Distance Learning Archives - Page 2 of 2

6 Engaging Digital Activities For “The Five Little Pumpkins”

I still remember the best Halloween ever from when I was a kid. Candy littered the classroom as my teacher listened to the song “The Five Little Pumpkins.” We eagerly started on our crafts. Gluing Pumpkins down with popsicle sticks and talking about all of the candy and houses we were going to visit that night.

I don’t know about you, but as a kid I LOVED Halloween! There was always something so magical about dressing up for a day and eating as much candy until your stomach hurt.

However, as a teacher, I have come to appreciate all of the fun activities and the patience that adults have during this time of year.

It has been my goal to create an amazing Halloween (and holidays in general) experience for my students.

When I found out that we would be doing Halloween through Distance Learning or Hybrid this year, I was panicked. All of my typical go-to activities for Halloween had to be adapted this year.

Hence I wanted to share these Top 6 “The Five Little Pumpkins” Digital activities. That way you can spend more time with your students on Halloween and less time prepping!

Overall, “Five Little Pumpkins” is such a classic story. And my kids love the adapted “Pete the Cat and the Five Little Pumpkins.” Besides, there are so many great activities for primary students (especially Kindergarten) that compliments the story.

Therefore, here are my Top 7 Digital Activities for the “5 Little Pumpkins” (Pete the Cat version or not) that you can do while Distance Learning.

[jetpack-related-posts]

Categories: Distance Learning

Top 10 ClassDojo Rewards That will Transform Distance Learning

Ever since my school has been Distance Learning, we have been utilizing ClassDojo now more than ever.

In fact, I don’t know how I would have gotten through Distance Learning this far without ClassDojo.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, ClassDojo is an amazing tool to communicate with parents, while assigning work to students digitally. This can be a lifesaver, especially while Distance Learning.

After figuring out “How I Could Use ClassDojo Effectively While Distance Learning,” I found that there was a lot more work to be done. I was using ClassDojo for about 2 weeks when I realized something was missing.

I was not using ClassDojo to its’ full potential.

My problem was that I was rewarding points to my class. But there wasn’t really a reason to. My students weren’t as enthused about the points because there was no reward for them to work towards.

This is when I decided I needed to make a change so that my students would be more engaged with the resource. So I tried to make a reward system.

But then I realized that all of the rewards I had made in the past would have to be adapted to Distance Learning.

I couldn’t throw things like Pizza Parties. I had to get creative. And if you are anything like me, trying to be a reward system in the midst of this chaos can be a little daunting. That’s why I wanted to share these 10 ClassDojo Rewards for Distance Learning.

[jetpack-related-posts]

Categories: Distance Learning, New Teachers

Distance Learning As A New Teacher

Distance Learning can be hard, especially as a New Teacher. I still remember the day I found out we were going to start the year Distance Learning:

I was scared.

Back then, I was scared that I was going to fail. That my students would learn nothing. Or that I would not be enough. I feared Failure. Eventually, I realized something that made me change my mind. And it gave me the drive to do better.

We are all scared.

I started to think of the Veteran teachers who had been teaching for years. And how they were now terrified because they didn’t know about Google Drive.

I also thought about those New Teachers who came into this year with high hopes of their first year. Only to find out that what they had learned in College would not apply this year.

So I prepared.

I stayed up late and made as many resources as I could that would help other teachers. And I researched ClassDojo and came up with ways to use it for Distance Learning. After that, I set up a training for my school to better prepare them for the months to come.

That was 4 weeks ago.

[jetpack-related-posts]

Categories: Distance Learning

Spectacular Distance Learning Ideas For “The Kissing Hand”

The First Day of School is such an exciting time! Students are coming into the classroom for the first time, they get to meet new faces and build brand new relationships.

I had no idea how much of this I would miss when they announced that we would start the school year 100% virtual.

After I got my classroom ready to go with all of my decorations, I was puzzled how I was going to start the school year. For the past couple of years, I had always started the School Year with “The Kissing Hand.”

However, when I searched Teachers Pay Teachers for resources, I was dismayed to find little digital resources for the 1st day of school. I didn’t want to miss out on an amazing First Day with my Kindergartners, yet I didn’t have the resources I needed to be successful.

That’s when I decided to create my own “The Kissing Hand” First Day of School Activities. If you’re having a hard time finding resources for “The Kissing Hand,” I created a list of activities to do while Distance Learning.

[jetpack-related-posts]

Categories: Distance Learning

How to Use ClassDojo For Distance Learning

Distance learning can be hard to do, especially when you don’t have the right tools.

When I first heard that my school would be Distance Learning or doing a Hybrid Model, I panicked. I panicked because I wasn’t sure what the school year would look like and what resources I would be using.

I was relieved when I heard that my school was going to be using ClassDojo. In fact, I was excited! Because last summer I was the first one to implement it in my district. This was BEFORE everything happened.

When I first used ClassDojo, I absolutely fell in love with it! It allowed me to communicate with parents without giving out my personal number. I was able to notify parents right away of any closures. In general, it greatly improved my Parent Communication.

Then March came. The tool that I had used for Parent Communication was suddenly used for something else entirely!

I used it for Distance Learning.

Practically overnight I was able to use this platform as a way to teach. I conducted “Circle Time” and Read Alouds. All within a day or two of being notified that we would not be going back to school.

ClassDojo was my number one tool while Distance Learning.

And like a lot of other Districts, my District is using it for Parent Communication. This week was the first week back for Teachers. And I got to see first hand what it was like for New Teachers and Veteran Teachers to learn this resource in the middle of the chaos. It can be overwhelming.

That is why I decided to create this post. I want to help those teachers who have either never used ClassDojo or have used it but need some extra ideas on how to make it work for Distance Learning. Therefore, here are 6 ways on how to use ClassDojo and some extra tips for using it while Distance Learning.

[jetpack-related-posts]