I wanted to start this blog with the words “Great Job” because every teacher reading this right now deserves to hear those words. You are doing a great job with what you’re going through, whether you’re the teacher parent trying to keep your own kids sane while creating lessons for your students or you’re the first year teacher that was thrown into this with no preparation and no good-bye for your first class. Just like you, I never imagined something like this happening in my teaching career. We are in this whirlwind together. So what next?

We don’t know what’s coming in the fall or what the fall will look like, but we can control the now by doing special things for our students to maintain a relationship, continuing to create lessons for the students participating, and continuing to communicate with each other through this time to know we aren’t alone.

Relationships

This past week I gifted each student a pot, some seeds, and a note that said “I miss watching you grow” postcard. I had the extra pots from my own planting, which is how I got the idea, and how adorable are those seed packets? Mother’s Day is over, but you can still gift these to your students as an “I miss you” present!

I also mailed these this week to May birthdays, which are in the postcard link above, by Carolyn Hacker @Carolyns Creative Classroom on TeachersPayTeachers.

Lessons

Need an example of a lesson? We are using Classkick for our current virtual learning, and I create the math lessons for our grade level. We use Everyday Math, but I sometimes split the lessons into 2 days because we have time and some students need extra practice, so I use other resources. This is a combination of EVDM and a graphing resource by My Teaching Pal found here. I also used Powtoon to create the video in the beginning, which can be found here. Using Google Slides, a screen recorder, or PowToons, you can easily create videos to teach your students.

Virtual Meet-Ups

Whether you are using Zoom or Google Classroom, there are some fun things you can do with your students to make Zooms more fun and engaging! I usually have a guest staff member read us a book on Mondays and then do a virtual field trip on Wednesdays. Need ideas for virtual trips? No problem! Here are some that I have done over the last couple of weeks!

1. National Parks Virtual Field Trip Here you can go on adventures at a variety of National Parks by clicking explore. Horseback riding, scuba diving, glacier climbing, and kayaking are a few of the fun activities in the presentation! Stare at a night sky of constellations or walk through a cave and sky of bats. The fun doesn’t end, and the best part? This is great for any age!
2. Farm Virtual Field Trip This farm is a local place nearby we visited with our class and another class. It was so much fun seeing all the animals. Look local! You never know what your area is offering. Bonus: You can take screenshot pictures to share with students or use in a class end-of-the-year slideshow or project.
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   Monterey Bay Aquarium has a great YouTube Channel with Live Chats and great live cams for a virtual field trip. My class watched the Jelly Fish one in parts. You can explore Monterey Bay’s Website as well. I linked the educator’s page, but feel free to watch the live cams with your class here. The National Aquarium in Baltimore also has a virtual aquarium tour, but I like Monterey Bay’s Live Cams better. I combined both aquariums into my aquarium virtual field trip zoom, which lasted a little longer than normal.

4. Virtual Safari Trip We used Explore live cams to visit Africa, Asia, and our west coast to look at different animals! We even looked at GRACE in Africa to see orphan gorillas and had a local gorilla zookeeper teach us about gorillas and GRACE. This week we have a national park ranger from California joining us!

   

We also celebrate special days! On May 4, we dressed up for Star Wars Day, and I invited our school librarian to read to us, our school nurse and our interventionist have also read to us this past month! This week we are celebrating Dinosaur Day on Friday with our Book Buddies! It’s also celebrated on June 1, so you have time if you’d like to share it with your class! There are some really cool VR dinosaur videos  and you can find information and exhibits here. The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and Google Arts and Culture also have 2 VR videos on YouTube as well. One is about the Brachiosaurus/Giraffatitan and one is about the Rhomaleosaurus. Visit those links to watch dinosaurs come to life!

I want to leave you with this video I watched last week that reminded me that no matter what you are doing, you are doing something and that’s okay! It’s okay that we are all in different places with remote learning. Hopefully the ideas and resources above help you through the last couple weeks until summer. Your students miss you as much as you miss them and continue to do what you’re doing. I always tell my parents in our weekly news “As always, reach out anytime if you need anything.” I’m going to tell the same to you today. If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to other teachers or me. We are in this together.