Month: April 2020

When I look back………

New projects can be intimidating, scary, and just plain stressful. Everyone has experienced these feelings at some point when looking at the face of a new assignment or project. Sometimes it’s not easy and you want to avoid it at all costs. Sometimes that is how I felt while doing this project. One thing was the lack of confidence I had in myself.

Could I really get creative and write a blog?

Do I really think I am capable of being an author? 

I can’t do that. 

So many thoughts ran through my head as I continued to work on this blog throughout the semester. When I look back at my first blog, I realize that it could probably use some work. A face lift. But that’s the growth that I see when I look at my older posts to my most recent posts.

Through this practice of getting out of my comfort zone, researching about my future career, and learning, I have realized that I enjoyed it more than I imagined I would. Blogging is a creative outlet and a great way to engage people. My perspective has changed throughout the semester when I reflect on blogging. It can be fun and a creative way to get my thoughts out there. I have a lot to learn about it still, but it has been a unique ride in creating blog posts.

When I look forward………

No matter where you are in your life, career, or education, everyone can continue to learn. No one should ever think they have arrived and quit learning. This blog has grounded me in the thought of learning more and more. This has put me out of my comfort zone, gave me an opportunity to get creative, and learn something new. I am thankful for that.

We all say we are good at multitasking, right?

Teachers have been put to the ultimate test during a strange, strange time in history. Stuck at home, having small children of your own, family around 24/7, cleaning, cooking, but life goes on. Pivoting remote instruction can be tough and uneasy at first. How do teachers now maximize value for their students? I’m glad you asked! Below are tips on how to go about online teaching. They aren’t perfect, but you may come across one that you didn’t know you needed.

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Don’t convert your entire lecture to video.

This can get boring real quick and it won’t engage your students at all. Strategically reducing your goals can have a huge impact on your students during this time. Focus on the main points you want your students to know and understand by the end of the lesson. Use those points to take hold of your lecture, if you decide to go that route. Having a video that is an hour long isn’t beneficial and will most likely have your students lost. Cutting down the time and engaging them with the most important information is more relevant and they will learn more. Less is more, right? Give your students more grace. This is all new to them also.

Don’t rely on live video.

Although this can be a fun and creative way to have your class “all together,” it’s not always the most adequate. The quality of live chats aren’t always the best due to internet connect. This can also cause some stress on you and even your students, more than it can be helpful.

Invite student engagement and feedback.

This is a big one. Depending on your age group, this can also be difficult to get the feedback you want or need. Feedback and engagement from parents is helpful also. Set up your course so that students can go at their own pace and time. This takes away unnecessary stress. Why have a child do an assignment in two days with 70% effort when you can give them the entire week and receive some of their best work? Hear your students. A common misstep is when teachers don’t value their students feedback and voice. They are a part of your classroom and they can either take away a lot or a little. This could depend on how well you interact and listen to their voices.

Check in with students often.

Last but not least, know where your students are. I believe this is the most important. In a time where everyone is stuck at home, going a little crazy, and perhaps not at their best, checking to see how your students are doing is huge. Engage with them. Show them you are there for them in a time that is so strange and unique. Go the extra mile. Have them engage with one another. You are a teacher and a super hero in my eyes, but that doesn’t mean you can do it all. Your students relationships with one another is important.

Don’t forget to keep moving.

One more thing. Releasing endorphins is good. Getting sweaty is good. Don’t forget to get up and move! This is beneficial to your body in so many ways!

Beginners’ Yoga Poses

Build a foundation in yoga with these beginners’ poses – appropriate for those just starting out with yoga. Explore lunges, cat-cow, happy baby and more.

11 Fun Exercise Routines For Kids At Home – Get Fit, Get Active!

If you’re looking for fun exercises and physical activities for kids to do at home then this is the right video for you! Kids get bored easily and in today’s…

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“We should not bring a ‘sink or swim’ approach to online teaching, it’s not the right attitude to a pandemic.” -unknown 

Never again will people say that teachers have it easy after all of this is over, right? Parents are now the teachers.

Life right now is challenging to say the least. With a sudden turn of events, people off work or working from home, children stuck at home who need to do school work, how does one get through all of this? Life was already busy and crazy, but shifting to a new normal can be difficult and uncomfortable for a moment. Believe it or not, there are ways to make this time at home more bearable and smoother. How? Let me give you a few tips!

Create a dedicated space

Perhaps a playroom or another room in the house can be made into a learning center for your child. If you don’t have the extra room, no worries! Setting up a table, or using the kitchen table works just fine! Take a day or two to recreate the room and make it inviting and welcoming. If it looks pleasing to the eye, your child will want to spend time in it. Its psychology! If it is a separate room, your child can focus on the tasks that need to be done and accomplished. This goes into my next tip.

Limit the distractions

We live in a tech savy world. Phones, tablets, TVs, etc. are everywhere for us to watch, touch, and engage with. But these are also some of our biggest distractions. Limit time that is allowed on devices. Use this time to have your children get creative and learn how to old school play without the technology. They will thank you later.

Set a schedule

During this time, it can be so easy to wing it each day and not have a set schedule. Although this “down time” can be fun in a way, creating a schedule may be just what you and your family needs. This schedule wouldn’t have to be implemented strictly every day. After all, they are just children, and they need some freedom too. However, having a schedule for a few days a week can really set the tone. During these days, following the schedule can have you focused on the day and what needs to be done, but don’t get hung up on homeschooling for hours on end. Let the children play and be kids. Play is their work.

These are just a few tips that may help your family ease into your new normal for however long. Use this time to see the positive and get creative with your children. No one said it would be easy, but attitude is everything. More than ever, your children are watching you and you have the control of how you respond, always.

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Here may be some more helpful blogs and sites for you to breeze through! Enjoy!

Remote learning during coronavirus: How to make your home into a workable school

My friend Heather has four kids under the age of 9 – all suddenly stuck at home in the San Francisco Bay Area under some of the strictest shelter-in-place orders in the country. Life right now she says, is “challenging,” to say the least, but heading into week two of homeschooling, the Carlson family is making major headway.

Why this teacher says letting kids get bored is the best homeschooling

As schools continue to remain closed throughout the country due to coronavirus, more and more parents are finding themselves with an unexpected and challenging new job title: Teacher.

Tips for managing children at home during COVID-19 | Autism Speaks

This article is provided courtesy the University of Rochester, a site in the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network. Translations into Spanish and Vietnamese provided by Center for Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disorders at University of California-Irvine. The following are some tips that may