Spring pretty much returned, in the way that spring is here in Maine. That is, yesterday's snow is mostly melted off the lawn, but it was still cool enough to keep patches that didn’t get a lot of sun today. That’s pretty much the way every March is, coronavirus or not. My new school room, which for some years was my youngest son’s bedroom, has some great eastern light, so the sun was a joy as I got logged in this morning. My daughter made the DD run. It’s great to be self-isolating with good people. :)
The pace was pretty frantic online today. Gmail wasn’t bogged down apparently, but other issues were popping up. These included Classroom apps crashing repeatedly, passwords not working, and teachers trying to register for free online classes being locked out, plus so very many little questions in email. Along with those issues is the move forward toward teaching next week that will become a bit more like teaching before this hiatus; lessons will introduce new content and require more effort while being assessed in some way similar to our normal methods. Gathering resources that enable new content delivery and student engagement with new ideas is the parallel work going on while reviewing student communication in this new and significantly more time consuming manner. The value of simply being able to observe how students are dealing with an idea or skill or task by being in the same space with them can’t be overstated. This is so very much different.
Superintendent Kunin sent along a short message from a parent thanking Mahoney and Small school teachers for their obvious dedication and resourcefulness in helping their children keep learning. It’s gratifying to know the effort is important to families. And it really feels like most families are supporting their kids who likely would enjoy a few weeks just plain off while the world tries to settle back down.
I spent an hour in a Zoom workshop with 250 educators literally from around the world discussing how to use technology to bring lessons to life from afar. It was learning for me and at least one other Mahoney teacher. There will be much more of this coming. Tomorrow I will lead a session for SPSD teachers who want to use video better with the help of Edpuzzle. We all want to do our very best for our community. It takes time....and coffee. Lots of coffee.
10 days down
spk
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The pace was pretty frantic online today. Gmail wasn’t bogged down apparently, but other issues were popping up. These included Classroom apps crashing repeatedly, passwords not working, and teachers trying to register for free online classes being locked out, plus so very many little questions in email. Along with those issues is the move forward toward teaching next week that will become a bit more like teaching before this hiatus; lessons will introduce new content and require more effort while being assessed in some way similar to our normal methods. Gathering resources that enable new content delivery and student engagement with new ideas is the parallel work going on while reviewing student communication in this new and significantly more time consuming manner. The value of simply being able to observe how students are dealing with an idea or skill or task by being in the same space with them can’t be overstated. This is so very much different.
Superintendent Kunin sent along a short message from a parent thanking Mahoney and Small school teachers for their obvious dedication and resourcefulness in helping their children keep learning. It’s gratifying to know the effort is important to families. And it really feels like most families are supporting their kids who likely would enjoy a few weeks just plain off while the world tries to settle back down.
I spent an hour in a Zoom workshop with 250 educators literally from around the world discussing how to use technology to bring lessons to life from afar. It was learning for me and at least one other Mahoney teacher. There will be much more of this coming. Tomorrow I will lead a session for SPSD teachers who want to use video better with the help of Edpuzzle. We all want to do our very best for our community. It takes time....and coffee. Lots of coffee.
10 days down
spk
><>
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