Have a Great Spring Break!

We did it! Two and a half weeks of remote learning! As they say in Japan: otsukaresama deshita. Thank you for your time and efforts to maintain Preschool's learning during the physical school closure.

In 8 school days, you learned two new learning management systems (Google Classrooms and Seesaw) and the students were sharing their thinking and learning about 36 times a day! I notice a few of you reading in Raz Kids too! Hats off to Preschool!

Some have asked if they can continue completing the learning, practicing, and sharing over the break and of course I encourage that. Please also remember to take a much-needed break for you and your family.

If you do choose to complete the learning, please don't forget to look at the full day of learning on Google Classroom first (there is a slideshow for each day from the 9th) and then if you need to view or post anything in Seesaw there will be a link there. As it is a holiday, I will only be approving posts a few times a week and not providing feedback until we return from break. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Have a wonderful Spring Break!

Upcoming:
March 19th-29th     Spring Break!
March 30th              First Day of Swimming in PE (see supplies list below)

Swimming will be every Monday after Spring Break. Please make sure your child has the following swimming gear on their return from Spring Break:

• A waterproof bag
• Swimwear
• Swimming cap
• Towel
• Goggles (optional)
• Rash vest (optional)

As we walk to and from the swimming pool, I also suggest something to keep wet heads warm on cold days.

Week 2 of Remote Learning - You Did It!

I am overflowing with pride for Preschool today. We have taken a challenging situation - sudden school closure - and THRIVED! Nine days ago we were all new to online learning tools like Seesaw, Google Classroom, and Kids A-Z. Today in Seesaw, we have OVER 200 journal entries of Preschool sharing their thinking! I miss seeing them in person like crazy, but every time I click PLAY and hear them speaking, singing (or playing the harmonica or piano for me!), and see their smiling faces doing their best to learn no matter where they are, it gives me the MOTIVATION to do my very best for them too. When I say I am proud of Preschool - I mean our entire community: parents and students!

IMPORTANT: 

1. Please complete the learning engagements IN ORDER. We build understanding, so it is important that the students do not skip around in literacy, maths, unit of inquiry, and music. It is absolutely okay if you haven't been able to do everything everyday. However, when you DO have time, please work your way through the learning in the order it was given. 
   Complete all of the How We Express Ourselves: Celebrations reflections, show & tell, and summative task BEFORE beginning the new unit on How The World Works: Living Things.
   
   Complete all of the Maths: Measuring tasks in order for length, before moving on to capacity and then completing those in order also.
   
2.  Please don't feel pressured to complete anything in one sitting. In the classroom students often work on a task for 15-20 minutes then move on and come back and finish the next day or later in the day. However, don't upload your learning until you are finished the task and have done your personal best. It is about the learning, not how much or how fast you complete it.
   
3. Please let your child do the thinking and talking as much as possible. It is important for me to see and hear what they are thinking and doing so I can respond to that in future learning tasks and feedback. It is not about a "right" answer - it is about the thinking and learning process. Also, it is important for their confidence that they have a chance to do things by themselves.
   
4. When working with Seesaw and photos. The best option is to take the photo within Seesaw. They have a free app for most devices you can use or access the web version. That way you don't have to worry about file compatibility. If you do have to upload photos you took outside of Seesaw, please take a second to make it as large as possible within the page. 

If your post looks like this to you:

It looks like this to me when I am reviewing:

It is too small to see without my taking extra steps to go inside the post. Please make sure the part I need to see is large in the screen by clicking and dragging a corner of the picture until it looks something like:

Then it will look like this to me and take less time for me to provide feedback:

Also, please make sure you rotate photos that have writing in them. Again, I think this will all be easier for you if you take the photos or videos within the response in Seesaw. Thank you for taking the time to do this, I often have more than 30 posts to review and give feedback to each day (there were over 70 waiting for me Monday morning!) so it is time consuming for me to have to click inside and edit. 🙏🙇

Thank you Preschool for an engaging week of learning and sharing! 

Remote Learning Day 5 - Otsukaresama!

We made it! We finished our first week of remote learning! Thumbs up to you!

This week I have noticed Preschool being a...

We have all been trying new things this week! We have used new devices and new programs. We have tried learning and teaching in different ways and environments.

We have all had to think about different ways to learn, teach, and solve any problems that arose.

We are communicating by looking at learning our classmates have shared and responding to that.
I am so proud of our Preschool learning community for being open-minded and making this work!

Now I would like to hear from you about what worked for you this week to help me plan for next week. Please fill out this form with your feedback.

Please don't forget to maintain balance during this time. I have shared some tips on how to stay balanced in a previous post and please feel free to share in a comment what has helped you and your family this week too!

Enjoy the weekend!

Remote Learning Day 2

Greetings Preschool!

Last week the students designed and built floats for a Mardi Gras parade challenge! They took risks by trying different strategies to make their floats into what they designed. They had to communicate with their partner(s) to decide not only on the design, but also the materials to use and how to put those together. Though we weren't able to complete all of them before the unexpected school closure, we will reflect on what we did this week. Check us out in action:

Yesterday it was so much fun to read and see pictures of what the students were doing at home. Also, I was very excited to see some already experimenting with SeeSaw.

On Wednesday we will begin using our Google Classroom to manage our remote learning. This is a big learning curve for many of us as we will also integrate other learning resources that are age-appropriate for the students, such as SeeSaw. Take your time and know that we are here to support you every day from 8am-4:30pm.

I Think I Can GIF from Ithinkican GIFs

Remote Learning Tips

This week we are all adjusting to different schedules and ways of doing things. My girls are home from school and we are figuring out how to work, live, and learn together also. In addition to researching different ways to engage learners remotely, I have also been thinking a lot about how to thrive as a family during this time and wanted to share a few things that are helping in our home with you.

Talk with your child about what is happening. They are little, but they hear the news we are watching and our conversations with other adults about the COVID-19 virus. They also feel any anxiety about  the unknowns surrounding the virus. They need our help to understand and work through any fears they share so don't worry about talking with them in an age-appropriate way. Keep it simple, factual, and focused on positive messages. This article has a helpful When and How to talk to children section. Remember, it is always okay to say, "I really want to talk about this too, let's talk about it tomorrow morning." if questions come up at a time when you are tired or distracted.

Make time and space for learning. When learning at home, it might be helpful to have a quiet, consistent place where your child does their learning daily. A schedule helps everyone stay balanced. Reasonable bedtimes and mealtimes will also help when the transition when we return to school.

Give your child responsibilities. As I mentioned in my first Morning Meeting video, the students have responsibilities they perform daily in Preschool and this is a perfect opportunity for them to learn a new skill and feel the satisfaction of being a contributing member of the family. Here are some age-appropriate responsibilities:
Chores for children ages 2 to 3

• Put toys away
• Fill pet's food dish
• Put clothes in hamper
• Wipe up spills
• Dust
• Pile books and magazines

Chores for children ages 4 to 5
Any of the above chores, plus:

• Make their bed
• Empty wastebaskets
• Bring in mail or newspaper
• Clear table
• Pull weeds, if you have a garden
• Use hand-held vacuum to pick up crumbs
• Water flowers
• Unload utensils from dishwasher
• Wash plastic dishes at sink
• Fix bowl of cereal

Chores for children ages 6 to 7
Any of the above chores, plus:

• Sort laundry
• Sweep floors
• Set and clear table
• Help make and pack lunch
• Weed and rake leaves
• Keep bedroom tidy

Get some fresh air and exercise. Get outside if the weather is nice and you can walk or play somewhere. Otherwise, make time to do a workout as a family.

Connect. We all miss each other! I will make a weekly whole-class meeting, but if you can meet a school friend online or for a playdate, that in-person connection with people is important too.

I am so grateful to have you all in our learning community and know we can do this! 

Morning Meeting March 3rd and Sight Word Book Instructions

Hello Preschool! Uploading to YouTube issues made my morning meeting into an afternoon meeting. Hope your morning has gone well!




How to do the sight word book:

SeeSaw App

Hello Preschool!

It was so exciting to find a couple of students have tried out SeeSaw already! High-fives!

A parent let me know that SeeSaw doesn't support Draw + Record in the Safari browser. The Seesaw Class and Family apps are available on iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire devices. You can also use Seesaw on the web using a computer or Chromebook via a Chrome, Firefox, or Edge browser.

If you are using a tablet or phone, please use the app version of SeeSaw to avoid any browser difficulties. Here is the Apple App Store link.

For more information, please look here. As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

Thank you!