School and the City

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...

Y'all know how much a love a good choice board. (Not familiar? Read all about it here .) I'm using choice boards while teaching remotely, too! While we teach remotely, it's even harder than it is in the classroom to empower students with choice and voice while also providing relevant, engaging, and rigorous activities. However, my choice boards are designed to be completed independently. In the classroom, choice board time is typically reserved for early finishers. But now, I'm assigning students the task of choosing an activity from the choice board to complete as the assignment for the day. This won't work for every day, of course, but I'm attempting to incorporate it at least once a week as the day's "assignment." It's also a "May Do" option for students to choose to work on! magnets choice board Here's how I'm Getting My Choice Boards to Students: First, I edit the choice board to...

I've already shared 5 Ideas for Distance Learning , but I thought we'd look a little deeper into one topic today: recording video minilessons to send your students during this time of remote learning. What a crazy time this is. We're all doing our best and we all have different expectations, but one thing most of us have in common is that we have become overnight YouTubers - ha! We've had to learn a lot of new skills very quickly, without any advance notice. Creating videos for students is NOT easy, especially without experience and materials. I’m recording SUPER short videos to post for my kids daily. I want them to “see” me every day. When I surveyed students and parents, they said the videos were helpful, so I’m trying to keep it up. Here are a few things I've learned so far: One of the biggest struggles is to teach math remotely... without manipulatives. Did you know about Glencoe’s Virtual Manipulatives? This FREE website is a virtu...

I last saw my students on Thursday (not knowing it would be the last time for a while) and I got into my classroom for a few hours on Friday morning to prepare for distance learning. It was weird to walk out of my classroom not knowing when we’ll return. ⁣ ⁣ This week, I started “teaching” from home. I emailed parents on Monday morning with students’ assignments for the week, and I’m required to be online during my typical contracted hours in order to respond to messages and emails as needed. ⁣ ⁣ It’s going to be weird, y’all, but we’re in this together! The perfectionist in me has had to just take a few deep breaths and realize that we’re just going to have to learn as we go. ⁣ If you're going virtual soon, maybe I can be of some help! Here are a few things I've already learned along the way. 1. Favorite Sites for Distance Learning We'll be using tools that students are already familiar with using in the classroom. This means my kids know how to access...