Hello,
As the school year winds down, I am feeling so many different emotions. Today I received the best news!! I will remain in Kindergarten!!! This past year I switched from teaching 1st grade in a private school to teaching kindergarten in a public school. I was ready for the change and super excited to be living my dream of teaching kindergarten. The switch happened just a week before school started and it was a world-win of a year, but I have loved every second of it. As the year has been coming to a close, I wasn't sure if I would remain in kindergarten due to being an added section. Then today, I received the email that I will be staying and I did my happy dance!
With COVID 19 preventing us from saying a "normal" goodbye to students, I am struggling to find ways to connect with my students over the last few weeks of school. Our district mandated that we call each family and talk with the parents and the students. Our district has not done any live teaching through distant learning. We have used seesaw with pre-recorded videos. I have enjoyed being able to see the students respond with videos, pictures and voice recording, but it hasn't allowed for real time interactions. The phone calls were priceless, hearing the excitement of the students as their parents told them "Miss Coombs is on the phone" to students ranting on about everything they have been doing while learning from home. Some asked when we would go back to school as they missed their friends as others said they loved to learn from home being with their parents all day long! It was refreshing and just what I needed to get through the next few weeks. I will be sending post cards out for the last week of school - they say "Even Though We're Apart - You're Still in My Heart!".
Next week, Students will be picking up their belongings. In the student bags my team and I made certificates to celebrated that they have completed kindergarten. We will also get one last chance to wave our students goodbye on the last day of school for a reverse parade. I am hoping that most of my students are able to attend as I want to be able to see them and wave to them even if it will be at a distance. I am truly trying to make the most out of distant learning. Technology has come easy to me but I love my relationship building and that is difficult over a computer screen.
With love,
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