Category Archives: Outside The Classroom

Teaching in a World That’s Gone Remote

May 16, 2020Inside The Classroom, Outside The Classroomekharkin

Just a little over two months ago my world and yours was turned up side down with Covid-19 taking over the world. First, colleges and universities closed their doors and sent kids home. Than high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools all followed suit. We were given two hours to pack up everything we thought the kids would need for two weeks of learning at home, and were told not to ask questions. Administration didn’t have answers, and was not sure if we were even going to close, but be prepared. Send home technology, send home books, send home basically anything you could get your hands on and the kids could carry out the door. If that sounds stressful, it was. I did my best to stay as calm as I could, but if I’m being honest, I don’t know how calm I really was. I put on educational video’s for the kids while I began gathering things around my classroom, their math books, and math practice, and started sorting them out, Language Art Books. I was being told they only need work for 10 days. Over the loud speaker our admin instructs all teachers and staff to have their email open and near them and that she will be communicating this way for the rest of the day. Thank goodness, I have two computers, one that is the schools, and one that is mine in the classroom. So I was able to take one to the back table with me as I began to sort through what they would need to bring home.

What I didn’t understand at the moment was just how much our world was changing in those two hours. Until then, this was an illness that wasn’t near me, or my students. It had not effected me. After school, I took a long deep breath, and looked around my classroom. It seemed empty, too empty. I went home that Friday not knowing just how much our world was going to change over night.

We were told that all teachers and staff were to come to school as normal on Monday morning and that we would find out more information.

That Monday morning we were told that we were going online to a Remote/Distance Learning model and that it might be longer than two weeks, but at this point it was for two weeks which would lead into our Spring Break. My District began that day with online training and PD’s on different online platforms that we could use. They sent out survey’s asking us what we wanted to learn more of and they set up a daily schedule for different online trainings for us. Once we had everything setup and all students communicating with us remotely we transitioned to teaching from our home rather than the classroom. Our school was closed by Wednesday. This was such a weird feeling.

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My days on a regular teaching day are long. I like to get in early and stay late. That’s just the type of teacher I am. I don’t have a husband, and I don’t have children of my own. I love being a teacher, and I love being in my classroom and creating lessons, and creating diverse learning spaces in my classroom for my students to work in. Plus, my classroom has always been my Happy Place. But now I was at home, all day, every day, and not seeing my students. Seeing their name on the computer, or a message through ClassDojo was just not the same. I had not been introduced to Zoom yet.

Over Spring Break the School Board met, and decided that we would be Closed until May 11, but with the possibility of longer. And yes, it is longer. It is the rest of the school year. We were given permission to go back into our classroom for 1 hour to get what we may need for the rest of the school year, and to prep things to send home to students that did not go home with them. My classroom felt like a ghost town where people had just got up and left. There were lunch boxes in cubbies, pencils and folders on desks, calendar on the wall that marked our last day together in that room. It was strangely silent. Not a sound of a child in the air.

I tried to make their package as cute as I could so that they would look more like a gift that they wanted to open, and this way, they might complete their work. I purchased the bags, paper clips, pencils, pencil sharpener, ruler, scissors, dice, crayons, glue sticks, eraser, and spiral notebook on my own. I work at a title 1 school and I worry about my students having what they needed to succeed in remote learning. I created and designed stickers to label everything and the package it’s self.

My days at home were very busy in the beginning, really up until just this week. I was up at 6:00am and at the computer by 7:00am just like a normal work day. Except where my work day would end around 5:00pm, and than I would drive an hour home. I was up until 1:00am working, creating, videoing, making, posting, uploading, learning. I was and have been running on fumes. I disengaged from my family outside the home, friends. I became cranky, cried a lot, and snapped at anyone who tried to help me.

I starting looking all over IG for inspiration and help, and found this wonderful teacher, who happened to live in the same city as me! Crazy, but small world. She is a new young teacher who is super knowledgeable in technology in the classroom. Her name is @hellomrsharwick. If you don’t know her I highly recommend following her. I have learned so much from her, and have had so much fun learning, and now that I know and feel confident in Google Classroom, ClassDojo, Zoom, Google Meet, and I’m actually creating my own slides! I’m not staying up so late. I now work my normal work hours and than turn the computer off, step away from my desk and re-enter the land of adults, family, friends, and I’ve gotten back in social media which makes me feel like I’m not sheltered in place at home.

Up until last week I was getting frustrated. I felt blessed to have a job, but my job I loved so much had changed. I was over worked and felt like just as my students were getting use to the new technology and responding and turning things in, my district would change something. I understand that as we were adjusting, my district was adjusting as well. But, they kept changing things. How much work the students should be doing, what type of work students should be doing, how I as a teacher should be presenting lessons, how often I should be live vs video, and no more Zoom. Bye-bye Zoom, you are missed. Hello Google Meet, I will love you soon as I get to know you better.

I have created Slides for writing, our class schedule, year end count down.

I have created Nearpod science lessons.

I have created Google Classroom Headers.

I have created Google Meet Posters!

A Google a Site! and Online Class Goals!

I have synced my Google Classrom with Nearpod, Boom Cards, McGraw Hill Wonders, Pearson Math. My students have transitioned from a “traditional” classroom, if you could ever call my classroom “traditional”, to amazing Online Learners! Both my students and I have learned and come so far in this new world of Remote Learning, and we are only in week 7! I still have 6 weeks left of school.

As per usual at this point in the school year, I begin to think of next year, but this time, it’s what will next year look like? Will it be smaller classes? Shorter School week? Hybrid part in the physical classroom and part online at home? Will we have to go to completely online again for a short period? With all the unknowns, I’m still preparing in my mind. I know now that I want to get my kiddo’s online the first week of school. I want to get their Google Classroom setup before the first day of school, I want to teach them the first two weeks of school how to use all the technology that I’ve begun using this year. Explain the importance of communication through our online classroom if we are to be sent home again.

I miss being in the classroom, I miss hearing the kids laughter, I miss all the talking, the questions, and mostly seeing the light bulb go off.

But I have to say, there is a component to this online teaching that I really like. I love learning, and in the last 8 weeks I have learned so much as a teacher. New ways to engage my students, new ways to teach, new ways to use technology inside and outside the classroom.

I would really love to hear how your Remote Teaching experience is going. Please share below. And ask me any question, I will do my best to answer you.

Happy Learning Everyone!

Back To School On My Mind

July 26, 2018Outside The Classroomekharkin

I am going into my ninth year of teaching. I still have four weeks of summer left, and I want to enjoy them as much as I can. And yet, all I see all over IG and FB are teachers sharing their finds and getting their classrooms together and even some who have started back this week.

Am I a bad teacher because I don’t want to get ready yet? I want to enjoy my time off. I love looking at everything, but I have not and will not step into a Target yet. My mind is swirling with ideas, I’m looking back through my photo’s of my previous classrooms.

Is there something wrong with me as a teacher if I just don’t have the energy to get up and start creating, buying, or organizing supplies? If I showed you my teacher stuff in the garage you would all cringe, so un-teacher like! Massive mess out there! But still I sit here, thinking and dreaming of my new students, envisioning the layout of my new classroom, but I don’t want to actually do anything yet.

I know, I may miss out on some of the cool Dollar Spot finds, and Dollar Tree teacher hacks, but I just can’t seem to bring myself to leave my vacation yet, even if this week is a staycation.

I start Summer Academy this Friday, at least they are short days for the next two weeks, and that is as close to the end of summer as I want to be! I don’t want to give up the rest of my days!!

I don’t think I’m a bad teacher for being like this. There have to be others out there that feel like me. I want to be like everyone on Social Media who look great, and have their hair done, and makeup on and are out at Target, or in their garage painting away on a garage sale find for the classroom, but reality hits. I’m me, and my hair is up in a bun, no makeup on because no one is going to see me, and my own garage is to much of a mess for me to buy something from someone else and paint it in there!

And yet the teacher in my can’t stop envisioning my new classroom. I may fight going out or doing things for my classroom, but my mind has other plans.

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You can take the teacher out of the classroom for summer, but you can’t take the classroom out of the teacher.

I may not be shopping or prepping, but in a way I am. I am designing and creating all in my head, where every great idea begins!

Happy Summer, enjoy your break how ever you choose, shopping, painting, creating, sleeping, traveling. We are all teachers who care about our students, and want the best for them, which means we need to make sure we are well rested as well, in what ever way we need as rest! For me, that’s traveling, hanging out with friends, playing on the computer and scrolling through social media looking for great new ideas, and yes, a few webinars to get ready for the new year.

Enjoy the rest of your summer. School well come no matter what we do!

Leave me a message below and let me know how much summer you have left and how you are spending it.

Winter Break 2016-2017

January 7, 2017Outside The Classroomekharkin

Winter

Break

This is my last weekend of winter break, and I know that I am much luckier than most, in that I have 3 weeks…but to be honest, I love the 3 weeks, but I think it makes it harder to get up this coming Monday. It’s just enough time for my body to get on a new schedule of staying up late, and sleeping in.

Not to mention all the TV shows that I have caught up on!

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And my comfy, comfy pj’s! Oh, how I am not looking forward to have to do my hair, put on makeup and real shoes! My feet were starting to just feel good again.

I have been watching and following lots of teachers on social media and watching those who are so productive and getting so much done. I envy you all. I had so many plans to create, and oranganize over this break, I even had it written down in my planner! Than I blinked my eyes, and winter break was coming to an end. I learned a valuable lesson this break, maybe I didn’t do a lot of constructive work during my break, but I took care of myself, and recharged. As teachers, I don’t think we really truly ever take breaks. Our brains are always running, thinking about what we can create, or try that we’ve seen someone else do in their classroom. Many of us forget to stop the clock, sit down, and take care of ourself.

For me…that is what I did this break. I sat down, looked around and saw my world, took care of myself and my my health, recharged so that as I return to my classroom on Monday, I can be the best me my students deserve.

Erin

Room Mother Gifts

May 23, 2015Inside The Classroom, Outside The Classroom, Uncategorizedekharkin

At my school every classroom has two Room Mothers. This year I moved from Kinder to First. My school has two classes per grade level, so I have half of my kinder’s with me this year, and with that, my Room Mom’s have been with me for two years. Last year, like most years, I like to get my Room Mothers a nice key chain, from some place like Coach, or Brighten. I would give the key chain, and maybe a small bag from 31, and in the card I would put, “You hold the Key to your students success.” But because I have had my Room Mom’s for two years, I would like to do something different, and creative. For part of my gift I decided I would make mason jar vases. Here is how I made them:

First I went to Hobby Lobby and bought mason jars, jute, ribbon, flowers, and buttons. At home I already had a glue gun and glue sticks. I was lucky because the day I went to Hobby Lobby their mason jars were 50% off so I bought a lot more than I needed, but I’m sure I’ll find plenty to make with them this summer!

After you have all your supplies it’s time to play.

First you clean the mason jar and dry it. Than I used the jute to wrap around the jar. I used the hot glue for the first few rows around to make sure that it was held in place and than I just pulled the jute tightly around and every few rows I hot glued it down to secure it.
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Once you have the jute in place, it’s time to create! I choose to put the chevron print ribbon on, and the burlap flower. Than I put two different buttons in the center of the flower.

I am going to make 2 each, for both my Room Mom’s. Along with these vases filled with fresh flowers, I have ordered them each a bag from 31. I’m not sure what I will fill them with just yet, but I have 2 1/2 weeks to figure it out! I will share everything with you all!

I would love to hear what everyone does for their classroom Room Mothers.

Spring Break

April 12, 2015Outside The Classroomekharkin

This past week of Spring Break has been so much fun. I went down to Temecula, Shopping and apple pie eating in Julian.
And Old Town Front Street is always fun! I enjoyed swinging in the hammock while reading a great book.
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Being Sick is No Fun

March 10, 2015Outside The Classroomekharkin

Being home sick from school is just no fun. Going on my third day away from school with Bronchitis with Report Cards being due at the end of this week, what’s a teacher to do? In between resting I’m getting up and trying my best to work on Report Cards. I have never been out so many days in a row, and I’m really missing my students. I hope that they are doing well, learning a lot and behaving for the many subs that have been in my classroom in such a short amount of time.

While I should be resting I find myself on sites like teachers pay teachers and pinterest looking for new ideas to share with my students. I feel like being sick, there’s just no time to be sick. We only have 10 months to make a difference in our students lives. 10 months is just so short. So even though I might not be in the classroom these past few days, I can’t help but think about my students, what I want to teach them, how can I engage them more, can I bring more technology into the classroom?
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Does a teachers mind ever stop thinking of their students? Mine doesn’t, how about yours?