Friday Reflections

At our weekly PST meetings, I’ve been hearing more of concerns in dealing with students who are experiencing difficulty with staying on task. It goes without saying that our students and families are dealing with many obstacles in daily living - and the virus has exacerbated all of it.   And, our kids bring bring their problems to the virtual classroom. Here are two teachers who are meeting their students where they are at.  Their genuine care for these students is exactly what each student needs if the student is to be receptive to what is being taught.   Jess has come up with a ten minute practice that is helping one of her third graders become more actively engaged with remote learning.  This third grader spends the day with her grandmother; the grandmother is not able to effectively monitor her granddaughter’s screen time. So the little girl was not only muting her screen, but also disconnecting her audio and shutting off the video.  Her father wou...

  Happy Friday and welcome December! Are you aware of what is going on in the biggest school district In the country?  Here are the facts from a recent article from The Guardian. "New York City’s public schools will begin to reopen for in-person learning  on December 7th , starting with elementary schools for students whose parents agree to a weekly testing regimen for the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Sunday. The schools were closed less than two weeks ago after the citywide rate of coronavirus tests coming back positive exceeded a 3% benchmark agreed to by the mayor and teachers’ union. It’s a new approach because we have so much proof now of how safe schools can be, De Blasio told reporters on Sunday, adding the 3% benchmark was being scrapped and pointing to research that shows young children appear to be less vulnerable to Covid-19."  What does this mean for us? I’m thinking that we could get back into school sooner than...