First Week of School with Distance Learning

 I did it! I actually survived the first week of school with a new group of students that I only get to see through a computer screen. I felt so many emotions while navigating this experience that I sometimes felt like I was on a roller coaster ride. I think it will continue to feel that way for awhile longer as our district just made the decision to continue to with online learning for an unspecified amount of time. Even with this wild ride of emotions and continual changes I will still give this new group of kiddos my all and I will share with you how I teach my new kiddos through my computer screen.

Every year that I have been a teacher I have always spent the first week of school doing fun getting to know you activities, going over rules and procedures, and doing activities that will help us build a strong classroom community. I did not want to give that up so I searched for ways to still make that happen, but digitally. I found a variety of activities, resources, and tools that were a great help to me that I will share with you in hopes that it will help you in your first week of digital teaching. 

We are required to go live with our students twice a day at this time so I split my activities between those two time periods. I began with introductions. Before our first meeting I had typed my students names into a spinning wheel. I presented my screen so my new students could watch it spin and see who it landed on each time. They loved it and couldn't wait for it to land on them so they could introduce themselves and tell us something fun they did over the summer and what they were excited about this school year. You can click here to find the website with the wheel we used. 

                                

As a second grade team we also found a cute digital All About Me activity that the kids create and then share if they choose. We are still working on those but they are turning out so cute and we are learning so much about our kids. We got the activity from the amazing Amy Lemons and Katie King. It is a free resource that goes along with the story Our Class is a Family. You can find the resource here.                     

                              

Along with Our Class is a Family, I read several of my other favorite beginning of the year stories. I started with First Day Jitters on day 1. On day 2 we read The Invisible Boy and on day 3 we read Yoko. 

That is how we spent our first three days of our digital school year. We have many plans for this week that I will share with you soon. Remember we can do this!

Ashley