“Acknowledge that this “new normal” and challenging for all of us- parents, students, and teachers!”
I picked out this quote from a blog post by Christina from Mrs. Winter’s BLISS. I loved it as the center of my reflection for this week because as I continue to search through ways that I can build relationships with my students through technology, I am constantly finding helpful tricks about how to do it remotely due to our current circumstances. It’s obvious that this year has been nothing short of “new” for all of us, and it’s all been extremely taxing. But then we add one more thing to our resume- teaching completely remote, or in some cases remote AND in person. We as teachers are relationship builders my nature, but personally I have found it extremely hard to do so to the degree I used to in the past. Between the alternating days, or the missed Google Hangouts, it’s been very hard to connect to students without starting the day with a high five or fist bumping after a correct answer in the classroom. I thought this quote, and the additional articles added to my Padlet did a great job of reminding me that this is NEW to all of us alike, and that it’s acceptable to take a step back, not overthink it, and go back to our second nature of building relationships the best way for us and our students. Maybe things aren’t the same, but things also don’t have to be overly new either. These links helped to give me some insight and ideas on how I can take my old way of building relationships and digitize or alter them to best fit our regulations now, and I hope it can do the same for you!
Padlet Link here: https://padlet.com/starkeramy/k69asjaerpvm1kg8
Amy, I could not agree more with everything that you shared, and think that what you found was so fascinating. I too am really struggling with everything, especially teaching the younger population. I love how you are using a Padlet to organize your thoughts! What are you doing to create relationships with parents or families. I feel so dry connecting with them through emails, and usually by this time would have face to face conferences scheduled, as well as had many come volunteer. I think that you have found amazing things so far!
Hi! Yes, it is not an easy task at all. I have found that having casual Google Meets every Monday has allowed me to build the relationships with the kids. The parental relationships aren’t quite as different for me, as our parental involvement is low at our school anyways. We do have conferences this week and I am anxious to see how those go when I am also used to face to face conferences. I am hoping to continue to use my HOMAGO time to find a great app that helps me with my goal of fostering better relationships during these times!