Stay Engaging!
Remember, when you first welcomed students into your classroom at the very beginning of this year? It feels so long ago almost in a galaxy far, far away 🙂 No, but really, think about how you welcomed them to your classroom. You spent so much time trying to make them feel included and, most importantly, engaged citizens of the class. You may have felt like a performer for the first month trying to make even the most mundane math problem come to life or literally performing a read aloud as if you were auditioning for broadway..…you know who you are Elementary teachers 🙂
Distant Learning is NOT Possible if students FEEL Distant
Students need engagement MORE than ever, which is why I try to role-model this myself by producing silly intros to all my Vlogs. I have talked a lot in my Blog/Vlogs about the importance of humor and social connectedness. I cannot stress enough to educators how important it is to keep your students engaged, and one way to do that is through humor. I created a stay home Parkour introduction to my latest Vlog, and one teacher responded with their own student’s Parkour video!
Students want to feel connected to their education, but it may look different than how we traditionally see our roles. Be an entertainer, be a calming agent, be whatever you need to be in order to maintain that connection for a student to their educational experience. Of course, we still have a curriculum to follow, but it must work within the needs of our families as we are in uncharted territory. Sometimes learning might be just sharing you and your family making a cake 🙂
