Day One of Online School
Monday, March 17, 2020
Today, I started teaching from home. It feels strange. It is not what I would have chosen, but it is what I must do to keep myself and my students safe. I didn't really know what to expect from this. We had very little time to prepare. Not all of my students have reliable internet or devices at home. I didn't know how much parental support they would get.
I started my day by putting announcements and assignments on Google Classroom. I created a brief video of myself greeting them and giving them an overview of what I expected. I tried to focus on the positive and told them that I am learning new technology that I can use next year and invited them to share the positives they can find in this whole awful situation.
Then I sat back and waited, wondering if any of them would even check in to see what I had created. I got my first student question at 8:10, and they continued fairly regularly for most of the day. These kids were up and working at regular school time. They reached out with questions. They wrote meaningful entries in their Writer's Notebooks. One even praised my first attempt at creating my own video. My heart was filled with love for them. I could not be more proud of these kids, who have gone beyond my expectations in these difficult times. They give me hope.
Today, I started teaching from home. It feels strange. It is not what I would have chosen, but it is what I must do to keep myself and my students safe. I didn't really know what to expect from this. We had very little time to prepare. Not all of my students have reliable internet or devices at home. I didn't know how much parental support they would get.
I started my day by putting announcements and assignments on Google Classroom. I created a brief video of myself greeting them and giving them an overview of what I expected. I tried to focus on the positive and told them that I am learning new technology that I can use next year and invited them to share the positives they can find in this whole awful situation.
Then I sat back and waited, wondering if any of them would even check in to see what I had created. I got my first student question at 8:10, and they continued fairly regularly for most of the day. These kids were up and working at regular school time. They reached out with questions. They wrote meaningful entries in their Writer's Notebooks. One even praised my first attempt at creating my own video. My heart was filled with love for them. I could not be more proud of these kids, who have gone beyond my expectations in these difficult times. They give me hope.
Glad it is going well so far!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like it went well and your students are motivated to learn. While this is a challenging time for all of us I really feel good things will come out of it. I feel like students and parents (and hopefully the general public) are going to appreciate us more. I start remote learning on 3/23. My district is providing remote training for us this week. I very much appreciate the time to learn.
DeleteOh, training would have been wonderful! We didn't get that, but I am learning from some of my colleagues. Our district leadership committee sent out an email looking for feedback from us, and as we shared, we ended up helping each other.
DeleteAww this is awesome. I love when I can feel teacher love in what they say. It is a weird, difficult time, but people like you I think will be just fine. What lucky kids! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete