Category: Distance Learning

January 5, 2021

Online Teaching Essentials

Are you teaching online this year? After having taught online last May-June, we are back at it again this week! Launching 2021 virtual style! The only difference this time… I am prepared with my online teaching essentials.

1. Quiet (and comfortable) space

This may seem a little obvious, but a quiet and comfy spot for you to teach is a MUST!

I have a cozy pink armchair and a fluffly blanket for my lap pulled up to an IKEA collapsable table with my lamp, laptop, iPad and notebooks. It is the perfect little spot for me to teach my kiddos!

2. Zoom

I am a HUGE fan of Zoom! My School Board was also very fortunate to register for the free Zoom services during the beginning of the pandemic.

It is super user friendly for the littles and bigs alike. My students can logon from any device and are able to independently navigate the app during our meetings.

All you need is a device with a camera and a microphone. My go-to for teaching is my Macbook Air.

Google Meet is another great option, however students need a gmail to logon and our Board only allows student email activation as of Grade 3. (I teach 2nd Grade.)

3. Seesaw

Talk about an ONLINE TEACHING ESSENTIAL!

Seesaw is an absolute MUST in my books! I love how user friendly it is and how many functions it has!

I used Seesaw both in the classroom and online. It allows me to easily assign work and allow students to share pictures and activities with me. It is the perfect student engagement tool that keeps my kiddos inspire, my families connected and saves me a TON of time!

My school has a Seesaw for Schools account allowing you to have access to more functions. If your school can afford it ($7CAD/student), I would absolutely recommend this! But I have also used the regular Seesaw account and it was still great!

4. Online Expectations

Having clear expectations for your students is so important. I like to spend a good amount of time going over expectations with my students. I usually make a chart as a class on the first day and then present a poster the following day. Having the students participate will help them feel more responsible.

Here are two of my favourite posters I made for my own classroom:

5. Visual Online Icons

Having visual cues for your students will save you a ton of time while teaching online! They make online learning a breeze and help give students a visual reminder without stopping your lesson. while keeping your students engaged in the lesson. I love using my Zoom Meeting Icons with my kiddos. They are super helpful!

Online learning can be a challenge, especially for our students as they are trying to navigate a new platform. Visual online icons help clarify your instruction and help your students locate the icons you want them to use.

ONLINE TEACHING ESSENTIALS

I hope that these 5 Online Teaching Essentials help make your life a little easier! Teaching online is not an easy task, but you got this!

P.S. Be sure to check out my post from last May during our first lockdown!

May 19, 2020

2 Months of Quarantine

It has now been a little over 2 months since I have been away from my students. It is absolutely heartbreaking to not be able to do what I love, but I am pulling through and trying my best to keep busy!

Let me fill you in a little bit…

There have been many mixed feelings about the fact that schools are closed in Montreal, QC, but for me the most frustrating part has been the fact that our Ministry of Education has mandated that we DO NOT TEACH during this time. Not only is this having an affect on the public’s view of teachers, but it is also taking a toll on the teachers and students themselves.

First we were told that we would be closed for two weeks and we were NOT to contact our students. It was considered a “vacation”. Then we were told to send out government documents to keep students active academically. Then we were told to reach out to students with special needs, but no one else. Then the Ministry realized that students are missing their routines and their teachers/classrooms and we were asked to contact all students but DO NOT TEACH. Then we were told to keep in regular contact with our students, but that it would be optional, and again DO NOT TEACH.

I have been very fortunate that I have been able to meet with my students online 3 times a week. It has been absolutely wonderful and I have loved every moment online with my students, but I cannot wait to be able (and allowed) to TEACH. What I would give to be able to work with my students online and help them continue along their learning journey! Fingers crossed that we can start getting that ball rolling in the coming weeks. We’re just waiting for our official mandate from the Ministry of Education and what their plan is for the remainder of the school year.

We were originally scheduled to open on May 25th and we were working hard to get our classrooms ready to receive our students. Here are some pictures of the BEFORE and AFTER (keep in mind the BEFORE pictures were taken when I walked into my classroom for the first time in 2 months since we closed).

I was so excited to finish my room and even more excited by the possibility of having my students in my classroom again! But alas, it will have to wait until next year.

In the meantime, I am staying connected with my students and hoping that we will be able to start online teaching to give our students a bit of an extra boost before the year comes to an end.

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

April 6, 2020

Distance Learning

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!