The Coronavirus Craze and The Reality of Remote Learning

Ready or not, it’s here. The Coronavirus pandemic that is sweeping across the world has arrived leaving many schools closed for a couple of weeks or more. We are all just trying to learn the facts in order to reduce fear and anxiety. Just like our students, home doesn’t look the same for everyone. Teachers (like parents) have both personal and professional responsibilities to consider, like child care, teaching from home, taking care of elderly relatives, having enough of what they need for their families over the next few weeks as we socially distance ourselves from large crowds in school and in our community.

Hopefully, your school district has communicated what the next few weeks will look like. Some districts are devising a plan to roll out remote learning through a digital platform, while other school districts are not prepared to provide digital curriculum material, especially for elementary grades. Just the same, students are not prepared with devices and curriculum materials that they’ll need as well. As we had little to no time to prepare for this sudden transition, remote learning may not be the reality for many students.

Here’s a thought. It may be unpopular but it is reality.

Since our main goal for social distancing is to reduce the widespread of the Coronavirus, bombarding our students and parents with work can be very stressful and overwhelming. Again, remember that home doesn’t look the same for everyone. Some parents have to leave to go to work. Some households only have 1 parent or guardian. Some students may be with siblings or grandparents. Some students may be with babysitters or neighbors. Some students may be left alone for long periods of time without any support at all. Households with multiple children may only have one device that parents may need to use in order to work from home. This certainly does not make remote learning equitable for all. And it’s not only about having devices for students but also about not being able to make accommodations for students with 504s, IEPs & disabilities.

If we cannot provide in-class instruction for our students and remote learning is not the reality, then there are certainly other ways we can stay connected with our students and suggest some ideas and free resources that they can utilize on and “offline.”

Here’s how you can get started:

Reach Out

Write an email to your students and their families:

• Include only the facts from your district/school
• If digital learning is set up in your district, share the information needed for students & parents to access
• Suggest some other ideas and free resources if digital learning can not take place

Share A Structured Schedule

Share this schedule for parents that are home with multiple children. This is only a suggestion and not a one size fits all schedule. Many of these activities do not require a device. Many families, including my own, thrive off of structure to keep us all sane!  I don’t know who created this schedule to give credit but it is trending on social media and I like it! Routines & schedules are everything.

Share Free Resources

Are digital devices not available for your students at home? Here are some suggestions for elementary students:

• Read what you love for 20 minutes per day, practice sight words, spelling words & vocabulary words.
• Practice math facts using flashcards or do paper-pencil drills, play math games.
• Write in a journal each day, write a list, write a story, write about something you’re an expert on. Take notes after reading, write a summary or a book review. Just write!

Of course, you can adjust “offline” assignments for the grade(s) or subject(s) you teach.

Stay Connected

I am inspired when teachers go the extra mile to communicate directly to their students. The idea of “I Miss Your Face” is such a powerful way to stay connected and continue to build those student-teacher relationships. Take a look at what Mrs. Byer’s posted and see if it sparks some inspiration for you too!

I included a document in my Google Drive to stay connected with my students called Let’s Stay Connected! Whatcha doing?  It’s a simple way to stay connected with students, especially if students are feeling anxious or scared.  Get it here.

Again, if you can’t go digital but want to keep in touch with your students, I saw teachers post on Instagram that they were mailing letters to their students. How personal is that? I bet that would really make their day.

Do a Little Research

Google Slides Editable Class Newspaper 

In the past, I’ve used this resource with second graders, yes second graders, and we wrote, published and delivered a class newspaper to our school each month. Since then I’ve created 3 versions of this, the old school handwritten version, the PowerPoint version, and the Google slides version.

You can have students write and report on just about anything. We always wrote about school, class and community news and wrote in different genres like informative, persuasive/opinion. We had a fun page that includes jokes, riddles, and comics.

You can use the Google Slides version and have students report about what’s going on with the Coronavirus around the world and how it has affected their community. At a challenging time like this, we want to help students learn the facts together, and reduce fear. Students can do some research and report their findings and can incorporate many skills like:
*Compare and contrast
*Cause and effect
*Problem & solution
*Facts & details (Fact vs fiction)
*And so much more…your students will come up with it.

You can check out the Class Newspaper: GOOGLE SLIDES *Editable HERE.

Stay well, my teacher friends! We are all in this together. Remember that in the grand scheme of all of this it is our health and well being of our family, friends, and students that are the most important. We cannot control what students and parents can and cannot do at home regarding learning. Let’s just get through this.  This too shall pass and school will resume once again. Thank you for all you do for our students in good times and in hard times. Teachers are a pretty big deal. Maybe now some others will start to think so too. 😉 Please let me know if you need anything. I’m always happy to help and share!

How are you preparing for school closings and remote learning? If you have any resources to share please share in the comments or in the forums.  Follow me to be notified when new resources are uploaded to the Shop and join the email list to receive the latest and greatest updates, posts, and monthly freebies!

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