Three weeks into Distance Learning

Well, we've been at this new thing called "distance learning" for almost three weeks now. When I say "new", I realize there has been on-line schooling and homeschooling for many years (and I completed a good portion of my masters degree on-line), but this whole thing is definitely new for our local brick-and-mortal school system.
Here's how it's going:
Every Monday, the parents pick up a packet for their students in preschool through third grade. (Grades four and above are completing school work on-line.) There are three times during the day when packets can be picked up: early morning, lunch time and late afternoon/early evening. Families are also picking up their meals for the week (if they choose to do that) which consist of two breakfasts and two lunches for each day.
Our third grade packets consist of a parent section in the front (for help in instructing with guiding questions and answer keys) and a child section in the back. Children complete their work throughout the week and return the back section on the following Monday at which time they also pick up a new packet. The packets that have been returned are left to sit in isolation until administration gives us the all-clear to handle them. We're still waiting to take a look at our first week's packet as I write this.
Each child gets a phone call every week from his/her teacher.  Our grade level team decided each teacher would call six kids a day, Monday through Thursday.  Calls to families who don't speak English are handled by our EL team. We can listen in on those and still be a part of those conversations.
The first week I called my students was magical. I had never talked to most of them on the telephone, and both students and teacher were excited to talk again. Some were shy, but most had lots to tells me - adorable!
The second week was a little different. The weather had taken an unseasonably nice turn, and I think my call was an interruption into a fun day for many of the kids. One girl was out flying kites with her family during our phone call. One boy was summoned from the backyard where he'd been jumping on their trampoline when I called.
I email the families every morning for attendance, and their responses range from "here" to positive, uplifting messages for me. I enjoy the extra interaction with the parents.
Another way I try to engage my families is through my read aloud recordings. I read a chapter of a book aloud each day and record myself. I then push the recording out to my families through email. Some of the parents and grandparents have told me that they watch the read aloud together each day and enjoy hearing the story as much as the kids.
I haven't done any zoom or google meetings for my class yet. As several of my grade level colleagues have done this already, I feel some peer pressure to try it.
If it's like most of the things I have been dragged into since this whole crisis began, I will find that it's something I can do (with a few instructions), and it will be a welcome addition to my new way of teaching.
Frequent google or zoom meetings with my grade level team and school administrators and building staff help keep us all on track. Our grade level team plans our lessons through google meets as a group, ensuring that children from each third grade classroom get the same instruction.
At the current time, Governor Walz has ordered that schools will be closed until May 5th. I'm pretty sure that date will be extended through the end of the school year, but, for now, the governor is leaving that door open.
And so my foray into distance learning continues...

The New Normal

It's been almost a week since the governor declared that school would be suspended from March 18th through March 27th here in Minnesota due to COVID19.
Our district decided to have students on campus for the two days between the governor's press conference on Sunday and the imposed deadline to close schools on Wednesday.
Our district had an added wrinkle - spring conferences were scheduled for Tuesday and Friday.
The whole conference question was settled pretty quickly and easily. We would send conference folders home with the children and then call the parents at their scheduled conference times. It was something I hadn't done in my almost thirty years of teaching, but it worked pretty well. I was grateful to have a chance to talk to my families after our abrupt closing of school, but they had so many questions, and I had so few answers!
Those last two days with students were a nightmare for me. Don't misunderstand - the kids were great. I teach third grade, and the kids arrived those days with differing degrees of information, misinformation and mixed feelings. Some were thrilled with the prospect of an unexpected vacation and others had many worries - about missing the stability and structure of school and, of course, about missing the food supplied by our district (a need which our district filled almost immediately).
Personally, the hardest part was that I had turned in my resignation for the end of the school year just 11 days prior, and I knew that Tuesday could possibly be my last day of classes with students...ever.
If it turned out that we would not be able to resume class before the end of the school year, I would never get to give my kids all the experiences I wanted to provide them before they went off to fourth grade - or even to say good-bye.
The first day without students was surreal. We had a staff meeting in the gym sitting spread out far apart on the bleachers. It was hard to remember to keep that social distance through the day as we worked in grade level groups and tried to identify essential state standards in math and reading not yet covered.
Every doorknob I touched made me wonder: Was I washing my hands often enough and well enough? Were any of my co-workers already infected?
It hit home the next day when I discovered that someone in my rural county had contracted the virus. It was someone I know...and then I found out that my sister had had indirect contact with a person who had tested positive and would be quarantined for fourteen days.
On Friday we had phone conferences and were allowed to make calls from home if we wished. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity, setting up my "office" in the spare bedroom.
This coming Monday we need to report to school again. I am hoping we will soon be told to work from home exclusively. I don't like sharing bathrooms, copy machines, and door handles with a large amount of people. My husband and I are both over 60 and in a higher risk group. I worry about bringing the virus home to him.
And I suppose the title of this post is a misnomer. For while everything about this is "new", nothing about it is "normal".