Wow! It has been quite some time since I have made a post on my Blog! I have been keeping myself quite busy with lesson planning, everyday classroom life, creating content for my TPT store, and getting things done in my own personal at-home-life. Hey, I even got engaged on July 5th, 2019! YAY! (Best day EVER!)
I decided that now was a better time than any to get back online and continue posting to my blog. Especially given that I am off until at least May 1st, but who knows what will happen!
I have to admit that, at first, I was very excited to be off. One, I thought it was very important for the good and health of everyone around us, but second because I was just all around EXHAUSTED. Teacher life is harder than you might think! I have 21 unique individuals that I am passionately fighting for on a daily basis. Those 21 kiddos are my entire world (and my fiancé and dog too, of course!). When I come home from a day at school, I am reading up new teaching strategies, scanning Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration and lesson planning my butt off! It is a full time job (day and night) that you have to love. And love it I DO! So the idea of having a week off to save the world and recharge my batteries at the same time seemed like a gift too good to be true.
But 1 week turned into more than I had bargained for. As the weeks progressed, I became more and more heartbroken and frustrated that I couldn’t do the thing that made me happiest; TEACHING. I ran out of things to clean and organize, got bored of watching Netflix and tired of playing Animal Crossing (yes, unheard of, but so true). I just wanted to teach!
After we were asked not to reach out to parents and students in order to allow the school board and government to give a consistent message, I became more and more frustrated. All I wanted to do was check in on my students! I missed them terribly and knew that, for some of them, school was their safe/happy place.
I was overjoyed when we were finally given the go ahead, and in fact mandated as a school community, to reach out to our students. I guess everyone finally understood that communication from school to student was important and in some ways ESSENTIAL to the wellbeing of our students and their families.
Today, I started my journey in distance learning. And boy was I over the moon!!!!
Now, working in a public school, we cannot make our meetings mandatory and as the government has stipulated, this is an academic break so we cannot teach new material. We are simply to reach out and keep a line of communication open so that our students feel connected and safe during these difficult times. That being said, this is a school team effort and can be done in any way that we can, especially given that every teacher’s situation is unique.
I am very lucky to just have myself, my fiancé and our dog at home, leaving me lots of time to give to my students. With encouragement from our school’s administrative team, I decided to hold weekly Virtual Classroom Meetings via Zoom!
Today was our first meeting and it has already had a huge impact on my mood and outlook on things during these difficult times. I was overjoyed to see my students’ smiling faces and so excited to hear what they have been up to these past few weeks at home with their families. They had so many wonderful things to share and were genuinely excited and happy to see their classmates. I cannot WAIT for our next meeting (only 2 more sleeps!!!).
I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to meet with my students virtually and am hopeful that we can all stay home and stay safe so that I can soon given them each a big hug in person!
Talk to you all soon! Stay home! Stay safe! Save lives!
I decided that now was a better time than any to get back online and continue posting to my blog. Especially given that I am off until at least May 1st, but who knows what will happen!
I have to admit that, at first, I was very excited to be off. One, I thought it was very important for the good and health of everyone around us, but second because I was just all around EXHAUSTED. Teacher life is harder than you might think! I have 21 unique individuals that I am passionately fighting for on a daily basis. Those 21 kiddos are my entire world (and my fiancé and dog too, of course!). When I come home from a day at school, I am reading up new teaching strategies, scanning Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration and lesson planning my butt off! It is a full time job (day and night) that you have to love. And love it I DO! So the idea of having a week off to save the world and recharge my batteries at the same time seemed like a gift too good to be true.
But 1 week turned into more than I had bargained for. As the weeks progressed, I became more and more heartbroken and frustrated that I couldn’t do the thing that made me happiest; TEACHING. I ran out of things to clean and organize, got bored of watching Netflix and tired of playing Animal Crossing (yes, unheard of, but so true). I just wanted to teach!
After we were asked not to reach out to parents and students in order to allow the school board and government to give a consistent message, I became more and more frustrated. All I wanted to do was check in on my students! I missed them terribly and knew that, for some of them, school was their safe/happy place.
I was overjoyed when we were finally given the go ahead, and in fact mandated as a school community, to reach out to our students. I guess everyone finally understood that communication from school to student was important and in some ways ESSENTIAL to the wellbeing of our students and their families.
Today, I started my journey in distance learning. And boy was I over the moon!!!!
Now, working in a public school, we cannot make our meetings mandatory and as the government has stipulated, this is an academic break so we cannot teach new material. We are simply to reach out and keep a line of communication open so that our students feel connected and safe during these difficult times. That being said, this is a school team effort and can be done in any way that we can, especially given that every teacher’s situation is unique.
I am very lucky to just have myself, my fiancé and our dog at home, leaving me lots of time to give to my students. With encouragement from our school’s administrative team, I decided to hold weekly Virtual Classroom Meetings via Zoom!
Today was our first meeting and it has already had a huge impact on my mood and outlook on things during these difficult times. I was overjoyed to see my students’ smiling faces and so excited to hear what they have been up to these past few weeks at home with their families. They had so many wonderful things to share and were genuinely excited and happy to see their classmates. I cannot WAIT for our next meeting (only 2 more sleeps!!!).
I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to meet with my students virtually and am hopeful that we can all stay home and stay safe so that I can soon given them each a big hug in person!
Talk to you all soon! Stay home! Stay safe! Save lives!
