Obviously within this past year, educators all over the world have had to make massive adjustmenets in their classrooms. I remember "the day the clock stopped" (March 13, 2020) like it was yesterday, though it actually happened 10 months ago.
The purpose of this post is to share some really cool gadgets, apps, books, classroom planning tips, and lifestyle tips I have learned during this uncharted and unique time. This year, I have two classes of math and science-- an entirely face-to-face class in the morning and then a hybrid class in the afternoon where 15 students are online and 17 students are in person.
Below you will see various categories incorporating a wide range of resources and tips. If you find this post useful, I highly encourage you to share or comment!
Things I have learned in general:
1. My lessons are better organized than they have ever been in 17 years of teaching. I replicate every single lesson in printable form and keep them in folders on my computer. The absolute best part is having PDF files of every single page of notes I have taken in math and science this year, which I captured using the Scanner App on my iPhone.
2. Hands-on learning is still a possibility when students are learning from home. Also, delving into hands-on activities in the classroom is still doable during a world pandemic.
3. Although I have always been kind of an "overplanner", I always have a back-up plan, finding resources that take each lesson to the next level so students stay engaged after they have completed their assignments. See more in the "Classroom Planning" section.
4. Taking time for ourselves is what ultimately provides our fuel for every single week! The bottom category (lifestyle) is the longest in this post, but also the one I consider most critical.
Productivity Tools (Tech-related and non-tech-related)
- Scanner App: PDF Document Scan: I know, it's just a scanner app, but this has certainly been a tremendous game-changer in my classroom this year. It is also the most user-friendly app I have used for this purpose. While I am logged in to Microsoft Teams with my students, I can take photos of our notes and make them accessible for anyone who may need some extra time to write them out. You can save your images as .pdfs or .jpgs, and there is a super-easy cropping tool that makes the process of getting things in my online students' hands absolutely stress-free.
Click here to find out more: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/scanner-app-pdf-document-scan/id1040093707
- PDF Annotator: I downloaded this to my personal laptop during quarantine at the end of last year. I did not have my Elmo for part of the time, and I needed a program where I could work out math problems with my students. It also served as an extraordinary "digital white board" during our Zoom meetings. In many ways, this has served as a game-changer for me as well because I can crop .pdf files, easily share images of digitally annotated notes for my students, and much more. I pay for this monthly, but I use it very often. Truly, I consider this one of the best purchases I have ever made.
Check here to find out more: https://www.pdfannotator.com/en/
- Adobe Suite: Though I have been acclimated with Adobe products since 2001, I cannot recommend Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Premiere Pro 2020 to educators enough!
- Gooseneck Cell Phone Holder: Towards the beginning of quarantine last year, I purchased this product from Amazon. My former teaching partner had purchased one, and I was curious about it. The purchase was after I made human body unit videos on how to sketch the heart and lungs, but it helped me film math tutorials, a few personal stop motion videos, and a few science demonstrations. The flexibility is what certainly won me over!
- Image Mate: I use Elmo Image Mate every single day. I use the downloaded version, not the web-based one. Although it tends to freeze almost daily for a few seconds, I obviously could not teach my distance learners without it installed on my computer. I also use it from time to time in my entirely face-to-face first period class because I can check out information on one screen and share the notes I am taking on another.
- Varying up my choice of teacher journal: For science class this year, I decided to start using a sketch book from Michaels for my teacher journal. Starting next year, I am going to ask all my students to bring in an 8.5 x 11" blank sketchbook, because every new page of notes offers up a fresh, entirely blank "canvas" with higher quality paper than notebook paper. I vary up my markers, colored pencils, and pens, and most do not bleed through.
- Khan Academy and IXL: Having opportunities to practice outside of class while keeping the assignments paperless on my end is AWESOME! This month, I am seeing which of my students practice various math concepts for at least 200 minutes on their own. They have been advised to choose upcoming topics or previous ones where they felt they needed more practice.
- The "Old Stand-Bys"-- BrainPOP and Kahoot: These have been absolute blessings this year because students can still engage in real-time review activities. I have used them for many years, and students have always gotten really excited! Here are some other real-time reviews I have heard others rave about that I may also try before the end of this year...
- Socrative Space Races: https://help.socrative.com/en/articles/2155306-deliver-a-space-race
- Flippity (Which includes online Bingo!): https://flippity.net/
- Gimkit: https://www.gimkit.com/
- Baamboozle: https://www.baamboozle.com/
- A whole lot more in a list compiled by the authors of Ditch That Textbook!: https://ditchthattextbook.com/game-show-classroom-comparing-kahoot-quizizz-quizlet-live-and-quizalize/
- Flipgrid: Though I have not utilized it as much as I originally intended this year, using Flipgrid has been another game-changer. Every year since 2014, my fifth graders have presented "science museums" at the beginning of the school year, where they bring in at least five items that pertain to at least five different areas of science (like, for instance, electricity, astronomy, physics, human body, and geology). This year, my distance learning students and in-person students made videos of themselves presenting their items, and they easily got to watch as many presentations as they desired. It was also wonderful for my distance learning students when they carried out their egg drop engineering challenge back in September.
Furthermore, this image is from Flipgrid:
Classroom Planning:
One thing that has been challenging during this time is still delivering high-quality, engaging lessons that do not just rely on note-taking skills, solving problems, conducting research, and printed information.
These ideas below have worked especially well to bring science and math concepts to life this year...
- Escape Rooms: I have incorporated escape rooms in my classroom for the past four school years, and especially during this time, they are wonderful for students to engage in from multiple settings. I have designed many of my own, but a few I use from TpT for math and science are from Educational Emporium, Digital Escape Rooms, The Great Classroom Escape, and Escape Room EDU. I also always peruse free resources online.
- Virtual Field Trips: Last year, I shared quite a few virtual field trip ideas for my students and made it available for educator friends to check out as well. I recommended immersive adventures like Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and a fully visual tour of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. Just today, I introduced my students to the wondrous adventures below for our astronomy unit, which works wonders for our distance learning students.
- 100,000 Stars: https://stars.chromeexperiments.com/
- Interactive Solar System: https://www.solarsystemscope.com/
- 3D Solar System Simulator: https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem
- Interactive Solar System: https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space/solarsystem/
- Lunar Exploration (Moon Exploration): https://lunarexploration.esa.int/intro
- Interactive Moon Phases: https://pbslm-contrib.s3.amazonaws.com/WGBH/buac19/buac19-int-earthsunmoon35model/index.html
- Access Mars 360: https://accessmars.withgoogle.com/
- Viewspace: https://viewspace.org/
- How Big is Space: The Interactive Version AKA "Space Race": http://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/20140304-how-big-is-space-interactive/
- Choice Assignments: I am a huge advocate of kinesthetic learning opportunities in the classroom. In the past, we launched our marble roller coasters, constructed our rubber band propelled vehicles, and completed many of our engineering challenges without a second thought. I even have a makerspace in my classroom! Yet in these unprecedented times, I had to make a lot of changes. I still do every single one of those lessons in my face-to-face setting, but I have learned to offer more choices for my online learners because not everyone is able to run out to Lowe's to purchase items to construct a pumpkin catapult (like one of my extraordinary online learners did this past November). I have seen some students implement unique and creative ideas to review various standards this year through sketching informative comics, designing "magazine covers", writing songs about scientific vocabulary, authoring inforamational children's books, and editing videos of themselves carrying out numerous demonstrations. On a more simplistic note, we have done things like "Three Truths and One Lie" with science-based content. Our next choice assignment will focus on rocketry, which will be extremely cool because some may choose to make a little film canister rocket while others may launch with a bottle rocket launcher or even perhaps something a little more advanced. Others may instead desire to peruse a virtual lab that covers many of the same skills.
- Cross-Curricular Writing: Cross-curricular writing is as fun as ever! For the past few days, my students have written short descriptions about one of the planets from the perspective of a tour guide! As I already mentioned, we have also delved into comics before, and we also enjoyed making guides about electricity concepts last month.
- Helping Others: This is not necessarily a part of planning, per se, but we are finding new ways to help others in 2021. Last month, a few of my students donated items for a local cat shelter, and I will still be seeking more donations so we have even more to give. Aside from that, students from both settings got involved with the Salvation Army Angel Tree and may soon get involved with outdoor gardening/restoration on our school grounds.
- Intentionally finding time to chill: Since last month, I have been playing more music in our classroom, especially in the morning! Instrumental music is beautiful and helps me to breathe before a busy day as well.
Lifestyle:
I know this section does not directly relate to my classroom, but... I have learned in these past ten months there is FAR more to our lives as educators than just being in the classroom. It is critically important to relax and balance.
- Being out in nature: Gardening and going on nature walks IMMENSELY brightened my life in 2020, and I cannot wait to see where walking brings me in 2021! From Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville to about ten other walking trails in Florida, as well as a few different paths in Georgia and North Carolina, I have absolutely loved breathing in fresh air and taking the time to truly decompress in total serenity.
- Ah... Nutrients: I love the So Good, So You probiotic shots from my grocery store (Publix) as well as Arden's Garden and Koia beverages. I also love the opportunities when I am able to shop at organic grocery stores-- my absolute favorites are Greenwise Market and Earth Fare. Although I do not solely eat organic food, I love trying new recipes and purchasing new items. Below is a photo from one of my shopping trips at Greenwise as well as a second one of when I made sweet potato hash egg muffin cups.
- Yoga with Adriene: I have an issue with my right foot, but I delved into daily yoga routines for more than two months in 2020. As many know, Adriene's videos, resources, and expertise are available for everyone!
- The "headache bag": I have gotten migraines on and off since I was 13 years old in the eighth grade. I remember having a fairly substantial discussion with my mom about them. In my classroom, I keep a bag with Excedrin, headache relief roll-on peppermint essential oil, eye drops, lavender essential oil, and something arnica-related, though I cannot exactly remember what it is right now. The contents of the bag definitely helps soothe me and gets me on the right track-- much faster than I would have without it.
- Resources for reflection with my faith: Here and there, my faith will be mentioned in a small reference on this blog, and it totally applies here. One incredible book I purchased this year (in January 2021) is the Prayer Journal for Women. This resource provides a verse to reflect on as well as ample space to write out reflections and prayer requests for all 52 weeks of the year. I also love Candace Cameron Bure's books, verse cards, and devotionals.
- Fitbit: Although I have not used my new Fitbit as much as I have desired, I absolutely love having something that helps me see if I am receiving adequate sleep or not. Also, I have never been a huge advocate of counting the steps I take, but when I have worn it for a few days, I have been amazed that I move as much as I do!
- The Right Blanket: I recently replaced my blanket with a sherpa weighted blanket, which can be found at the Buzio store on Amazon.
- Coffee and Tea: I love iced coffees-- especially Stok as well as a variety of organic coffees. Yet beyond that, I went on a limb this year and purchased "Mission Chill" tea from Zadiko Tea Co. (which was started by Zach from the Try Guys).
- Affirmations and Gratitude: I also write self-affirmations and sometimes write down what I am grateful for on small Post-Its that I keep in a jar. This year has been different, to say the least, but when I look back and see all my positive statements of kindness and reflections, it helps me realize that there have been MANY bright and wondrous moments that have occurred over this past year.
Beyond all the positives, I certainly miss using my Oculus Rift with my students, going on overnight field trips with my Technology Club, and preparing for numerous big events, but if I keep focusing on the silver lining and balance in my life, everything will eventually fall into place again. I encourage you to focus on what you love, and if you want to share something that has really brightened your life this past year (either at school or outside at school), I would love to hear from you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
