The next six days

"The next six days," because that is all I think I can speak to! Each day I've contemplated a blog to lay out the big picture. What the big picture might look like has changed too much each day to set down in print. Even the next six days are uncertain, but here goes...

WHAT JONATHON IS DOING
I've reworked this blog site. I created new sites to support and connect students as they engage in independent study, which can be lonely. I don't know what role PPS will have me fill when students "return" next Wednesday, but I hope my work won't be for naught. I hope that I will still be my students' teacher, and that the changes I make now will bear fruit. But that's not sure at all.

I'm learning new apps for learning and communication. I created a list on Remind to strengthen home-school communication, only to learn that teachers are encouraged to use Google Hangouts. So, I'm re-tooling. Next Monday and Tuesday, PPS will assign staff to do this very thing, engage in professional development online. 

PPS has been explicit with teachers: Take a break, get rested - you'll need it! PPS asked what roles we are prepared to fill, and just their questions gave me a glimpse of what's ahead. I feel good about what April will bring to students.

WHAT YOU COULD BE DOING
Maybe you already carved out a comfortable, quiet space for your child to read. Ideally, you've also prepared a desk where your child can work. If that's not possible, you found a big box or basket to hold materials until the kitchen table is free.

You could designate a internet device (a laptop, tablet, or desktop computer) for your child. This can be a shared device - your child won't need it all day! This is an important time to set limits on screen time. You can request a Chromebook from PPS - CLICK HERE, and new ways to connect to the internet are emerging. For example, Comcast sent me an email that seemed to suggest that ANYONE can connect to their wifi during the school closure. And, if you live near a school or library, you may be able to patch into their wifi. I'm intrigued by the new mobile wifi hubs.

If you haven't already, listen to the podcast Tips for Homeschooling During Coronavirus. It offers great tips for home learning. I especially like their recommendation to keep in contact with your child's principal and teacher! Passion projects are wonderfully protective for tweens and teens, and always figure into my work with students in the Spring. The podcast also explains succinctly why I slowed my own plans to provide distance learning. (And this Oregonian article explains in greater detail.)

WHAT YOUR CHILDREN COULD BE DOING
Could be, because, according to PPS, your kids should take two weeks off! And, I bet that IS happening. However, most families are probably finding it important - just for sanity! - to work into a routine, with some study being a part of that. Here's what my students could do:

Read! PPS wants kids to read, and that is why so, so many books were send home on that last Friday. 

Pursue a Passion I hope your child has already engaged in some independent learning - however that looks. My eldest baked her own cake for her 16th birthday. Friends who could not join her on the day :( wrote her creative, sweet, long letters, one with a drawing of how she would have decorated her locker. The other filmed and shared her own hilarious cooking adventure. One of our 210ers went to Ms. Yao's site, then created and posted her own self portrait! I've invited students to share their doings with their classmates on one of two new Google Classrooms: The World of Art, and SPARKS. Responses are coming in now. See the Student tab for more.

Math  Most of the students in 210 ARE indulging in Math. Its infectious! I see from my online roster that students are knocking out Zearn lessons. Nobody needs to - you're on break! However, it is not a bad thing, and I'm supporting their work by putting homework pages and their solution keys in their hands. Click the Student tab to see what we're up to in Math. 

Our visiting author canceled the last Friday. I quickly created free access to BrainPOP for students, and set them to exploring independently. Then, I put together a packet of the first 15 lessons of the next Math unit. I gave them permission to begin, and to work at their own pace during the break. I only ask that students take the time to complete and check some or all of the corresponding homework page before beginning the next lesson on Zearn. From lesson 15 on, you will need to print for yourself.

On last, for the readers out there. The previous blog shares a poem by Billy Collins that felt relevant. I suppose it isn't cool to post a poet's work in whole! I won't do that again. Instead, I offer a reading suggestion: The very next poem in Questions About Angels, "Pensee," speaks to our current - cloistered - dilemma, as well. And, just a few pages on, "The Willies" connects to pandemic itself; the three together form an eery troika for the times. I hope you - and your children - are finding meaning in their reading, and meaning in your lives together.        ~ Jonathon