Teaching Quarantine Style!

Well, I'm now going on my 4th week teaching preschool from home.  It's definitely been an experience I never gave much thought about. I know recently, I was talking to my daughter who is a junior in high school about what career path would be good for her. One topic that came up in this discussion was the types of jobs that may dissolve in the future because they can become automated or done from home.  It never occurred to me that I may have to do my job from home!!  I firmly believe that for young children, nothing can ever replace learning in the classroom.  Children at this age are learning so much emotionally and socially, that they need to have the experience of being around others to thrive.  Hopefully, in a few months, we can be back together again, but for now, I am trying to provide the best possible learning experiences I can from home. Teachers have always had to be resilient and creative, but this is the ultimate test!  Super Teachers to the rescue!

In the first week, I was able to send information to the parents with activities through our ClassTag app which seemed to work well.  I scrambled to put together craft packets for the children and parents picked them up from our preschool at their convenience.  I also modified our monthly calendar to include online activities that I would provide and at home extensions.  By the 3rd week, I finally got into a rhythm of making YouTube videos of our letter of the week, stories, and simple letter & number games. I would also post additional STEM activities or science activities that incorporated simple items we all have at home. Today, I hosted my first classroom Zoom video which proved to be a bit chaotic.  That will definitely need some tweaking to make it beneficial.  If you're trying Zoom with your class, I found these great ideas that you could do keep the meeting fresh and engaging.  https://www.ishmom.com/using-zoom-for-preschool/  As I continue pushing forward with this new way of teaching, I've learned how important it will be to have grace for myself.  This is all so new and it's okay if things don't run smoothly at first.  We are doing the best we can to make a hard transition and we are learning right along with the children and their families.  Hang in there and keep going!