Friday, June 12, 2020

Classroom clean-up

It is time to clean up the classroom. This will be a very different experience than in the past. I will be cleaning up and putting things away with the unknown in mind. What school will look like in the fall is a mystery, yet there have been some consistent rumors about what that might look like.

How will I clean up with this in mind?

If I didn't use it this year, and it's not a special supply--get rid of it
Typically the end-of-the-year clean up is a time for purging. So if I didn't use the supply this year and it is not a special supply, I'll toss it.

Learning materials organization
There are a number of learning materials that we do use regularly. I'll sort and organize those materials into same spaces. While it seems like students may keep their supplies in their backpacks or desks, I'll have supplies ready to make students' personal packages of materials or to replenish missing materials.

Less paper, more online activities
It is likely that students will work more online than on paper in the fall, so I'll organize paper supplies with that in mind.

While I'm not excited about the big clean up and a bit nervous about stepping outside of my comfort zone in my house, I'll clean for a fairly easy set-up should we return to school in the fall with the following fall teaching/learning activities in mind.

  • Learning how to use the website/learning menu
  • Creating online digital portfolios (Google Websites)
  • Learning how to film yourself and share that firm (My Three Words Project)
  • Learning how to use online tools to support your learning
  • Building classroom community
    • What does a class meeting look like and what protocols do we use for conversation, share, listening
    • What does safe school attendance look like--what do we do
    • Who are we, what do we enjoy, how can we be a strong classroom community
    • What are our protocols for safe, happy, productive classroom teaching and learning
  • Setting classroom goals--what are we hoping to learn this year, how will we do that.
  • Curriculum Focus for Fall
    • Heavy emphasis on an early start to the math curriculum
    • Emphasis on an early start to reading, writing curriculums
    • Focus on environmental education--learning outdoors
Overall the focus will be a clean, lean and focused learning environment for the fall whether we are online, offline, or a mix of both. Onward.