Reach Before Teach (Middle School)

Balance hasn't been a hallmark of my life. It's tough - parenting, being a wife, being a daughter, being a friend, being a teacher, being a student.. Those are a lot of hats, and I've worn them all at once, as have many, many other people. I'm not saying this is unique to me. But when we wear that many hats, one may tip slightly, thus setting all the ones above it at an angle. We adjust as needed, right? That's kind of how I feel right now. I don't know that I'm balancing anything well, but I'm trying. We aren't the only ones trying to balance. These students of ours are trying to figure out how to balance virtual learning with what their famililies need of them. For some students, that's a big load to bear. Some parents require a great deal of their older students, who are helping younger ones with work, providing babysitting service, doing a great deal around the home, and even more. I'm not sure if this is more than usual for some of t...

We just finished our official Week 3 of Virtual Learning (although the first week was really just a couple of days). I have had multiple opportunities to reach out to parents. Mostly, I've done it via email. I haven't made a lot of phone calls because I'd rather they be able to read it on their time. I've reached out when students haven't reached out during the week. I've reached out to let parents/guardians know I'm posting assignments so they can see what their student is doing. What I'm getting back has surprised and saddened me. I'm hearing from parents that they hear from very few teachers at the middle level and higher. Some parents/guardians tell me how much of a struggle their student is having. Some parents tell me how difficult it is to coordinate time with their children and  do their own work. Some parents tell me that when the child is at a different custodial parent, they have no idea what work is being completed. I feel for them....

My district just finished it's first week of content virtual teaching. We started the week before, slowly, with reach-out questions; we did those kind of things I might talk about with students before class really started. It was a way to see who could reach us, who might be having problems. It allowed parents of multiple children to ease into working together on school work more than what a teacher would send as "homework". Last week was eye-opening for me. Here are just a few things I learned. *I put out a Flipgrid just to say, "How are you?" I had kids responding with how hard this was for them. These 8th graders really need socialization, and they jumped at the chance to watch videos other students made. So lesson learned. I'm putting out at least one Flipgrid each week now. It isn't mandatory to view or respond. It does support what content I'm offering. More importantly, it allows two ways (written or video) to respond to the content. *I ...

I was raised in a rural area, and the phrase "The chickens come home to roost" was used often. I didn't understand what that meant for a long time. Idioms are tough - you have to have the background knowledge to understand the intent in the saying (but there's a whole other blog post, right?). Our world is upside down, topsy-turvy, chaotic, and unpredictable. And I say this with all my heart behind it - some of our students live that way all the time. This is just one more thing, one more obstacle, one more issue, that's been placed in their path. But that's a different topic, and not today's. The chickens come home to roost - the relationships I have built with my students are now showing. The time and energy I've invested in these kids is showing. I'm the first to say that while I try to build a strong working relationship with each of my students, I don't. Some of us don't mesh. We're respectful to each other, but I'm not the...