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Distance Learning: Week 2

Hello everyone, 

Thanks for coming back to hear about week 2. I definitely felt better about everything this week. Don’t get me wrong, each day I get more and more sad that I am not seeing my students anytime soon, but I did feel like I had more of a routine this week. Routine is something I am really missing during this whole situation. Going into school every day is a sense of comfort for me. School is my second home, with so many of my favorite people in it. Not being able to go there has been very tough. 

Here are some of my random, jumbled thoughts and ideas from week 2…

Most importantly for me, I was able to get into a better routine this week. I used digital notebook FREEBIES from https://www.jessicamassey.com to keep myself organized and on a schedule. I even scheduled time for walks and exercise. If it wasn’t in the planner, I wasn’t doing it. In my digital notebook every day had its own page, so I was able to focus and be present in that day, rather than be overwhelmed by what the days ahead were going to look like. 

I also changed my work area twice this week! This week we were told two different times that distance learning would be extended. As of right now we are not going back until April 20. Since we are out for another 3 weeks, I wanted to make sure that the space I’m working in is going to help me stay positive, productive and work for everyone in my house. Finally I found that space and decorated it with help from https://www.instagram.com/thecreativeclassroom/

This week I went to my classroom for the first time in over a week. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot of time, we don’t go in for longer over the summer, but this is different. It feels very different. As I said before, my classroom is my second home. My students and my coworkers are my second family, and not being able to be there and see them, when I know we should be there and seeing each other, has been devastating. I am glad I am still able to connect with my students and coworkers through google meet and google classroom and all of that good stuff, but it just does not do the trick. Being in my classroom this week made me very emotional because we truly don’t know when this will end. There does not seem to be an end in sight. Every time we hear a new end date, and come to terms with it, it changes again. I want more than anything to be back with my people in my second home. 

Anyway, I went there to grab a few books and ended up filling up my whole Cricut carrier with things (pictured below).

Since my students have IEPs (Individualized Education Plans) I spent some time last weekend brainstorming how I was going to address their goals while they are home. Some of my students have academic goals, which I was easily able to address with a packet of materials (talked about last week and have a copy in my google drive folder for that), but most of their goals are social/emotional and speaking/listening goals. TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE FOLDER, SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THIS PAGE! I ended up making a list for each student of the goals that I thought families can address at home. For example; I did not include goals like, “student will be able to answer questions given to the group” or “student will be able to follow whole-group directions” simply because there is no group at home. I was able to include requesting goals for all students because they can practice requesting with their families and play goals for students that I know have multiple siblings at home. For each child I made a google doc with the list of goals. Under each goal I suggested ways for the parent to address the goal at home. I have an example of one of these in my google drive folder. Please make a copy of the doc so that you do not edit mine. To make a copy you can right click on the doc and click ‘make a copy’. Then, move the copy to your drive. You can also save it to your computer by double clicking on the doc, clicking file, download, choose an option. TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE FOLDER, SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THIS PAGE!

This week Jessie (@specialresources_byjessie) and I did two group google meets with our classes. On Tuesday we did a read aloud where we each read a story to them, and on Thursday we did yoga. We LOVED getting to see all of our kids at the same time. Normally at school we do so many things with our two classes, so this gave us a nice sense of being back at school. We did learn very quickly that it gets a little hectic having fifteen 3-5 year old’s in a google meet at one time. After Tuesday we realized that moving forward, we should tell the families to come into the meet, have their child say hi to everyone, and then mute yourself. Once we said that, Thursday went much smoother. We even invited our principal, supervisor and teaching assistants to yoga on Thursday. Our supervisor did the yoga session with her son, which was awesome, and our teaching assistants got to see the kids for the first time in two weeks. It was so much fun! Starting next week, Jessie and I are going to try to do some small group meets as well, so that each child has a chance to talk and share. 

The last thing I want to talk about is the google form that I created towards the end of the week. I give full credit to @ieps_and_capabilities for the amazing idea. Since we found out that distance learning will be extended for a few more weeks, I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to check in with families, see how they were doing and find out if they needed anything from me. I have a copy of the google form in my google drive folder BUT make sure you make a copy for yourself. If you edit the form I have in the folder others won’t be able to use it. To make a copy you can right click on the doc and click ‘make a copy’. Then, move the copy to your drive. TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE FOLDER, SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN ON THIS PAGE!

I have been loving getting responses from families. They have been so honest and helpful in their feedback. On Friday I met with a few families that expressed they wanted visuals for their children. I was able to discuss what they needed the visuals for and how they were going to implement them. By the end of the day I had created the visuals and met with some families again. My plan is to check back in mid-week next week and see if the visuals are working or if we have to make some adjustments. I highly recommend doing some sort of feedback form for the families of your students, it has been very informative. 

Random thoughts to end with…

  • I have a week 2 story highlight as well with all of this good stuff in it
  • This week in my Instagram stories I did a Q&A about distance learning! You guys asked great questions, so I saved it all in a story highlight called Distance Learning Q&A.
  • Blue light glasses have saved my life during distance learning. You can grab the ones I have in my amazon store.
  • Callie Danielle’s procreate coloring pages tutorial has been my life savor. Doodling on my iPad is such a stress reliever for me! Thinking about making a freebie google drive folder of my creations…

I hope that you all had a great week. Please never hesitate to email me – engagingearlylearners@gmail.com – or message me on Instagram. Have a great weekend 🙂

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engagingearlylearners

🍎 | 4th Year
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Rachel Glassman
Earth Day is coming-April 22nd🌎 I have some low Earth Day is coming-April 22nd🌎
I have some low prep products in my store that are perfect for you to use with your little learners💚
These printable and digital products are linked in my profile and in my stories💙
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#earthday #earthdayactivities #prekactivities #preschool #specialeducation #teacher #teacherlife #teach #teachersofinstagram #tptteachers #tptseller
CO-TEACHING🤓👯‍♀️ This is my first year CO-TEACHING🤓👯‍♀️
This is my first year co-teaching and I have already learned sooooo much!!
I get questions all of the time about co-teaching and how it works at my school. 
❓Does every grade have that type of class? 
❓What students are placed with you?
❓How many students are on your case load? 
❓So you don’t have resource room? 
The list is endless soooooo I decided to go live tonight in my FB group to talk allllll about my current co teaching position! 
Swipe up in my stories to join me🥰
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#coteaching #coteacher #secondgrade #specialeducation #teacher #teach #iteach #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #inclusion #spedteacher
Day 5 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: SENSORY FR Day 5 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: SENSORY FRIENDLY FRIDAY- comfy clothes/PJ day🥰🎊
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#feetupfriday and PJ day all in one makes for the best day🙌🏻🎉

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Day 4 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Tie Dye/Ra Day 4 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Tie Dye/Rainbow day to celebrate neurodiversity🌈
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Also screammmming with excitement because all of my kiddos that chose in person get to come in EVERY DAY now!!! 
Anddddd I got to meet 2 students in person that I have had virtually all year🎉
IT WAS A GREATTT DAY😍🥰

#autismacceptancemonth #redinstead #aprilisautismacceptancemonth #teacher #teacherlife #secondgrade #specialeducation #spedteacher #iteachtoo #teachersofinstagram #teachersofinstagram #hybridlearning
Day 3 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: What’s Y Day 3 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: What’s Your Passion Wednesday???...
ALL. OF. THE. ABOVE. 
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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Amazing shirt from @teaching.little.butterflies 🥰

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Day 2 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Wear RED t Day 2 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Wear RED to show your acceptance and support for autistic individuals❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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It was soooo awesome to be able to talk to my students all about autism. They had great questions and insight during the whole presentation! I sat speechless at one point as they talked about autistic people they know and ways in which they support and love those friends. 
My students are just the best🥰
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The shirt, shoes and FREEEEE All About Autism slideshow are linked in my stories!!
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Day 1 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Pokémon M Day 1 of Autism Acceptance Spirit Week: Pokémon Monday ❤️ 
Wear something with Pokémon on it to celebrate and honor Satoshi Tahiti, the creator of Pokémon, who is autistic!!
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We got these masks from @amazon and they were great for the day but we will NOTTTTT be wearing them again. Our students were obsessed with staring at them and studying every inch of them🤣 They were quite the distraction but worth it for the day🥰❤️

PS. I love my coworkers☺️
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It’s a HAPPY FRIYAYYYY indeed😅 It’s strange It’s a HAPPY FRIYAYYYY indeed😅
It’s strange, but short weeks are the worsttt! They just throw me off and cause chaos... noooo thanks✌🏻
I’m very much looking forward to a relaxing weekend!! Who else is glad it’s FriYAY?!🎉
🎊PRESALE ALERT🎊 I am in the middle of creat 🎊PRESALE ALERT🎊

I am in the middle of creating a huge set of Feature Function Class BOOM cards AND Google Slides!! 
Since I didn’t want you guys to miss out on the site wide sale discount I have posted them for presale🎉
To snag these on presale head to the link in my stories or profile!!
Please message me if you want a video preview of the products and I am more than happy to send you a video!!
HAPPY SHOPPING🛍🛒
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