-2386 or at info@myarkansaspbs.org. Help with educational instruction is available by contacting the Arkansas PBS education team at (501) 682-0317 or AMIhelp@myarkansaspbs.org. Assistance is available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

MORE SITES

Other resources offered by Arkansas PBS include:

• Arkansas PBS Kids (ARPBS-3), an Arkansas PBS digital subchannel that supports early learning by broadcasting PBS Kids programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

• Free national and local resources through Arkansas PBS LearningMedia.

• Teacher training and professional development through the ArkansasIDEAS professional development portal, which currently serves 60,000 users throughout the state.

• An Arkansas PBS LearningMedia resource page, available at ideas.myarkansaspbs.org, to aid teachers and parents in kids' at-home learning. Users can search for the age range that most accurately applies to their students -- ages 3-5, ages 6-11, and ages 12 and over -- to be connected with resources, educational videos, activities and games.

• Schoolhouse Daily email messages that offer tips and activities for those with kids home from school. Anyone may sign up at myarkansaspbs.org/engage.

Additional information about the modified broadcast schedule, available online resources and virtual professional development opportunities is available at myarkansaspbs.org.

Metro on 04/08/2020

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