That's a Wrap

 

... and that's a wrap.  My 2020-2021 school year is over.  My annual tradition of decompressing at the end of the year as summer begins by reflecting upon and blogging the lessons I've learned is still exerting some pull over me because, well, habits are habits, but goodness... this year has been a doozie. 

I started with twelve "all mine" remote-learning kindergarteners at the beginning of the year, and by the end, finished with seven original Dream Teamers and two mid-year transfers.  In total, I taught forty-eight students, several of them repeat visitors due to multiple exposures to COVID-19.  Because my exposure when Dear Husband tested positive occurred over winter break, my absences from work were limited. The subs I had on those days were brave, turning themselves into instructional hosts akin to Mr. Rogers on the television screen, though I suspect they were glad that I didn't ask them to put on puppet shows.  

I watched colleagues who taught students on-site at the ends of two long hallways empty their classrooms of furniture and engineer six feet of distance between their students while trying to remember to create and maintain distance between themselves and their learners, the absolute opposite of what any of us were trained or wanted to do.  I witnessed grade-level planning happening with team members standing in their classroom doorways, shouting through masks to one another as they collaborated. I saw the encouragement of confidentiality when colleagues tested positive and/or became ill and for the first time in my career, read not only care and concern in the eyes of teachers and staff when they discovered a colleague would be out of the building for two weeks, but fear. Was I exposed to COVID?  How close were we when we walked to the gym/staff lounge to put our lunches in the refrigerator?  I unsuccessfully tried to calm my anxiety every time a staff member forgot to wear a mask, or chose to mis-wear one because their personal discomfort (or belief that COVID19 was a global hoax) was an inconvenience against which they decided to semi-passively rail.  My need for self-care grew exponentially each time my self-preservation button was casually brushed up against. 

I signed many more sympathy cards than in years past as colleagues lost their parents and grandparents.

I eventually conceded to the utilization of a predictable daily routine, complete with scripted Google Slides that were created a week in advance.  Spontaneity just didn't work for families who needed and wanted to rely upon a school schedule that could mesh with their home routine. My remote-learning colleague was wonderful in helping to plan our students' lessons, activities and special crafts a month in advance, and we kept our communication with our families as consistent as possible. We did what we felt was best for both our students and our guest kindergarteners, and I believe our families could feel the care that we put into teaching.  Administrators didn't police us much, but I can't say whether that was by design or simply because we weren't starting any fires.  Having the autonomy to create our own learning program is an experience I doubt we'll ever forget. 

Tech being glitchy doesn't instill panic in me any longer.  Sometimes it's the platform or website that is having an issue.  Sometimes you just have to close out all the apps, shut down the iPad, and let it rest for a few minutes before powering it up again.  After the ninth new update to the operating system installs itself, the day continues, and so does the learning... in most cases.  I'm glad I was able to create digital resources not only for my students but for colleagues in the district who were able to use them in their on-site classrooms, and I will be forever grateful for all of the sharing teacher communities on social media who donated their own creations in kind.  My device and equipment list for the year included: 

• Laptop; laptop stand (purchased by me)
• iPads: teacher (it was my second screen for Zoom, displaying my students' faces, and often their parents' faces and backsides, with regular appearances from siblings, pets and stuffed animals) and student (so I could model all apps and step in as an initial help desk of sorts)
• iPencil: I fiddled with it once but never used it again, preferring to model writing and drawing using our regular writing tools 
• Logitech camera, gifted by admin at the Board Office: the extra camera made it possible for me to share other spaces in our classroom daily without giving everyone motion-sickness by carrying my laptop to a new location.  It could pan out to include a view of an entire wall of anchor charts, and zoom in close easily with its handy dandy little remote.  My students were able to see and experience storytime with big books and art lessons modeled by me using a regular kindergarten painting easel. I went from a laptop on a milk crate to a command station pretty quickly:

• Document camera: for displaying books, worksheets, etc. onto the....
• SMARTBoard: My daily instructional slides appeared as large as a bulletin board.  Students viewed the board through my laptop and Logitech cameras.  Video content was screen-shared from my laptop via Zoom.
  

• Microphone: speakers located in multiple ceiling tiles kept me from having to use my "teacher voice" in locations that weren't within the immediate vicinity of my laptop. 

• Additional camera (purchased by me) for a desktop computer that I used from my teacher's desk when my laptop was being repaired. 

I know that other remote teachers used fewer devices and equipment than I did, but I just couldn't bring myself to teach in a sitting position all day.  Having my laptop and Logitech camera on an old media cart in front of the SMARTBoard made it possible for me to stand, change locations in the classroom, and share more of our learning environment with my students.

This year became a standalone teaching experience for me, stretching from last March when the stay-at-home order was first issued through yesterday when I signed off of Zoom for the last time with my Super Stars and their families.  Despite some semblance of normalcy provided by curriculum, routine and even decor, I'll admit to having to look through photographs to remember a lot of the finer details of what happened this year.  So much has to be brain-dumped when you're literally trying to stay alive while having to appear professional as you're doing it.  My Super Star Families were gracious, supportive, and (almost all) on board with what Zoom Kindergarten had to be, and my decision to be a remote teacher for my twenty-fifth year in education and their decision to have their children be remote learners for their first year of school were the right ones for us.  I will always appreciate my district providing the remote-learning option that helped to support the health and safety of me, my family, and my Super Stars and their families. 

Even during a pandemic, it takes a village. 

Staying Flexible: Preparing for School at 6:30 AM on a Sunday

My internal clock doesn't ever allow me to sleep in except when I'm sick, or frankly, recovering from surgery.  Thanksgiving Break?  Up at 5:15 AM.  Winter Break?  Same.  Spring Break?  Still an early bird.  Summer?  A cruel irony: I sleep in by about an hour, max, two or three days before autumn PD starts up again, I kid you not.  So it's not at all unusual that I am up, drinking coffee, eating a breakfast sandwich, and being productive at six-thirty this morning.  What has changed is that I'm not crocheting while catching up on DVRd shows, or reading, or participating in a Twitter chat, or throwing a breakfast casserole into the oven.  I've been navigating some work emails and have been updating instructional materials because the week I planned for has been altered quite a bit.  

"Stay flexible" continues to be my professional mantra, carrying over from 2020.  I volunteered to be a remote learning teacher last fall, and am one of those weird teachers who has actually looked forward to and even enjoyed creating a new learning and teaching environment. I've shifted from trying to make my Zoom and digital experiences "just like" on-site or "real" school (with all of the restrictions that on-site students and teachers have to adapt to, why would I wish any of that upon my class?) and to put it bluntly, my body greatly appreciates having multiple breaks scheduled throughout my day.  That's right, I have five, count them, F-I-V-E intermissions where I can and do use the restroom, e-v-e-r-y day.  In twenty-plus years of teaching, this is the most accommodated my bladder has ever been. 

Unlike past teaching years, my class size can accordion greatly.  I began with twelve of my own "permanent" remote learning students in the fall. Families chose my class because they intended to have their kindergarteners learn safely from home for at least the first semester of school.  Two transferred to on-site learning after parents who had lost their jobs during the spring and summer gained employment ("If I don't take this job and move _______ back to school in-person, we won't have Christmas or be able to pay other bills.") while recently another parent working the night-shift couldn't support his kindergartener's daily Zoom and activity schedule.  As a remote learning kindergarten teacher (I have a grade level partner) I host students who test positive and must isolate or who have a family member who has tested positive and must therefore quarantine for up to two weeks. My class size has grown by one, two, three, six, and last week, by sixteen students overnight. Yes, sixteen. Stay flexible.

SHIKHEI GOH—GETTY IMAGES

Though my entire district moved to remote learning right after Thanksgiving Break, on-site classes begin again tomorrow.  Last Thursday and Friday, district students, their families, and teachers and their families were offered the opportunity to be tested for COVID, and as anyone could have guessed, I've already added at least one new student to my roster.  Should a kindergarten teacher in the district have to quarantine in the future, however, and with an extreme shortage of substitute teachers, there's a chance I could yet again, take on another entire class in addition to my own.

This week all of our middle-of-the-year mandated assessments begin.  Will I be screening ten, eleven, or twenty-five students for dyslexia and STAR Reading, or administering curriculum-based measures for math to children who I have not yet met nor even had the time to build a rapport? I'm also having to take Friday off to accompany my husband to his dental surgery, so I'll need to prepare for a guest teacher who has yet to be assigned since my original sub just received a positive COVID test for a family member. 

You know, even flexible tools like pipe cleaners and wikki stix break apart after being bent one too many times. At what point must others release their grip from the mindset of "we-have-to-make-this-year-as-normal-as-every-other-year-because-we-refuse-to-envision-education-in-any-other-way?" Often our ability to effectively apply self-care relies heavily upon the responsibilities thrust upon us even during our hours away from work. Here's hoping that this latest surge doesn't last long and that I can reclaim some of my time for myself and my family, and that my colleagues and their families can do the same. 

#TeachingInTheTimeOfCOVID

#BloggingIsSelfCareForMe  

December 2020: My Remote Teaching Reflection

On my first full weekday of winter break, I’ve decided to actually take a break. I’ve been a remote-learning kindergarten teacher (voluntarily) since the start of the school year and have been working through the new normal that has impacted my weekends and family time as significantly, if not more so, than the hours, weeks, months, and years that my master’s degree did. This reallocation of my time has broken years-long habits of enjoying hobbies, repeating patterns of morning, noon, afternoon, and evening rituals on autopilot, and of course, blogging. I need a brain-dump that only reflection can provide, so here… we… go. 

Despite assertions at the end of the last school year that I couldn’t predict the requirements my district would consider and eventually implement to accommodate remote learning opportunities for students and families this year, I’m glad I decided to take part in a summer workshop geared toward virtual/online learning that was recommended to me by a former administrator. Bitmoji Classrooms (which are just really, really busy Google Slides if you’d prefer a simple definition), equity in education, tech resources for devices, platforms, and newbies to it all, digital newsletters, podcasting, and my favorite tool since Pinterest, Wakelet boards, have all been resources I’ve utilized and content that I’ve shared with interested and receptive colleagues this semester. I have added more content to my boards and created new ones whenever I’ve stumbled across useful resources. Building a bank of awesome Linktree contributors has helped prevent me from having to create or recreate every digital activity or material, so that particular board has grown the most. 

Developing and settling into a new groove for planning, collaboration and instruction was a big shift, but one I haven’t had to do alone. Though initially dismayed at having been assigned to an additional remote-learning kindergarten position, my partner has demonstrated determination and has had the energy to put her all into her instruction, our synchronized adjustments each time we’ve gained a student (or six) due to quarantines from on-site classrooms, and frankly, collegiality. Having a co-worker who actually says “good morning” and shares some of the normal goings-on in her life on a daily basis and in turn, listens to some of mine, has helped to make this strange situation easier. She’s a finder and a sharer, an asker and a suggester. Kind people who rock reciprocity are cool. 

Despite my love of educational technology, I’ve always varied the tools I’ve put into my previous students’ hands and learning environment, so following a digital-tools-only mandate was never going to work for me. Suggestions for at-home materials such as math manipulatives have had to run the gamut from balls of Play-Doh, rocks from the neighborhood playground, Cheerios, and Barbie shoes. I’ve used my monthly copy-count only twice over the past four months to create bi-monthly work packets of pages that families shouldn’t have to print and that are beneficial to students. Students at home should be able to assemble thematic unit and holiday crafts just as their on-site peers do and are just as deserving of the magic of memories and keepsakes that are usually made within the confines of a school building. I don’t intend to ask for permission (again) or for forgiveness: providing students more, not less, continues to be the right thing to do. 

Before finding out that my job assignment would be as a remote kindergarten teacher at the beginning of the year, I already knew that new protocols and restrictions would be in place for me and my students. I tried to brainstorm ways to balance limitations with new opportunities, such as alternative greetings to hugs and high-fives, and opportunities for digital collaboration rather than physical partnerships at learning centers or my reading table. For remote learning, opportunities abound for students who are sitting on their couches, at the dining room table, on the floor in the basement, or at a makeshift desk tucked into an alcove in the hallway originally intended as a mud space, though a quick scan of some teacher groups on social media makes it abundantly clear that a lot of other teachers don’t feel the same way when it comes to having very little control over learning environments. While not making light of the issues of poverty, the lack of interest for some families in being the best guide on the side that their child could have, or issues with technology (equal access, availability, and general glitchiness), I have to say that I love that my Super Stars can come to each Zoom session with their favorite blanket, stuffed friend, and even a snack. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I have witnessed more awwwwww moments through my laptop camera and iPad screen this semester simply by looking up as I read a story. Multiple frames of five-year-olds hugging blankets and squeezing their stuffed bears, t-rexes, and frilly frou-frou unicorn/princess/octopus whatevers while sucking their thumbs and gazing intently at their iPad screen have stopped me mid-sentence on more than one occasion. And the learning spaces created or adapted for each of them? No one-size-fits-all table, no siree! From little offices or cubbies that resemble clubhouses or forts, to special placemats arranged in a breakfast nook or pillows crammed in a laundry basket underneath a tall table, my students have had a say in the structure of the areas where they have been tuning in. 

My own adjustments haven’t been all sunshine and rainbows... specifically, my own auditory processing issues. While most of my students hear me through their headphones, I hear EVERYONE’S background noises when students unmute themselves, and so do all of the classmates who are captive audiences during instruction. Dogs barking, doorbells ringing, parents loudly managing multiple learners, other teachers’ voices booming from devices used by older siblings in the same room who would rather not wear headphones, younger siblings screaming, spouses teleworking and shouting above everyone else in the next room just to be heard, it’s all excessively jarring and headache-producing. I hear it all at the same volume, which has nothing to do with a knob or setting on a sound mixing board that I can control. And for the only-once-so-far-please-let-it-not-happen-again “I don’t give a SH*T IF YOUR TEACHER CAN HEAR ME! THIS IS MY GOD-DA** HOUSE AND I’LL DO WHAT I WANT” event… well, yes, that one resulted in both a headache and a charley horse as I leaped from the reading table to the rolling cart that houses my laptop and extra camera/speaker in an attempt to “mute all.” My Super Star was mortified, his peers were confused, I was concerned and trying not to scream out in pain, and well, obviously Dad was stressed. Not every hour has been our finest and not every day’s successes have been the ones originally hoped for. 

I miss working in a room full of kindergarteners and their artwork. Not enough to request a return to teaching in-person, though. The same goes for all of the eavesdroppings I used to be able to do every day as Super Stars worked through their daily activities, learning centers, recesses, snack, and instruction within earshot. I miss it but still end up on the receiving end of some kindergarten and parent funnies via Zoom. Teaching remotely while limiting all of our exposure to COVID remains a reasonable trade-off for me. 

I continue to change two of my bulletin boards and some of my classroom décor monthly, even though my Super Stars are likely to never see it all in person. Not putting up bulletin board displays was a line I couldn’t cross. Goodness, I even hang up the results of my own directed drawing activities that my students and I work through during daily writing. Twenty-five years of teaching will do that, I guess. Our classroom can’t just look the part for students, it must feel the part to me. 

 

As curriculum publishers scramble to produce quality digital content and a huge gap continues to exist between teachers who find the use of tech devices and resources intuitive and those who feel it beyond their capabilities, I appreciate not only those teachers who share the content they’ve created (either freely or at cost), but those who collaborate in order to customize the resources that will benefit their students. I don’t have to recreate the wheel when it comes to putting Google Slides activities at the fingertips of my students, and I’m thankful that I know how to create my own content as well. But finding resources and putting them into the queue takes a lot of time, time that would have usually been spent in years past preparing materials with a grade level partner, mentoring a first-year teacher, or helping a colleague restructure her learning center organization during prep. Many teachers trying to make the leap from their file cabinets to their touchscreens are experiencing true stress right now, as are their colleagues who find themselves stretched so thin that they have very little left to give to their teammates, especially as they try to keep something of themselves in reserve so that they can make it home with enough energy to make dinner, clean house, and help their own children work through projects and lessons. Teachers in 2020 are finding it near impossible to do “just one more thing” even if heavy loads in years past were made lighter by many hands. There’s a lot not getting done that needs to be done, and there's really no point in priortizing the fascade that we're making everything as "normal" as possible. Sometimes we must dive into the deep end instead of continuing to dip our toes into the kiddie pool, no matter how frightening it may be.  And sometimes, we have to do it alone.  Bless anyone who has done their part to be the waterwings, buoys and lifeguards in education.

My mind will return to school-mode a few days before I return to the classroom as it must if I’m to create graphic organizers such as a weekly plan, choice boards and instructional slides, organize materials and schedule activities in Google Classroom, and frankly, iron clothes for the first academic week of 2021. But until then I am hoping to enjoy winter break with my family and get some much-needed sleep, which is also my wish for anyone reading this post. 

Happy holidays to you. Stay safe, healthy, and hopeful.

Adventures in Remote Learning: Unmute and Tell Me Your Word

Me: Alrighty, Super Stars, who is ready to add some words to our O and N lists?


(Several hands shoot up into the air onscreen)


Me: Um, okay, ______, unmute and tell me your word.


Star: I have a letter O word.


Me: Awesome! Let me hear it.


Star: Oprah!


Me: Oprah! Yes, "Oprah" is an O word! And because it's the name of a person, we use an uppercase O at the beginning.


Star, interrupting: Uh, Mrs. Sommerville, I said "Oprah," NOT "Oprah."


Me: Ummm... what, honey?


Star: I SAID OPRAH, ****NOT**** OPRAH.


Me: Mmmmmm.... Are you talking about a person, a famous person?


Star: No, no, not a person. It's something you uh, you uh, you eat! (mumbling in the background).... I KNOW Dad, I *AM* explaining it to her!


Me: ... something you eat... do you mean OKRA?


Star: Yes! OPRAH! My dad fries it! (more mumbling in the background)


Me: Okay (writing).... o....k....r....a. Okra. Is that your word, honey?


Star: Uh, I don't know. I don't know how to spell yet.


And right in front of my Star's face a thumbs-up sign being made by an adult hand appeared on the screen.


And that, folks, is how word-list building is happening in this time of Zoom instruction and remote learning.

Student iPad View of Google Classroom: Kindergarten Edition

There's lots of preparation for the upcoming school year going on right now, and technology is at the forefront for me as one of my district's remote learning teachers.  Nothing beats being able to see content the way my Super Stars and their families will, so I appreciate that I was able to obtain an iPad formatted for kindergarteners prior to the first day of instruction.

I have no idea how other grade levels are rolling out their digital devices for students, but I thought it might be helpful to simply show what I've seen as I've navigated to Google Classroom as a mock kindergarten student using a student iPad.  Here... we... go!

I powered up the device, held it upright in the portrait position (not landscape) and found the Google Classroom icon:

After clicking on it, this screen appeared:

I made sure to leave the "Sign up for emails..." box UNCHECKED, tapped the "Get Started" rectangle and logged in using my mock-student Gmail credentials, not an email address issued by the district.  I was taken immediately to the Google Classroom I created (as a teacher) and had invited myself to join via email (as a student) with a "join code." This is the first step that parents will have to help students with.

It's too bad that the header/banner is grayed-out; I'm not entirely sure what the purpose might be behind the platform altering the image from how I created it.  Notice that you can see the photo that is linked to the Gmail account I'm using as a student in the upper right corner on this screen. I don't know what will appear in this space for students accessing Classroom with a district-provided account.

There are no buttons or tabs along the bottom of the screen except for a lone plus sign:

The plus sign in the bottom right corner provides a pop-up where "Join class" and "Create class" are options.  A student will need a class "join code" from any other teacher who invites him/her/them.  Tapping "Create class" produces another pop-up, though I'm unsure if I'm seeing it because I'm a mock student and not an actual student utilizing a district-provided account.  "Join class" would be the only option our students need.

Three little dots appear in the upper right corner of the header/banner:

Tapping the three dots produces a button prompt at the bottom of the screen that offers to "unenroll" you:

If a student clicks on this button accidentally (or not-so-accidentally), a pop-up message with links to either "cancel" or proceed with the choice to "unenroll" appears:

Talk about the OPPOSITE of "handy dandy" when it comes to four, five, and six-year-olds.  I didn't unenroll to see what would happen.  My guess would be that I, as a student, would need to be invited back to the Classroom with another join link provided by my teacher.  I don't know if the classwork I completed prior to unenrolling would be saved, or retrievable.

Moving on...

Tapping the class' name/title "Kindergarten Remote Learning" that appears within the grayed-out header/banner took me to a very similar looking screen, though this time neither my Gmail photograph nor the plus sign appeared while buttons for "Stream," "Classwork" and "People" did at the bottom.  This is the Google Classroom home page:

The message "No posts yet, but check back soon" indicates that I (as the teacher) haven't yet posted messages, announcements, photos, or assignments within Classroom.  It also indicates that I (as a student), haven't commented or shared content on this page, either. Posts by teachers and students will appear on this screen unless teachers adjust the permission settings which will prevent them from being published/shared.  This home or "stream" page can become congested rather quickly, full of text that many kindergarteners themselves won't be able to read. I don't plan on posting much here, and I will be toggling off the appropriate settings button so that every activity I assign won't appear here in an overwhelming list.  Perhaps this page is where I can post a daily learning plan as an announcement instead, and eventually, with lots of guidance and practice, students can respond to content, but my brain isn't ready to tackle that particular adventure just yet.

Clicking on the three horizontal bars in the upper left corner brings up this submenu:

Within this submenu, tapping: 

"Classes" takes me right back to my Kindergarten Remote Learning class.  If I'm enrolled in other classes, their headers/banners would show up so I could select the one I wanted to access.

"Calendar" produces this iTunes and web browser rabbit hole that kindergarteners don't need to fiddle with:

"To-do" takes students to the To-do page, where buttons/tabs appear at the top for work that is "Assigned," "Missing," and "Done." I haven't yet assigned grades to the activities I completed as a student, so I don't know if a "grades" column will be displayed for students.  Teeny tiny arrow up/arrow down buttons to the right of the list allow you to expand or collapse the categories that appear (assignments, or "this week," "next week," or "later:")

"Kindergarten Remote Learning," the name of my Classroom, takes me right back to the main page where the "Stream," "Classwork" and "People" buttons appear at the bottom. 

"Classroom folders" takes a student to their Google Drive via a web browser, where s/he/they will see the class folder.  Clicking on the titled folder opens it and displays all of the assignments/items shared by the teacher.  After only a few days, I imagine this can become a bit crazy to navigate, though the icons are easy to view.  I don't know that I'd ever tell a kindergartener to go into their Google Drive and start hunting and pecking, and I'm not sure parents will be able to avoid being overwhelmed by traveling along this route, either. Using the back arrows at the top of the screen only allows navigation within the browser, so students will have to click the "home" button on the iPad to leave the browser and then find the app icon to return to Google Classroom.

If subfolders aren't created and organized within the Classroom folder (my Classroom is named "Kindergarten Remote Learning"), the photo below shows what students and families will see. I have spent some time trying to create subfolders as a student within my Classroom folder on the iPad this weekend and frankly, I don't recommend it.  Perhaps older students can organize their Drives in a logical manner and with the help of their teachers, but kindergarten students and families may need to be told to simply ignore the Classroom Folder link in the Classroom submenu. Just view assignments using the To-do tab, and avoid the Drive. 

Everything pops up, and this screen is only one day's worth of activities that I've assigned. Remember:  students don't have to open up their Google Classroom's folder via Google Drive in order to access their assignments.  They can simply click on the "To-do" button in the submenu that appears on the Google Classroom homepage via the three horizontal bars in the upper left corner. I just wanted to show you the Google Drive rabbit hole that they (and parents) will encounter if they tap on the "Classroom folder" link in the Classroom's submenu.  

"Settings" opens up options such as "About" (the app's legalese), "Account Settings" (the Google user's info, sign-in and security, personal info/email and account preferences), "Default apps" that includes "get" buttons for other browsers and recommendations for other apps, "Report crashes," "Notifications," and "Google Usage ID," none of which I'd want kindergarteners fiddling with.

DO familiarize yourself with the "Account Settings" link though, because there's a "Remove account from this device" prompt at the bottom of the screen:

Tapping on the prompt produces this pop-up:

Goodness gracious.

Student access to settings and sending Google feedback aren't necessary for kindergarten.  Their parents will be the ones accessing the "Help" button, but there's quite a bit of info within that particular submenu that isn't applicable to parents or students, such as "Grade and give feedback," "Communicate with guardians," "G Suite administrators" and other "teachers only" information.  Goodness, the rabbit holes. 

Finally, when we're back on the Classroom homepage, where "Stream," "Classwork" and "People" buttons appear at the bottom, the "People" tab brings up a list of teachers and I'm assuming other classmates.  When I click on my (teacher) name, no pop-up window appears, so it doesn't seem to be a communication link.

Whew.

As a reminder, I held the student iPad upright, in the portrait position for this navigation tour.  Holding the device in the landscape position simply shortens and widens the screen display.  No button, tab, or submenu locations change or have to be tracked down in some other place. 

Now that you've endured eye-strain and my overuse of "rabbit holes," "goodness gracious," and "fiddling," I'll save showing you how a Google Slide activity assigned in Classroom accessed by students via an iPad may confuse them with a preview of that activity in PDF form (that is also editable and submittable) rather than going directly into Slides itself for another blogpost.

Okie dokie, artichoke-y?

Bulletin Board: Together is Our Favorite Place to Be

I'm one of my district's two remote learning kindergarten teachers, and moved from a classroom I've occupied for twelve years into a new space that amazingly, has been an ideal fit for my materials, curriculum, and virtual learning plans.  While the bulletin board displays within the space will be easy to reference during live Zoom instruction and photograph for close-ups that can be added to Google Slides or elsewhere, this year my own students won't be navigating the school's hallways or displaying their artwork and creative constructions. I anticipate that I'll experience a serious case of withdrawals.

Despite my own students learning from home, the on-site classrooms of my colleagues are nearly ready for the arrival of eager, masked children.  These kids will be passing by my door as they begin and end their instructional days, and I want them to see something cheerful.

This is likely the last year that I'll use my "scribble kids," because frankly, they're more wrinkled than I am, but seeing them has cheered up my days and lowered my stress levels, and I hope they have the same effect on those who pass by them every morning and afternoon.

Whether on-site or remote, together is our favorite place to be.

Kindergarten at Home: My Suggested School List

When it comes to considering, selecting, and offering "educational" manipulatives to my Super Stars, I ask myself some specific questions such as "Will this item engage and stimulate my students?  Will it help them create and creatively explore ideas and concepts?  Can it act as a bridge, and/or be combined with other objects and items that can help children learn, test hypotheses, express creativity and develop fine and gross motor skills?  Can my students use these in multiple ways?  Can they still 'work' even if a piece goes missing?" and "Could using them help my students better understand real-world situations?" The items I choose to put within my students' reach have to be effective and adaptable to multiple uses.

Many kindergarteners will be learning from home this year. What kinds of items might I suggest to their parents?

These:

Play-Doh (Walmart, Amazon, toy stores, or made from scratch) This smooshable stuff is great for fine-motor development; as squishable counters for 1:1 correspondence (roll out twenty pieces formed into balls and place in a single line, then have your child smoosh each one as s/he says each number in order starting with "1"); as "face makers" to depict emotions and feelings or to add facial features to blank mats, apples, or pumpkins (jack-o-lanterns in October); as a finger/hand warm-up tool before writing and drawing (modeling clay or Theraputty would also work well for hand-strengthening as they are more resistive and require a lot of handling to loosen), and of course, stress relief.

Wikki Stix (found here or on Amazon), are strips of bendable/moldable wax-covered yarn.  Use them or pipe cleaners (or Play-Doh) to form letters, numbers, shapes (flat and three dimensional), and ignite the imagination.

A dry erase board with indicator writing lines (Amazon, school supply stores), though you'll want to know what handwriting format/curriculum your district will be using.  Zaner Bloser?  D'Nealian? If you choose to purchase a reference chart make sure to select one that includes the numbered directional arrows so that you know where to place your pencil-point as you begin to form letters, and which stroke or mark to make next to complete them.  A blank, lineless dry erase board works for all sorts of writing and drawing activities, too. 

  

Magnetic letters and numbers (like the ones you put on the fridge), letter tiles (Scrabble, Bananagrams) or letter stamps. Make sure these items are plastic or wood and produced in a reasonable and recognizable font.  Foam letter sets are less expensive, but they'll also be torn apart, bent, folded, and come out mangled if they've gone unnoticed into the washer and dryer.  These items are great for word-building, sorting, adding text to kid-drawn illustrations etc., especially when little fingers are tired from gripping pencils and writing. 

 

Dry-erase pockets/pouches for tracing or completing reusable worksheet pages, although you could print out tracer pages and laminate them instead.  If you'd rather create and laminate flashcards, tracer pages, schedules, posters, charts and other items, I recommend a tabletop laminator and pouches. Laminators like the one pictured above can be used on paper sized 8.5 X11 inches and smaller. I've found versions of them for less in Walmart and Target, and 100 piece packs of laminating pouches go on sale from time to time on Amazon.

Lots of "found" items can be used as counters and pattern builders or manipulatives to create sets/groups and storage. These objects might be discovered and collected in nature: rocks, twigs, feathers, leaves, shells, flowers, pinecones, etc.  Kitchen and other household items would work well too: dice, game pieces, checkers, Lego pieces, tongs, plastic tubs with lids, pencils, paperclips, balls of yarn, crayons, recycled cans, empty shoeboxes or tissue boxes, card sets, dominoes, oatmeal or TP cylinders, counters punched from cereal boxes or frozen food cardboard using a large craft punch, slotted spoons and colanders/strainers.  Food items could be used as counters (be mindful of allergies and choking hazards) but could also be used to create collages, pictures etc. before eating as a snack: cereal pieces, m&ms, raisins, crackers, grapes, berries, salami slices, etc. Collect 100 objects (they don't have to match) and store them in a bag for sorting, classifying and counting practice (counting to 100 and beyond is a kindergarten math standard). Dry beans and pasta also make great counters, weighable foodstuffs, and craft supplies. If you'd like to include more schoolish looking manipulatives, a sampler set like this one (grades K-2) might work well:

It includes base-10 blocks, snap cubes, pattern blocks, colored tiles, an adjustable analog clock (not Judy brand), and Cuisenaire rods. Many of these pieces are foam, which isn't ideal, but they're the same types of tools students will encounter (usually plastic) in classrooms.  Items found while on a walk outside double as manipulatives and show and share contenders.  Store pieces, bought or found, in lidded tubs or shoeboxes rather than plastic bags.  Tubs and boxes are easier to stack and label.

 

Stencils sets help children to develop their fine motor skills, illustrate pages, learn attributes of shapes, and build confidence in writing, making cards and books, as they share their work with others.  Stencils can also be made at home using cardboard or tracing around objects such as lids, boxes, cookie cutters and toys.  Young children also like using rulers, yardsticks, protractors and other interesting edges as they work with paper, crayons, pencils, markers, colored pencils, pens, and paint. The set of five plane shape stencils can be found here and the other animal-themed stencil set here.

Beanie Babies or small themed toy collections work well as game pieces, BINGO game covers, desk and book buddies, and tic-tac-toe markers on a grid created on the floor, a blanket, a sidewalk, or a sandpit.  A shoebox filled with sand or dry rice provides sensory input as children use their pointer fingers or the end of a pencil to write their name, draw shapes, or form letters and numbers following handwriting guidelines. Shaving cream "painting" on a table surface, or even pudding painting on a cookie sheet with raised edges are great activities that encourage children to use their fingers and other washable/safe items to write and draw.  Involve your child in meal-making, cleaning up, writing grocery lists, and make sure he or she knows it's okay to sneak notes and drawings into lunchboxes, backpacks, purses and briefcases. Help your child create his or her own alphabet chart, number chart, or other graphic organizers such as a word wall, calendar, and imagination station (art display).  None of these items require shopping at a teacher store.

For families who haven't given their children safety scissors or markers or paint because they (parents) fear the mess, please know that teachers always spend a lot of time upfront teaching classrooms full of students how to handle specialty tools, never leaving them unattended or within reach unless they are going to be used immediately.  We do not give scissors to children "trusting" that the child will know what to do.  We do not hand students a pack of watercolor paints, a cup of water, a brush, a sheet of paper, and a smock and then walk away to go and work with a group of students at our reading table during the first quarter of school. Marker sets are capped, bagged and stored in a tub out of easy reach. Your child cannot develop his or her pencil/pen/marker writing grasp when using only their pointer finger on an iPad app. S/he cannot become efficient and safe at cutting if you never teach him/her the proper way to carry scissors from place to place (point down), the way to grasp them (thumb "on top" in the little hole, remaining fingers "on the bottom" in the larger hole), the directionality of cutting (always with the tips of the blades pointed away from the body, never toward; elbow lowered instead of raised in the air), and how to properly store the scissors until they're needed again (closed and in a drawer or a cup point down). Children should learn to paint and draw using backing surfaces such as slanted easels, upright dry erase boards, paper on clipboards, and flat tabletops. If your child has ever gotten a hold of your Sharpie stash and gone to town on your walls, sheets, curtains, dogs, and other children, you know why anything ink-based (or adhesive) should always be brought out for use and then immediately put away, not in a drawer, and not on a tabletop but in a closed container on the highest shelf in the most boring cupboard or closet. Children learning from home will have to learn and practice these skills.  Taught and supervised properly, messes will be at a minimum.  Truly.

Construction paper.  Blank copy paper.  Notebooks. Brown paper bags cut open into large panels.  Journals you've been gifted but will never use.  Index cards. Post-it notes. Graph paper. Whatever you've got, let your child use it.  Often. 

Ask your little learner to help you design or delineate a learning space within your home.  It might be on one end of a dining room table, at a smaller table and chair set already in use in a playroom, or a simple lap desk with a nearby set of cubbies where school items can be put away and stored when not in use. One of my Super Stars last spring seemed to spend a lot of time snuggled into an oversized laundry basket, a learning pod of sorts where a sibling couldn't crowd in. Kids know what makes them comfortable, and it isn't always a desk and chair.  Hang up and display not only learning charts but your child's artwork and writing, too.  No, it does not need to be perfect and yes, your child should be encouraged to enjoy and reflect upon his or her work.

Keep a "reuse" stash of recyclable items. Junk mail is fun to use for playing office, school, or mail carrier. The plastic lids from milk jugs or laundry detergent (thoroughly washed and dried) can be collected over time for sorting, building and crafting.  Magazines and newspapers contain lots of images and print that can be used for collages, book-making, word and letter finds, and other crafts. Cardboard cereal and other food boxes can be used as containers, disassembled and reconstructed into other incredible creations. You'll want glue sticks, bottled glue, clear tape, masking tape and even possibly a low-temp glue gun... rubber bands, paper clips, some metal rings (kids love flashcards on a ring), and who knows what other office supplies might come in handy.  Remember, the use of these tools, adhesives, and pokey objects MUST BE TAUGHT and supervised.  Put them a-w-a-y, REALLY A-W-A-Y when your child is done using them.

Finally, a home library of favorite bedtime stories, reference books, and self-selected fiction and non-fiction books is essential when it comes to providing the best tools to support pre-reading and literacy skills, develop a love of reading and learn and share through print and writing.  Scholastic Book Clubs has an ordering option for parents where they can use their remote teacher's "class code" to order books and other items each month and have everything delivered to their home, rather than the school. Create an Amazon book wish-list for titles and share it with family members, and check out which books might be shared digitally online via your school and local libraries. Read, read, and read some more.

The manipulatives in this list and the other items I've suggested sound a lot like toys and objects to play with, don't they?  Their selection is no accident because play is rigorous and produces opportunities for engaged problem-solving, experimentation and creativity. 

What other essentials that make learning fun would you add?