I'm showing optimism, enthusiasm and dark g toward my students. I offer encouraging feedback throughout my lessons so that my students will achieve high academic standards.
We're putting together a list to share this week. We will feature some of our great SML partners and other material that's helpful. There are a lot of lists out there - what tools do you recommend?
Bites Media! bitesmedia.com/categories New student news website that is easy for kids to read and understand. I tell my kids to read one article a day, and that we will talk about it over dinner. Many of the articles start with a question, and we'll then answer it together. Super easy, and easy to remember (there's so many resources out there, this one is great and engaging!)
Free at-home physical activity resources for families and kids - https://www.bokskids.org/boks-at-home/ - now, more than ever, kids needs to stay active and healthy!
I would like to recommend boomwriter.com . BoomWriter offers a variety of tools, features, and resources that lets teachers conduct fiction, nonfiction, and vocabulary-focused writing assignments inspiring students to write on any subject. I also integrates easily with existing curriculum.
Some decided to be virtual or enroll in our cyber program, but the majority are in person. I teach math at the high school.
probably through the first semester at least.
I connect my laptop to my interactive white board so that whatever I put on the board for my in-person students can be seen by my online students and vice versa. I am thankful for the technology when it works properly. One challenge in lesson design is definitely labs. I try to do short demonstrations and then have the students do a virtual lab to explore, but it is not always possible to find a quality virtual lab that covers the exact skill that you are trying to deliver. If anyone has free or low cost quality virtual lab solutions, please share! I already use Phet Simulations.
I am so amazed at some of my students who have stepped up with thier learning activity. I have online Zoom meetings with these students and just like at school, when we would warm up and take brain-breaks , it is the same. It started slow but it has just grown. I could not have done this without the awesome support of parents. Thank you for helping. I miss a lot of my students and have been sending text messages, emails and shout-out through others students and bus-drivers. <br>I have grown too during this new and different time. I am seeing students having fun with Math too.
The district worked to get every student a Chromebook and, if requested, MiFi. IT and schools pushed instruction on various ways to deliver instruction: Google Classroom, eLearning, and apps such as Padlet, Thinglink, Jamboard, and PearDeck. The weekly schedule was changed to include 4 days of Zoom instruction and 1 async day. <br><br>The issue of safety was paramount. It has paid off in that our district has one of the lowest infection rates of any similarly sized city in the nation. That said, it has been a challenge both for educators and for students. Some students have stated that they prefer the distance learning model and take on the responsibility of attending Zoom class and submitting work regularly. Others wish to return to school, both for social and academic reasons. Tech problems have included poor internet connections, quick expenditure of the limited monthly gigabytes of MiFi, and broken Chromebooks. Students who lack organizational and self-monitoring skills are floundering. Teachers report that they are doing more work than ever before to adjust curriculum and lessons to the more limited minutes, add digital enrichment, and contact with students who either do not respond while in class or fail to sign on at all.<br><br>This week, after a district-wide survey of comfort levels in which 81% of teachers stated that they did not feel comfortable returning to schools in November, our district declared that distance learning would continue, at least until January. The one exception is self-contained Special Education classes. Starting January 4, these SPED classes will resume 4 days weekly, retaining the async day. If some parents opt to keep their children home, this will create the need to adapt to a new hybrid teaching model. Logistics are still being worked out. While it would be a great advantage to be able to work in-person with these students, I am concerned for the safety of our 2 SPED classes that would return. Our school is undergoing major renovation that limits space and affects heating and ventilation. Many of the children and some of the educators have health problems that, in spite of adherence to a protocol of masks and appropriate cleaning, could be exacerbated by poor ventilation or by increased risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
Wednesday is a remote PD day for all teachers, allowing time for building, district, and department collaboration.
Wish my district would do this. We didn't do a good job of saying that online is available the ENTIRE school year. Blah.
My district is full in person (Connecticut) with the exception of our high schools due to size. They are operating on a 2 cohort model. Each cohort rotates coming to school in person, one day in, one day distance.