This summer has definitely not been quite like any others, but I have been able to keep myself busy. This summer I have participated in several PDs virtually. I enjoyed having virtual conferences, because I could access them from my couch, therefore I had the opportunity to grow as a teacher. On top of professional learning I was chosen to teach a Summer School Booster Program in my district. I really enjoyed being a part of this program because we were allowed to use two-way Zoom. This past year, while we were learning virtually, there was no in person interaction or teaching. All of our learning was done on Seesaw. Being able to use Zoom this summer allowed me to help the students unlock learning potential and help the parents with strategies on how to teach young minds. I always knew that I thrive through the interactions with my students, but this just made me realize how full they make my heart each and everyday.
During our Zoom meetings we would work for about 15 minutes on reading skills and 15 minutes on math skills. This was 5 weeks long. As we were learning virtually, I had to think outside the box as to how I would engage these kinder students for 30 minutes a day. In the classroom, I always made daily powerpoints to keep me on task and project the learning targets. So I thought- why not create powerpoints for virtual learning? I was able to use screen sharing to find engaging activities, games and books for the students to work on their literacy and numeracy skills. Students were able to work on the letter and sound relationships, as well as master counting and adding strategies. Some of the materials I used for virtual learning are available in my TPT store.
A big skill, which we worked on in literacy was tapping out sounds. I used the activity pictured below. Students would point to each of the pink dots and then slide their finger across the arrow at the bottom to blend the sounds together in order to read the word. Once they attempted to read the word, I would click on the screen where the matching picture would appear. They would then be given the chance to correct themselves or see that they were able to read the word correctly.
We practice our addition and subtraction math facts daily. I created the game below to help make it fun and interactive. I was also able to assign this game on Seesaw as additional practice for students to become faster with math fact fluency. I have a subtraction fact fluency game similar to this one uploaded in my TPT store!
As summer school comes to an end, I am happy I was able to close out the 2019-2020 school year with social interactions with students. It may not have looked like a typical end to a school year, but it definitely will be one that I will always remember!
