I Teach Kids

To save you some time, here are ten settings that every teacher should review before their first Zoom with students.

Today was our first day back after Spring Break. It was supposed to be our first day back with students, but a few days before break, it was adjusted to be a Teacher Inservice Day, with students to come back tomorrow.

Things have been changing constantly and as it turns out: today is now our last day. And who knows when students will come back.

The elephant in the room. When everyone knows it's there, but no one wants to acknowledge it. How does this help or hurt someone who has just experienced a loss? The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of relationship.

One year ago, my school and I embarked on this adventure called PLUS. I don't know why we capitalize it when we write it out. It's not an acronym. It doesn't spell out anything. But it does represent the massive shift our entire building made in one year of a five-year ramp up.

Dealing with grief was like building physical stamina: the more you exercise, the fast your heart rate recovers after it is elevated. And sometimes, during especially vigorous physical activity, you discover strength you didn't know you had.

I am not friends with books. They are more like that annoying cousin you see a few times throughout the year, and when they're there, you feel obligated to spend time with them until they're gone.

That's my relationship with books.

Sometimes posting a course update is not what you need from Schoology. Did you know there's a quick way to send a direct message to all of the users enrolled in a course? Or even to all of the admins of a course? Or even all of the parents of the users in a course?

This is my eighth year teaching and I've worked really hard to get rid of my desk. Of those eight years, over half of them I've gone without a traditional teacher desk.

A lot of substitutes are confused. And some of my teammates don't get it. But it's been one of the best things I've done for my class. Ever.

This is the third year that my school has been with Schoology and I'm still trying to find the best way to utilize the digital platform.

One of the first ways that I've used Schoology has been the Test/Quiz feature. There are several different question types to choose from (true/false, multiple choice, short answer, etc.) and some other convenient features.