pandemic teaching: zoom a zoom a zoom zoom zoom

Ready to zooooom! 

pandemic teaching: before the zoom, and after

The fella is also working from home. He has an extra kitchen table set up as a desk in the living room. He has been doing a lot of Zoom calls as well, so I take my work to the bedroom and Zoom from the bed. I have created a zoom basket that I fill the day before each call with all the pertinent tools I may need. Wheee! 

star cookie cutters and play dough exploration

pandemic teaching: another day, another zoom

 

Today we played a round of "What's missing?", sang all the songs, described our feelings cards (a matching game I found at Target a while back), and did a scavenger hunt using our Spot It! cards (I sent two home with each kiddo so we could play via Zoom).

I thought for sure we would be done with our calls after maybe 15 minutes or so, but some of these are lasting as long as 45 minutes! I need to pull out more books! 

pandemic teaching: I think I'm getting the hang of it

 

Along with writing curriculum, and filming so many videos, I do two zoom meetings a week with my classroom kiddos. Attendance is not mandatory, and sometimes I ask the children to use something from their supply bag, or home. 

I basically run each zoom as if it were our morning circle with a dash of "The Mrs. Teacher show!" We chat until all the children are logged on, then we sing our good morning song, followed by "Who is behind the red square?" We then share news of the day where each child gets an opportunity to share, then we read a book, and do a project, game, or activity that ties in with the book. 

The one thing I have noticed is that my super introverted kiddos are SHINING via our zoom meetings. My extroverted kiddos do well, and my super extroverted kiddos do not do as well. Not that they are doing anything wrong. I am still encouraging my parents to go outside as I feel young children do better playing with peers than with me on a zoom meeting, but by what standard am I thinking of?  And what do I mean by shining or not doing well? The super extroverted kiddos are not interested in our meetings. That's cool, go play outside! 

My introverted kiddos are a whole other story. These kiddos often prefer to settle into quiet zones to play by themselves. During group times or meetings, they choose not to participate, and often need more space to work alone.During our zoom meetings, they are calling out and volunteering information. They are laughing and participating! It's all pretty cool, and something to consider. The beauty of neurodiversity is that we are all pretty cool and nifty, we just may need different tools to showcase our niftiness. 

pandemic teaching: our first zoom

 

We sang good morning, we sang all sorts of songs, we read books, and we saw everyone's bedrooms, including mine! 

pandemic teaching: sending supplies home

Teaching during a global pandemic is weird, and surreal. Teaching preschool is even more weird. I keep telling my parents to go outside! Take walks with your kiddos! Play in the backyard! Paint outside! But I also work for a private school and tuition needs to be applied to something, and so my co-teacher and I set to work creating an online curriculum, and I set to work creating supply packs with almost everything they would need for the next 4-6 weeks. Let's hope this works! 

they only used the warm colors

 

buttons and banks

 

they all saw a cat: cats in rice

 

they all saw a cat: color sorting

 

perler beads and tweezers

 

pouring and learning about volume

 

milk crate structures

Sometimes a visiting parent will rush in when a child exhibits risky play. We do our best to comfort the parent and teach them how to watch and wait. In this picture, on this day, the child never made it to a standing position, but that's okay. They will, when they are ready for it. We try to teach the children to listen to their bodies. We do not rush in to help or assist as that is when accidents most often happen. Allowing a child to engage in risky play, helps them build confidence in their own actions andbuilds strength of body, and strength of mind. 
 

making letters with rubber bands

 

a busy day of building

a house

a stage

a bridge

 

fine motor table: the three billy goats gruff

sink or float

pennies and banks

measuring weight

 

kiddo mixed pinks

 

the firefighters' restaurant

 

Some see a massive tangle of stuff, I see a hours, days, and weeks of play. 

the area of an elephant plate

When I set up the fine motor table, parents often ask "How does this?" or "what are they supposed to do?" I always answer, "I don't know yet, they'll show me." There is no right or wrong way to explore an invitation. By the end of the day, almost all of the pompoms were gone. I bet they are hidden in pockets, purses, or cubbies. 
 

fine motor invitation: cutting and piggy banks

Or elephant banks in this case. Long strips of paper will often get crammed into the banks, and they usually do not fit. How can we get it to fit? Tearing? Cutting? Folding? All of the above! 

earrings for the bunny

 This basket of rubber bands is set out for our vertical geoboard. Sometimes the rubber bands become bracelets, handcuffs, or money, and sometimes they become earrings for a bunny. 

cubes on a square

 

an invitation to paint with warm colors

 

the firefighters have come for tea

 

from color sorting to feeding the birds

 

happy birthday to you and you and you and you