Unit 9 - Assignment 1 - Blog 6
It is nearly impossible to find an article that doesn't involve the coronavirus. It is seemly getting worse each and every day. I truly can't wait for us to combat the disease and life to return to normal! Anyway, I have two articles I'd like to address that came through my Google Alerts. In my "blogs in the classroom" search, there was an article about a rock star 3rd grade teacher that created a chat for her students in the midst of the chaos. Gretta Hochsprung, a reporter for "The Post Star" website, wrote that her nine year old son was instantly at ease after having the opportunity to talk to his teacher. I think it's absolutely amazing that this teacher from Queensbury Elementary School took the time to schedule chats with her entire class. It wasn't so much to teach them anything, but rather to create dialog and give her students peace that this will all be okay. She used Google Classroom and set specific times for students to log in and participate in the chat. The students absolutely loved it! It has honestly inspired me to look into it for my own class. I definitely think it would ease the minds of my anxious second graders. Feel free to view the article here.
The other article that caught my eye highlights Cleveland Metroparks. They have set up a free virtual classroom tour on Facebook Live every weekday at 11 am. They show students different animals, including endangered species. Students will learn what it takes to properly care for the animals at the zoo. These biologists take the time to showcase different animals that need help and show students what it takes to help them secure a positive future. Then if that isn't enough, at 1 pm, you can log back in to tag along with park naturalists to explore the Emerald Necklace. Students can look for signs of early spring with the professionals. They will also show and learn about different bird species. In addition, students will learn about the forest floor. Because these events are on Facebook Live, I assume they can ask questions and may even have their questions addressed and answered. Cleveland Metroparks has chosen to do this in hopes to keep children engaged and give them something to look forward to each day. Because they've had to close down for the remainder of March, this is one way to remain "open" in a sense. I think this is a fantastic program, and I applaud Cleveland Metroparks for giving everyone the opportunity to partake in something so cool! Click here to view the original article.
Overall, there is a lot of unknowns when it comes to Covid-19. We can only predict how and if it will continue to spread. There are people tirelessly working on trying to slow the spread and find a vaccine. With all the sad news, it warmed my heart to find these two articles that truly talks about the "good." I will go to bed tonight thinking about ways I can add to the positivity for my students and the community.
The other article that caught my eye highlights Cleveland Metroparks. They have set up a free virtual classroom tour on Facebook Live every weekday at 11 am. They show students different animals, including endangered species. Students will learn what it takes to properly care for the animals at the zoo. These biologists take the time to showcase different animals that need help and show students what it takes to help them secure a positive future. Then if that isn't enough, at 1 pm, you can log back in to tag along with park naturalists to explore the Emerald Necklace. Students can look for signs of early spring with the professionals. They will also show and learn about different bird species. In addition, students will learn about the forest floor. Because these events are on Facebook Live, I assume they can ask questions and may even have their questions addressed and answered. Cleveland Metroparks has chosen to do this in hopes to keep children engaged and give them something to look forward to each day. Because they've had to close down for the remainder of March, this is one way to remain "open" in a sense. I think this is a fantastic program, and I applaud Cleveland Metroparks for giving everyone the opportunity to partake in something so cool! Click here to view the original article.
Overall, there is a lot of unknowns when it comes to Covid-19. We can only predict how and if it will continue to spread. There are people tirelessly working on trying to slow the spread and find a vaccine. With all the sad news, it warmed my heart to find these two articles that truly talks about the "good." I will go to bed tonight thinking about ways I can add to the positivity for my students and the community.
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing these two articles! I think at a time like this it really is amazing to see how so many people can come together and try to make all of this a little easier. I love that the teacher is taking the time to chat with each of her students. I can't imagine how great that must be for her students, but truthfully, I am sure she loves it just as much! We are all in a world right now that we are not used to and I think being able to just have normal conversation with my students is certainly not something I would take for granted anytime soon. Also, I have been seeing so many places, including zoos, taking the time to make videos and give virtual tours of their facilities and I think that's amazing! It is educating the students on different animals while making the time they are spending at home a little more enjoyable. Hopefully we all get through this soon, but I really do hope and believe that we will come out better and stronger because of it.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Eleni
I can completely relate to having just a genuine conversation with students. My high schoolers and I enjoy the conversations with one another, and for the time being those traditional in depth conversations are not there. We will be transitioning to Google Classroom soon and I have prepared, to the best of the situation, the students to get ready for this alternative for the future. Some students have embraced it while others have shown no interest in it, and that could become problematic in the near future. The digital/virtual tours are a really neat idea that I fully have embraced on my virtual field trips prior to our transition. Our local history museum, that I am a curator of, have decided to do virtual tours for our opening week. We will be covering various topics of our towns history, American history, and railroad history.
ReplyDeleteHi Brittany! Thank you for the wonderful blog post! I agree with you that we are enduring some crazy times. Virtual learning and distance learning tools are going to become quite important for our students, teachers, and families. I like how that teacher utilized blogging and Google Classroom to help the students express their feelings during this isolated time. Virtual field trips will be great to give students a visual representation of a place. I suggest taking a look at Google Earth projects on Chrome. Teachers can make great virtual field trips that include images, links, and other classroom tools. Our teachers will need to begin thinking about remote learning. Online teaching is a whole different monster and it requires knowledge of the LMS at hand. Thank you again for your post!
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