Teacher friends ~~~ I know most of you have huge concerns regarding school starting in person or online in the next few weeks.
It will feel so strange to not start the year off in person meeting and getting to know our students.
I know building our classroom community is one of our favorite parts of teaching. ( insert sad face here ).
So, I’m thinking about all the things I’ve done in the past and trying to figure out what can still work online even though it may ‘feel’ different.
One of the things I love to do is an ALL ABOUT ME BAG activity. I have a product you can look at { here } if you want to see it up close. Basically, each child is sent home with a brown lunch bag an a note and poem explaining how to fill up the bag with things about them.
We sit in a circle and share our About Me bags and it’s a wonderful way to get to know each other. We usually spread this out over a couple of days to keep their interest and not fill most of the day with shares.
This can still be done on line. You can assign students different days the first week to share their ME bag. They can share their bag in front of their classmates on your digital learning platform…zoom, google meet, etc. It can still be an engaging way to get to know your students.
I guess I just want to remind you that you can do many of the same things you ‘ve done in person on line, it may take more thought or going about it a different way but may be possible. Keep thinking outside the box you guys…we got this!
xo,
