If you’re Worried and you know it Raise your Hand
You can’t see it, but I have both my hands raised high in the air!
I would love for this Back to School blog post to be filled with lots of warm and fuzzy feelings and pictures of colorful supplies.
Unfortunately, it’s not, I’m sorry.
Instead it’s full of nerves, anxiety, and flat out fear.
If you find yourself having these same emotions, know you are not alone, and your feelings are valid.
I am not entirely sure what our Back to School will look like.
If I’m being honest, I don’t think anyone does.
That is the scary thing about this virus.
Plans can be made, routines could be put in place, and things might change, last minute at that!
I am a planner, I like to know what is going to happen next.
Since July hit, I have found myself to be a bundle of nerves.
I’m trying to stay calm and wait and see, but the nervousness definitely comes and goes.
If your district is like mine we have heard that there are three options from the state:
- Full In Person Learning
- Full Remote Learning
- Hybrid of Both
As a Kindergarten Teacher I go back and forth as to what option I like the most.
The thought of full in person learning terrifies me because I can’t imagine keeping five and six year olds socially distanced wearing a mask all.day.long
Although the safest option seems to be full remote learning, I can’t imagine starting the year with Kindergartners behind a screen.
Perhaps the hybrid of both would be best, but I believe only if class sizes are super small.
I do know that whatever the plan is I will embrace it and do my part to help my class learn and grow!
How to Prepare when you don’t know the Plan?
I think the biggest thing we can do is prepare our students for all the options.
Have them practice wearing a mask for extended periods of time and talk about what school will look like.
Click HERE to access Going Back to School Social Story FREEBIE.
I think if students start to understand that school will look different it will help them as we transition to this new normal.
Families can read prior to school and teachers can read during the first few weeks of Back to School.
Staying Healthy while We Learn
Visuals are such a handy tool to have in primary classrooms because they help little learners SEE what they need to DO.
Incorporating hygiene and social distance expectations will be important during back to school.
Whenever I introduce a new routine or procedure I always like to follow this three step approach:
- I model and show what to do.
- I have a volunteer in the classroom model and I give the verbal directions as they show us.
- We all practice.
We do these steps often during the first few weeks of school as we practice our procedures and routines.
You can click HERE to access my Stay Healthy while we Learn Visuals.
It is also important to:
- Practice
- Be Consistent
This helps your little learners internalize the expectations and take ownership of them.
As our students see us model they will also follow the expectations and routines of social distancing.
I always love to incorporate songs and chants into our day and my young learners love it too.
Click HERE to grab this Keep your Distance FREEBIE
Is your District planning to start the year with Remote Learning?
If your district has decided to start the school year online I wanted to share a few blog posts I did in the spring when we started distance learning.
Supporting Kindergarten Students as they Learn from Home
How to Teach Kindergartners on Zoom
I hope these activities and ideas are helpful for you as you think about Back to School.
As I stated earlier if you find yourself feeling all the emotions when you think about Back to School…
You are NOT Alone!
Teachers are resilient and this teaching community is amazing!
We will figure this out!
One day at a time!
Please know that I am here to support and help however I can.
Feel free to email (mydayink@gmail.com) or comment below!
Take Care of yourself and Stay Well!
Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support. It helps renew my courage going into this school year. I would love to see any handy tips or tricks you think you may have for kinder room set up or keeping supplies separate. I usually do shared supplies. Praying for all our kinder friends this year.
Hi Sara, thank you for your kind words. The one good thing is we have each other and we will figure this out together. I will definitely be talking about that soon. Thank you, same to you! Take care.