Virtual Learning

Tales From the Virtual Classroom

I don’t think any of us will forget the year our lives were turned upside down and we went from standing in front of our classrooms to sitting in front of a computer screen in order to teach our students.  I am proud to work in a district with teachers who were willing to rise to the challenge and lend a hand or an ear, as the case may be, in order to insure that the needs of our students and families were met.  I am amazed at the hours and hard work that teachers put into their new classrooms.  A big thank you to Heather Turner for setting up a Google Classroom for teachers across the district to share resources.  As we come to the end of our year I’d like to take this time to reflect on virtual learning.  The following are stories submitted by members who shared their experiences.

My student’s 18 month old sibling came to sit on her lap during a Google Meet, then she spit up. The student did not know it happened until I told her.  ~Barbara Farrington Maguire

Here is a redacted photo of my cat helping with a math talk Meet! Just what my kiddos needed to see...Aaron Purr barging in to take a nap on top of the number lines I was drawing! Kiddos enjoyed the interruption! I’ve had lessons interrupted by birds, squirrels, flying insects and spiders....this was a first! ~Heather Turner

I accidentally kicked myself out of a meeting and when I came back on my students were all talking so I told them to mute.  Nothing happened.  I asked them to mute again and again, nothing happened.  I couldn't figure out why my students weren't listening.  I tried one more time and then one of my students said, "Ms. McCracken, you're on mute."  ~Shelley McCracken

Realizing that your read aloud is backwards to your kids, furry coworkers who are less than cooperative, document cameras that stopped working, video cameras that stopped working, staff meetings in pjs, virtual spirit days, video messages to the community, and seeing the joy on a the face of a mother of a kindergartener when we finally got the video camera to work and her student was able to join her first meet, these and the myriad of other stories I know are out there, have made us grow as educators.  Take some time out for yourselves this summer and do something relaxing!