COLORS, PHASES, PLANS

I feel like that my life is summed up in these three words - COLORS, PHASES, and PLANS!

I live in Erie County in Pennsylvania.  Our state went to a 3 colored re-opening system.  Our county quickly went to YELLOW then we got stuck for 2 months.  GREEN is coming.  It will not be "normal" operations, but GREEN is as close as we get for now!

Now the schools are preparing for fall:

Phases and Plans are the big buzz words here.  We have the CDC guidelines and schools creating plans.  

There are many memes and videos about the reality of what might happen this fall!  Here is my favorite - Plan video

Right now - I am just trying to enjoy summer :)

What do you think?

OFF TO CELEBRATE GREEN

Week 1 of Summer Vacation

Friday June 5th was the official last day for teachers in my district.  I wrapped up my data and blog plus worked on some grant related classes.  

The weekend was a hint of summer vacation with some work mixed in!  Our PTO president and I worked hard to move dirt to the raised beds and plant half the school garden on Saturday morning.  This was slowly finished on Sunday and Monday nights with the help of my husband and children.

   

                             

                                                             

On Saturday afternoon, Cadia was just not happy unless she was being held.  She is nearly 30 pounds and I had already had my "workout" for the day after working in the garden in the morning.  So into the stroller she went.  I decided to pull a few weeds by my back door since the flower beds (untouched since 2017) were starting to look a bit overgrown.  By the end of the day, I had found railroad ties on the edges of the beds, had my husband help thin down the HUGE hosta plants, and just puttered around.

Fast forward to Sunday...I decided to move to another "easy" section of the mammoth flower beds around the entire back of the house and sunporch.  There are HUGE rocks all through this bed which probably were pretty or useful in the original vision that we never saw!  I moved a few rocks, pulled some more weeds, and then found SLATE tiles/chunks. No major plan or ideas.  Just improvement was the goal.

Once upon time, there was slate in several beautiful flower beds.  Not sure when because it is all under several INCHES of mud and dirt.  Last year, I found them in my pachysandra and poison ivy patch.  This turned into a meandering path to my back barn (and a horrible case of poison ivy!). This year, a few pieces from a different "flower bed" turned into a PATIO.  It is not done "right" or complete.  But I have a patio under my picnic table.  

Here is the updated patio picture 

Here the patio...I have added to it all week so look for a better picture later today! I keep finding more pieces of slate deeper and deeper in the dirt.

Plus I kept thinking...where am I going to put my mini home garden.  The spot from last year was not sunny enough and NOT close to water.  I did not "love" this spot.  I picked a second spot, but two gas lines and electrical wires left us uncertain about rota tilling that spot.

So where I found the slate is flat, all dug up from a sewer project, close to a spigot, and not too easy to mow so this became the ACTUAL home to my garden for 2020.  Thanks to an awesome friend, it is rotatilled.   My daughter and her fiance helped to plant my seedling starters.  Plus I keep working with that area of the flower bed.  Sounds like relaxing fun...right? Here is the before garden picture:

  

                                  

Here is the after:

Not done but improving 

So the weekend was spent in my garden/yard/jungle as well as at the school garden! THANK YOU TO MY FAMILIES WHO ARE WATERING OUR SCHOOL GARDEN this week!  The pictures and stories that they shared made me so happy throughout this long week.  I am excited for our school garden this year...

Fast forward to Monday.   This week was my contractual library work days week.  So "Summer Vacation" could not really start yet.

What do we do?  LOTS of different tasks.  Luckily, I get to work with another awesome librarian.  She and I are opposites, but we both compliment each other.  We started shelving several hundred books on Monday and weeding almost 700 chapter books.  It is so hard to let them go, but just like a closet...out with "old" and in with the new.  We save classics, award winners, student favorites, and other books for a variety of reasons.  Some books are just done with their useful life on our library shelves.  Then we had to take them out of the system.  

Next was removing old magazines, encyclopedias, and other library items.  STEAM needed more shelf space for storage.  

Then we moved onto my LEAST favorite job - INVENTORYING.  This means touching each book (over 10000 books) and scanning the barcode and then listen for the beep sound.  A pleasant beep means all good.  If you get the most annoying "ERRRH" sound then you have to walk to the computer and check what happened.  Sometimes it is in the wrong place or that it might have not gotten checked in correctly or the barcode is no longer working.  Then you go back to where you left off and repeat.  

Erin and I did this in record time this year - about 2 days!  Then we rewarded ourselves with ordering new books using Scholastic dollars from Book Fair profits and our library budget.  Plus we added in additional new books from Scholastic.  The Scholastic order got split in the chaos of COVID in March.  Adding new books means barcoding with stickers, adding them to our database system, creating spine labels, and stamping the book.  It is a multi-step process! 

Then we worked on the STEAM area as well.  Sorting new items from our Mobile Science Grant and then CLEAN OUT.  I am a "saver" and my partner is NOT.  So we teamed up for a morning of cleaning out STEAM on Friday.   It was our most productive week together in our joint roles and now I am looking forward to my days in July/August!

Trash pile

STEAM is ready for a new floor and more clean up

So that is summer vacation week 1!  We missed a couple trips to the beach with cousins.  But overall, I am farther ahead minus some grant work and now summer vacation can really START.  It feels weird to not have library activities and tons of running to do...but maybe I will finally get more items off the "TO DO" list!

Here is what my children and I are reading:

Together as a family: We have ready book 1 which is the "The Magician's Nephew" and mostly through "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe"  Then 5 more books!
       

My 12 year old is working on "I Survived"

                                                            

   

My 10 year old is working on "Choose Your Own Adventure"

My 7 year old is working on "Sophie Mouse"

Have a great week 2 of summer vacation!  Find ways to celebrate and enjoy your time at home.  Look for new pictures from the garden.  Plus I will find myself a book to read :)

Survival

Just checking in with my loyal blog followers...I am still here :)

We did it - we survived!

Survival...many families feel that is all that they did in the past 10 weeks since March 13.

THAT IS OKAY!  We (teachers, parents, and students) were not prepared for a complete shift in society and education...

Celebrate your success and forget the losses.  Our district is pass/fail.  Did you child pass?  THEN YOU SUCCEEDED.  

Many people are all nervous for fall 2020.  I am in recovery mode as a teacher.  Sorry - check back in 2 weeks.

For the past month, I wake up and check my school email first.  Then I check our learning management platform then I start my day.

There are times when I try to unplug...I go for a walk, play a game with my children, sit down to help them with an assignment, make a meal, fold a basket of laundry, etc...  No unplugging truly happens.  I am left wondering...does someone have a question, should I be sending feedback to a student, does a co-worker need something, etc...

One hour a day for office hours really morphs into 16 hours of teaching...yes...I was in teacher mode most of my waking day since May 4th.  Not just Monday-Friday but 7 days each week.  

The notifications ding, the apps were slowly added to my phone, and everyone in our family learned to react to a noise.  

Online learning was an all in process from wake up to bed.  You guessed it...before I went to bed, I checked one last time.  

This is not to be a complaint, but a reflection and reality check.  

Parents want to send their students back and teachers want to be back in the classroom.  Not that many teachers do not naturally work in the evenings.  Online learning led most teachers to a whole new level of "ON".  

Parents and students survived the tears, the confusion, the technology, the curriculum.  That is why I wanted to be able to help or answer a question as quickly as possible.  You wanted and needed answers from us.  It was a lot for us all, but we are so much more knowledgeable and prepared for fall.   

The past week has been about DATA.  What can I do better in the future? We can only change the future if we learn from the past.

TOGETHER - we did it!!!  It might not have been perfect or pretty or ideal.  Celebrate your successes...pat yourselves on the back...reflect on what worked and did not work for the future.  

Then just unplug and re-focus.  I plan to do that after next week.  My co-librarian and I have to do ordering, inventory, book shelve, parent phones, etc...

Sometimes our children have a totally different perspective.  Ben age 12 said as I was typing this...I think that we would all be in the RED phase (Pennsylvania has a color code system on what is open/closed) if we would have been school for the past 10 weeks.  PROBABLY TRUE

My superintendent said from the beginning "In the end, it will be impossible to know if we overreacted or did too much, but it will be quite apparent if we under reacted or did too little."  

Being at home has been the safest place to be.  Embrace your safety.  Most of us have been super healthy...no colds, stomach bugs, etc...

GO BREATHE - GO CELEBRATE - GO RE-CONNECT!!!

Try these websites:
CALM

Here is a funny cartoon for the future:

Rose, bud, thorn...

Home learning got real on May 4th,2020!!!  This was the date that our school made the switch from enrichment to required learning.  

I was a nervous wreck...would my lessons work?  What would my children be doing?  

However, I am optimist and created the perfect schedule with each child's two hour blocks allotted.

Some of my ideas WORKED!  Some of my ideas FAILED.  I am happy to report that everyone finished week one over the weekend with minimal tears and week 2 is on track to finish today for 2 out of 3 of my children.  We plow through Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday then on Wednesday evening we (I) make a Thursday and Friday battle plan to finish the rest.  We have 2 computers and 4 users (3 kids and mom).  However, the older laptop is "glitchy" and not a touch screen.  

My children require support to complete the activities in a timely manner.  I think that they could be more independent if I had more time!

I could comment, philosophize, and complain for pages as could every parent in America.  

Instead, I am going to do an activity that I learned through my children's scout groups.  It is called Rose, Bud, Thorn.  You pick 1 thing you LOVE, 1 thing that you LEARNED, and one thing that you DISLIKE.

So parents I encourage you to silently or in the comments below think about your ROSE, BUD, and THORN.  

ROSE: Spending more time with my children than I will ever get to spend again.  I usually get 2.5 months of summer to run to the park, go to camps, do summer library work, and more.  I will get to be with my children from March 13 until late August.  The first 8 weeks were here together...no obligations...no "rules"...nothing...just TIME together.

BUD:  My children and I get to be learners together.  I am learning right along with them.  We learn about music topics, literacy activities, computers, etc...  I do not have the answers or the perfect ideas.  We get to try new games, crafts, recipes, and so much more.  Plus, I think that I will get to know them as learners.  Who is distractable?  Who is  an auditory learner?  

THORN:  Being the "meany" when work needs done.  It might a beautiful afternoon, but I need 1 hour of work.  Or you might have to quote your resources.  Or you have to finish this topic before playing a game or watching a video.    

Remember that we will get though this!  I added some of our recent art activities...I even did one of them!  

So what are your rose, bud, and thorn?

Staying Healthy!

I honestly do not know what to write.  My family has been home together since March 13th.  It is now April 26th!  My family is lucky to live in a bubble.  My husband and I can work from home.  We are both getting paid.  My children do not need to go to childcare.  We are blessed with food from school and our own food.  No hungry bellies!  Our zipcode/region of our county has a low case count of Covid 19 positive cases.  Our family has a beautiful yard and neighborhood to explore.  

I am not trying to brag or boast, but it is my current reality.  I am trying to envision families with any different reality.  I wish that I had a magic wand or potion to fix everything.  

As a teacher, the expectations and platforms are changing minute by minute.  Teachers are learning on the go.  I never knew how to make PDF pictures.  Now I do.  Each of us is sitting at a computer deciding what to cover in our curriculum, how to modify it for a variety of learners, etc...  The questions are endless!!!

Our district has gone through three phases during this time period.  First, was the 2 week shut down and "wait and see."  Second phase was the online enrichment/packets.   Currently, we are preparing for phase 3...online LEARNING on May 4th.

Wow...I feel like I could spend all day researching and preparing and fixing and creating.  I am using something new to me called BUNCEE.  It is great tool and has so many cool options.  I hope that the students like the activities.  One platform and one link sounded more manageable for families than a series of random links and PDFs.  Maybe I am over thinking this, but I do not know.  I just need to follow the advise in this article!  Keep Your Eyes on Your Own Paper

In addition, I am a mother of six children who are now doing online enrichment and preparing for online learning.  I will fully admit to not being too strict or scheduled for this online enrichment.  I spoke to this a few weeks on my blog.  

This week, we created a schedule and discussed this change from online enrichment to online learning.  Today is house cleaning day.  I know that it is Sunday, but yesterday was too nice to stay in and clean.  Tomorrow, I want to give our new schedule a "TRIAL RUN" and not be worried about cleaning.  

What do you think education will look like next school year?  Did you see this article from NPR about the future of education?  9 Ways Schools Will Look Different  

Here are a few images that I have captured of "HOME LEARNING":

Workbook/fine motor practice

After game night picture

Mask making (for dolls)

Pizza making fun

Reality vs fantasy

The last 3 weeks have been amazing, surreal, and stressful intermittently throughout this time period.  I know that this sounds crazy, but it is true!

Today, I found a video from Gerry Brooks that sums up how I feel very well.  

Here is the link.  He is a principal in Kentucky and is really well educated..

Being An Educator 

Facebook version

How is it going with home learning at my own house?

Each child has strengths and weaknesses:

Here is the REALITY:

Alayna (age 21) is managing but college classes and tests with five younger siblings is interesting.  Many of her professors are swimming uncharted waters for advanced genetics and immunology classes.  

Ben (age 12) is working through the Pennsylvania Hunter Safety Course as well as his occupational therapy activities.  Not much school related activities, but he is doing his fluency.

Bella (age 10) is struggling to find enrichment for herself.  She is doing awesome working with siblings, playing computer and board games with them, but is not stretching herself academically.  

She is enjoying making small crafts to include in family letters.  Bella is writing a letter each day to different family and friends.  In addition, she is reading aloud to my students every night.

TJ (age 7) is working hard, but is super distractable.  He has read books, completed math activities, met on Zoom with his teacher for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, worked on his teacher's enrichment activities, and even writes a letter every day.  This is a challenging activity for him, but he is doing it!

Lucas (age 4) is just existing and learning through osmosis mostly.  He loves ABC Mouse and Prodigy math games on the computer.  We try to do Go Noodle as well.  He is counting and working on writing his name.  He is often reluctant to color a picture, but will make one out of stickers.  Letters are my goal for him over the next 2 months.

Cadia (age 2) is just working on her speech therapy goals.  Play and listening and reading are the main ways that she is learning.

Here is my FANTASY:

I want the picture perfect imagine of everyone sitting at the table working or everyone curled up on the couch each with our own book.  NOPE not happening.  I am just focusing on sanity and real life moments not TEACHING.  

It is a huge shift...it feels weird...I still want/need a schedule.  I am guessing that this will come over the next few weeks.  

What are your successes and challenges?

Pictures...

Watching the International Space Station

 

Scavenger hunt from Girl Scouts

College Latin class

Bella painting 

PBS Kids

Zearn Math

Covid 19 Home Learning

Good afternoon!

Here is the first morning of home learning update:

7:00 - 7:30 Mass online by myself

7:30 - 9:00 Work on school items, talk with a co-worker, trouble shoot the online learning portal, get ready for the day

9:00 - convince the 7 year old to curl up and look at the links with me that were prepared by his teacher.  First link, no problem...it was just a parent letter.  Link two did not work.

Yes...the website problems that were just resolved are now not working for the STEAM teacher.  You can laugh or commiserate!

9:30 - switch to ABC MOUSE and try to figure out the problem with the portal.  At the same time, I log into the other laptop to try to get the 10 year old started.  Nope - the links do not work.  The 4 year old has taken over ABC Mouse and the 7 year is rolling around on the couch!

TIME GETS FUZZY HERE!  4 year old convinces dad to play his video on the living room TV while learning is supposed to be happening.  This was corrected quickly, but adds to the reality of home learning with 5 different ages in 1 one house (and a sleeping college student to make 6).

10:00 - get the learning link portals working on my phone for my 10 year old.  She gets a multiplication choice board link and quickly writes 1 word problem.  
Simultaneously, I get the 7 year old to work on learning about glaciers,  writing three facts, and one opinion.  He also learned learned about President Polk and the first lady Polk and then Gerald Ford.  Before distractions set in.

10-11:30 there is oatmeal that needs made, juice spilled on the bed, and more!  Some of the learning is occurring, but not what I imagined or hoped for!

By 11:30, everyone was hungry and it was lunch time.  I am not sure how another month of home learning is going to work.  This is just enrichment and I am not "teaching" online yet.  

Oh - add in potty training to this mix and you might get a sense of the craziness!  Luckily, my husband works from home with a super flexible schedule.  He can make the oatmeal or assist with lunches or put the 2 year old down for a nap...I can't image doing this home learning thing solo.  

How was your morning of home learning?

The afternoon brings my 10 year old making a guitar with hair ties and a tissue box. Roblox or some other video game on multiple devices in multiple rooms.

So if you have a picture perfect schedule...go for it!
If you quickly fell into a pit of tablets and PBS KIDS...go for it!
If the kids are running around in the yard...go for it!

What are they going to remember when we are done with this adventure?  Think about it from their point of view.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Here is a new links for families and teachers:
PBS learning resources

This is what I miss most - my students and my fellow teachers.  

Bear Hunting

Have you seen the Facebook posts about going a bear hunt?

Were you totally confused?

Okay...let me break it down and help you out!!!

First, we are in quarantine mode and many of are in areas on near lock down.  However, we have time to go for walks and maybe a drive.  While out and about, you can look for TEDDY BEARS in the windows near and far.  If you are not familiar with the pre-school song or the story book, here is the link to the book read by the author!

So, what do I do?

Put a stuffed teddy bear or a picture of a teddy bear in your window, on a flag pole, or somewhere else visible from the road.

Next, GO ON A BEAR HUNT!!!

I think that this is my favorite version of this activity...I have also seen hearts, rainbows, and Easter Eggs.

Spread the joy near and far and post pictures of your bears if you want to (keep your address private).

Quaran-teaching

This is how I feel.  It began earlier this week with a Zoom meeting to discuss our district plan starting to create materials.

Overall, it was and has been exciting and overwhelming.  I scoured facebook groups, my blog, and many other resources for ideas.  What would people have at home?  What are skills that can be practiced offline and online?  What is interesting?

I created two choice boards which go LIVE next week (look for those next week).  In addition, I have been supporting my fellow teachers as we navigated this new process.  Our district tried one format, but that didn't work as predicted.  So a second option was sent out.  So I uploaded my files twice.

Plus, I had to stop into school today to get my computer updated since it was taking 7-10 minutes per upload.  Finally, that seems to be fixed by IT.

I also grabbed all the seeds to try to start the school garden at home.  Thanks to Annette who is our PTO president who got them donated last year for us! 

Another activity that I completed today was picking up boxes from UPS from our Scholastic Book Fair proceeds.  SO MANY AWESOME BOOKS.

I have been keeping busy with my children and cleaning my house on top of the teaching responsibilities.

What have you been doing?

Here is the Read Alouds and Lego Challenges that I have offered to my students via facebook:

Read Alouds


YOU CAN TRY ANY OF THESE LEGO CHALLENGES AT HOME!

March LEGO challenges

Please stay healthy and stay safe! Soon this craziness will be over!!!

Coding, typing, and more

Okay - we are almost a week into this historic moment in history.

As a new parent/educator, you are trying to find a balance.  This is to my Wattsburg Elementary families...

Your child has a few ongoing activities in STEAM that they can continue from home!

Code.org - I have a link from the Wattsburg Elementary webpage!  Media Center page
Each homeroom in 1st through 4th grade has a link.  Most students know their secret picture or words, but I am willing to help out via Facebook Messenger or email!  They can continue where we left off or just explore the website.  IT IS FREE!!!

EduTyping - Students in grade 3 and 4 have periodically worked on typing skills.  4th grade log ins have not changed, but 3rd grade switched over to a new log in through CLEVER and they have to re-start for now.   Sorry!!!!

4th grade log in - Edutyping
Account ID - senecahs
User name - first letter of first name, whole last name, and 01 (they should know this piece)
Password - 123456

3rd grade log in - Clever or it is on the "student" drop down menu
First make sure that it is Wattsburg School District
Then it is their user name @wattsburg.org - Sample student would be SStudent01@wattsburg.org
Password is their "lunch number" or student ID number.  It might be on Sapphire, but again I can find it for you.

All students can access CLEVER and find a variety of resources connected for FREE including Brain Pop!

Finally, PEBBLE GO.  The school district pays for a subscription two databases within Pebble Go.  One is all about Animals and the other is all about Science.

It is linked with log in credentials from Media Center Webpage

Plus I have a list of websites that we can use at any time on the media website called "Websites We Love".  Feel free to explore them with your students :)

One week later...

One week ago, I was teaching...no shut downs were even in my mind on when I woke up on Thursday March 12th.

Quickly, everything began shutting down.  By 9 PM on Thursday night, I felt that my "Coronavacation" was imminent.

Fast forward to Friday, try teaching during this time of uncertainty.  Students knew something was amiss and teachers/staff were trying to keep a poker face.  However, I know my classes felt like controlled chaos.  Life was not right.

Friday March 13th at 2:15 - Finally an email from the administration...work will continue as normal next week.
Friday March 13th at 3:20 - AN ANNOUNCEMENT to check our email immediately...governor declares a 2 week shut down.  Okay brain shift!

By 5 PM, my class pet and I are settled in at home.  I want to watch hours of TV news on this event, but can't for a variety of reasons.

The weekend was surreal.  Some things were still on and others were cancelled.

I do not sit still well and my students are my world...so I found some ideas and have run with them.  Our Facebook PTO page has a LEGO challenge daily, a night time story at 7:30 with my crew, and a Blessing Box has been added.

WHAT NEXT?

I do not know...the kids are settling into some unstructured learning activities.  I am trying to keep up with my one box a day cleaning goal.  Plus, potty training two stubborn toddlers.

Go Noodle on You Tube +
Movie night blankets left out
 = REAL LIFE

Ben loves doing Adventure Academy with the free trial offer

Bella has taken to crafting - this is a planter

Overall, I am enjoying my Covid 19 break.  I have some big projects to tackle like my SLO (student learning objective) data, figuring out how to plant a school garden when my seeds are locked in the building, and making memories!

What are you doing this week?