I still can’t believe this is even happening.
I am a planner. I like to know what is happening next or what is happening on what date. And this entire situation is so unsettling and difficult for planners like me.
Do you feel the same?
Since we are all unsettled and looking for good resources for our students and their families, the best thing I can do right now is share everything I find that looks promising.
But first, a pep talk. These are the same things I keep telling myself every day.
*Accept the uncertainty. Do what you can do and try to let go of what is outside of your control. (Easier said than done. Maybe singing or just saying “Let it Go” will help!)
*Don’t try to be perfect. Give yourself some grace. All of us have been thrown into this situation with zero preparation and we are doing our absolute best. Do what you can do.
*Take care of yourself first. Make sure you are eating healthy-ish, drinking water, getting enough sleep, and moving your body in some way every day.
*Take care of your family. Many of us are home with our own children. While we may also be required to work from home on school tasks, we also have our own children to reassure. Keeping to a routine will help.
*Check on the people you love. Even when you can’t physically check on them, a quick phone call, email, or text reminds them that you’re there and you love them.
*Understand that it is next to impossible to transfer all your content to an online course in a day or a week. You can’t be expected to do that. So focus on review and providing some extension work, but don’t worry about teaching new content as effectively as you would be able to do in your own classroom.
*Remember that your students and their families are stressed. So don’t knock yourself out to create a bunch of stuff that they may or may not be able to pay attention to or even access. It’s better to do a little bit, even if it’s imperfect.
*Encourage your students to use this time for actually reading. Not doing activities about reading or answering questions about reading. Just reading. Provide some interesting articles or stories to read and chances to talk about reading if you want to do that, but don’t try to go too far beyond that.
*Don’t worry about grades or due dates. Allow everything to be open book or open note. Encourage your students to communicate and collaborate with you and with other students. Show compassion for yourself AND for your students.
*Set up a schedule for yourself, but don’t be too rigid. I am trying to follow a 90 minutes of work/30 minutes of a break schedule. I’ll let you know how it goes!
*Within your schedule, consider setting up “office hours” for when you will respond to students’ or parents’ emails or when you will be available online to answer questions. You may not need this, depending on your own teaching situation.
Now, for more free resources! These resources are for teachers planning for distance learning or resources to be shared with parents.
If you prefer a downloadable PDF of these resources, here ya go!
Resources to Share with Parents
*Parents’ guide to Google classroom
*Possible home learning schedule from Khan Academy
Packets to print, if needed
Reading resources
*Reading comprehension practice
Scholastic learn at home daily projects
*Storyline – videos of famous people reading great children’s literature
*Novel Effect app — adds sound effects, music, and character voices to reading
Writing resources
*Ask your students to write a daily journal & document what is going on right now. Depending on students’ ages, they could do some research on COVID-19 and include that in their own account of what is happening, how we are responding, and how our worlds have changed.
Math resources
*EdPuzzle resources listed by topic and grade
*Figure This! – math challenges for families
Content area resources
*Scholastic learn at home – daily projects
*Free science experiments resource on Teachers Pay Teachers
*Fun & easy science experiments for kids
Now — how to organize all this stuff?!
*Schedule with free resources listed by grade level – I love this!
*Classcraft – this looks promising as a way to motivate & engage students to “stay the course” with online learning
Just for fun resources
*Virtual reality field trips HERE, HERE, and HERE.
*Virtual tour of the White House
*Virtual rides at Disney parks!
*150+ educational shows on Netflix
*Free art lessons every day on Facebook Live at 1 p.m.
*Great list of authors & illustrators going live to keep kids engaged with reading and art!
*Disney imagineering curriculum
*Videos of fun and uplifting songs to share with kids:
~Bruno Mars – Count on Me
~A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman
~Found Tonight – duet with Lin-Manuel Miranda & Ben Platt
~Into the Unknown from Frozen II
That’s all for now. As I keep researching resources for my own students, I’ll keep a list and write another post. Subscribe to be sure you see the next round of resources!
If you think it’s helpful, please share this post!
Last thing — here is the updated PDF of resources from both of my blog posts, in case you want to download!
Take care of yourself. This is a very stressful time and you are doing such important work. Be well and be safe.