School and the City

Teaching from home isn't easy, but these must-haves for distance learning can make it a little more manageable. It's been a learning curve for all of us - teachers, students, and parents alike. Below you'll find some products that I've found to make teaching remotely a little easier. 1. Mini Tripod This mini tripod (which doubles as a selfie stick - ha!) is great for recording read alouds. In the spring, I would use it to record a few chapters at a time of our current novel. It is adjustable in many directions, so it's also great for recording instructional videos using your phone. It's small, folds up nicely, and therefore is really easy to store, pack, and carry around. 2. Mini Ring Light If you're using your phone to record videos, you might like this clip-on ring light . It clips onto your phone easily to provide better lighting for those read alouds. It can clip on to your laptop, too, if you have a front-facing camera on...

You asked for more information about making video lessons for students during distance learning. I've got you covered! Read on, teacher friend. Why are you prerecording videos? I've moved to an interventionist role this year. Because of that, my program isn't starting up right away and I won't have students assigned to me for the first few weeks. Of course, this year is far from normal, so we've decided that I'll spend some time creating a bank of standards-based videos for the students (and teachers) that I will be working with this year. I'm recording short minilessons that teachers can send to parents/students if they need extra support outside outside of the synchronous learning that they are doing. When I start meeting with my students, it will be live, not prerecorded. What do you use to record your videos? I use my school laptop to record videos. I got lucky with an upgrade right before COVID, so the video and audi...

Are you using Microsoft Teams for distance learning? I am!  Although we used it some in the spring, there’s a lot to learn now that we will be fully implementing synchronous and asynchronous learning via Microsoft Teams this fall.  I recently earned my Microsoft Innovative Educator badge and I’ve learned so much. I’m determined to make these tools work for me, and I’m happy to share some insight I’ve learned with you regarding using Microsoft Teams for distance learning. Need-to-Know Teams Tools  Channels Use channels to create breakout groups, small groups, whatever you need. You can “Meet Now” in any channel. Naming channels strategically will help your young students navigate the Teams platform. Check out these examples below.  If you have small groups, you can make specific channels visible to only specific students. For example, only the blue dolphin students would be able to see and access the blue dolphin group. The blu...

Here we go, back to school, via distance learning! Are you still expected to do reading small groups, or should we say virtual guided reading? This is going to be tricky, y'all. I've been brainstorming, and I have some tips for you. My Favorite eBooks If you don't have an Epic account yet, make one NOW. I am not affiliated with Epic in any way, but I do love it - almost as much as my students do. Epic is free for teachers, and also free for students to use during the school day. Whether you are face-to-face or distance learning, your kids will LOVE Epic. Epic has a wide range of eBooks of all kinds: picture books, chapter books, fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, trendy books and classics... the options are endless. These ebooks will be perfect for use during virtual guided reading groups. Search by topic, genre, or even guided reading level! Simply share your screen when meeting live with students, that way you can all "share...

Are you face-to-face or virtual? My district is currently all virtual, at least for the time being. I want to make sure that you are equipped to use resources you already have with your students, albeit digitally. Use what you already have - no need to completely reinvent the wheel! I have three tips for you to use PDF resources digitally. Work smarter, not harder! I'm going to use my text features products as the examples, which are great to tie in science and social studies content with your literacy instruction! 1. Grab Only the Pages You Need If you are emailing resources to parents, here's a trick to end up with only the pages you need from a PDF document. Go to "File," then "Print" like you normally would to print. Select the pages you want to use. Find the spot to designate the printer. Instead of a printer, though, choose "PDF" or "Save as PDF." Make sure to name your new document specif...

I'm still shocked and in disbelief, but here we are planning for the first week of virtual school. We will be starting the school year virtually this year. In the past, I've shared with you my day-by-day plans for the first week of school . These plans won't exactly work this year, but many elements will. While I don't know exactly what "school" is going to look like this year, I do know that the first week of virtual school will need to include the same kinds of activities that we usually do in order to set expectations for the year and build relationships with students . Setting Expectations Use Picture Books My favorite way to discuss behavior expectations is through the use of picture books . If you have hard copies of these books, you can record yourself reading them to your students. If you don't have them or can't access them, try finding read alouds on YouTube or eBooks on platforms like Epic and...

I have virtual class meetings with my students twice a week. They are not academic - purely for social and community purposes. I give each meeting a theme to give us some structure and something to do! ⁣ Here are the themes I've tried: Would You Rather I prepared a bunch of Would You Rather questions which turned into a whole bunch of silly discussions! Show and Tell Students brought something to show and tell the class about. Many brought pets, of course! Pop a Joke I asked students to bring a joke or a riddle to share with the class. Pro tip: Just stick with jokes... some of the riddles students brought were super long, super confusing, or borderline inappropriate. Jokes are a win-win! Keep the Quote Students were asked to bring an inspirational quote to share during the meeting. ⁣ Before the meeting started, I got nervous that students wouldn’t be prepared to share quotes and that we’d sit there staring at each other with nothing to d...

We've talked a lot about distance learning, remote teaching, whatever you call it. I've shared many ideas regarding distance learning , including specific ideas for using choice boards , recording video minilessons , and celebrating the last week of school . There's something else that's weighing heavy on my heart that we need to talk about and we need to remember: packing up a classroom during this pandemic. For most of us, our classrooms stood frozen in time. My whiteboard said "March 16, 2020," because when students left school the week before, that's when they planned on returning. By 5:00 on March 12, Atlanta schools had been closed indefinitely. If only, IF ONLY, we had had a few more hours notice. We could have sent students home with supplies for learning and some personal belongings. Instead, we had no time to prepare and hoped for the best for the next few weeks at home. March 13th had already been a scheduled teache...

Remote learning isn't going to stop us from having a little fun during our last week of school. The kids are already missing out on so much - field day, yearbook signings, all the themed days... ugh! Breaks my heart. Here's what I have planned in an attempt to make our last week of school still somewhat special and memorable: We aren't supposed to be giving any assignments during this last week of school; it's to be used for students to make up any missed work. So instead of assignments, I'm giving them some optional activities like my End of Year Newspaper Writing Activity . Because I can't print them for the kids, I created a digital version! You can use it with Google Classroom or Seesaw. I'm sure there are other options out there, but those are the two I'm familiar with! Check it out here on TPT. Themed Days During the Last Week of School I hate that we'll be missing out on our typical, last-w...

We're missing out on one of the most special times of the year for students... the end of the year, which usually includes field day and an end of year party! Our administration encouraged us to start thinking about how to host a virtual celebration for students. We'll be having our virtual party on the last day of school. Here's the plan... My team and I decided to create a little "party in a bag." You see, I'll be heading into my classroom in a few days to pack up for the summer. That will include bagging up students' belongings for them to come and pick up. The "party in a bag" will go INSIDE the bag of students' belongings, which they will pick up during the last week of school. My class is going to have a virtual luau. I made this decision based on what I could find on Amazon. I needed stuff that was cheap and could be shipped quickly since I don't have much time to prepare. What's in the bag? Ins...