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When you first walk into her tiny classroom you can tell she has a love for teaching and children. Her room is full of color! She has post-its, different colored pens, books, and organized binders with information about her students, activities, standards, and assessments. She has a small dry erase stand, two computers, and a hovercam all ready to go.
When I first asked her for help she was overly generous and shared so much. I was amazed at the things she had set up for her parents and students. She has created a website with everything her students need. This website is a big hit. She incorporates a theme in her class each week to broaden their knowledge of things that may not be in the reading series. One theme week they learned about bats, so they read the story Stellaluna, watched some fun fact videos, and then created a craft together of a bat. She then created a part of her website full of bat books and activities for students to learn more about bats. The kids really enjoy the theme weeks!
When I asked her how she managed all 28 of her students she shared her positive program. She has a digital fuzzy ball jar. Students earn putting a fuzzy ball in the jar by logging into meetings on time, following class rules, and completing their independent work. One of her big goals from the fuzzy jar is when they collect a certain number they will watch a movie together during a Google Meet. Another great incentive she has created is her Fun Friday. When students have completed at least 80% of their work for the week, they get to go on to Google Meets with her and do different activities. They play fun games such as guess the sound you hear, what is in the bag (similar to 20 questions), or just hang out with the other students to build relationships.
Last week I observed her teaching her classroom. It was exciting to watch how focused they were on her teaching and how well they followed classroom rules. They knew to mute when she was teaching, do the tasks she asked, and then unmute when they were asked a question. That day they were writing their numbers on dry erase boards and counting as a warm-up activity. They were so excited to share their numbers on the screen. The interaction between students and teacher was just like what you see in a brick and mortar classroom. She has built a classroom of trust, where students are eager to learn and love logging into school every day.
Written by Cara Schaffer, Chapel Glen iTEC Teacher