Things are not ideal right now but as teachers we are pros at adapting and meeting our student’s needs in every way possible. Now that at home learning has begun, we are needing to take a different approach to teaching. Today was the first day of video conferencing with my 21 first graders. It felt like the first day of school all over again. I was nervous about how things were going to go but it went amazing! I wanted to share some helpful tips and tricks for those of you out there feeling as nervous as I did.
Make a Plan
I wrote out an agenda for our morning meeting so that I did not forget anything or worry about if things were running smoothly. Here is what my agenda consisted of:
- Introduction: Why are we having a morning meeting today? Discuss how we are still a classroom family even from home. I also had the kids do a quick greeting where they waved and said good morning to another friend in the classroom.
- Expectations: Thumbs up to share, use manners like “thank you”, “no thank you”, “please”, or “you’re welcome.” We talked a lot about whole body listening and how we can block out distractions at home.
- Shares: It was their first time to see their classmates in about 10 days so we all got a chance to share exciting things in our lives.
- Read Aloud: Today’s read aloud followed our leadership language topic- Give Grace. We read What Does It Mean To Be Kind by Rana DiOrio.
- Goals: I talked about goals I have with them for At Home Learning.
- Announcements: I just shared quick announcements from our school that our principals wanted us to share out.
- Saying Goodbye: Before signing off, we showed the I love you hand sign and said our goodbyes to each other.
Video
District Requirements: As of right now we will be returning to school until April 3rd. Our mission for our video chats is to continue to build classroom relationships. We want the kids to feel involved, important, and motivated to learn from home. These morning meets are great for students to see their friends and share exciting things that have been happening in their lives. We are currently using ZOOM for our video conferencing. It has worked GREAT!
