5 Tips to Check In With Your Students During School Closures

Back in 1994, I was a freshman in college at Morris Brown College, a small but mighty historical black college.  I traveled 3,000 miles from Southern California all the way to Atlanta, Georgia with my twin brother for the first time ever.  I was a Biology Pre-Med major and a cheerleader during my freshman year with a VERY hectic social calendar!  One Friday night, as I was getting ready to head out for the night with my friends, the phone in my dorm room rang.  It was my Biology professor.  WHAT!?!?!?  He was calling me to make sure that I was planning to stay in all weekend and study for my upcoming exam that Monday.  I was shocked!  I had NEVER had a professor, teacher, etc call me to just check in!  The conversation lasted all of 1 minute but it served its purpose!  I did indeed go out that night....I mean....I already had plans!  LOL!  But his words stuck with me that entire weekend as I prepared for that exam.  On Monday, after speaking with other classmates, he took the time to call every last one of us that weekend to simply check in!

This is an extremely stressful time for EVERYONE!  We are all figuring everything out for the first time...together.  I think we all feel like we're on a break but we're still working and students are technically still in school.  It's weird!  Waking up and not realizing which day of the week it is confusing enough!  We've got to stay on track and keep a schedule and part of this is figuring out a way to keep those relationships going with our students.

With us being away from our students for an inevitable amount of time, it's important that we get creative in the ways that we check in with them.  We can't see them face to face so how on earth will we accomplish this?

Let me share 5 quick ways that you can make this happen!

1. Use Flipgrid!  

If you are not familiar with Flipgrid, check them out on Twitter or read about them on my blog here, here and here!

Here's a suggestion....create an open topic Monday through Thursday that allows your students to check in and let you know how they're doing.  Allow your students to respond to each other and continue to foster those relationships with each other.  Then, on Friday, create a closed/monitored topic that has specific prompts that act as check-ins with your kids.  You can use this closed topic to really understand how they're feeling, what they're going through, what challenges are they having, etc.  This will allow you to provide extra assistance if and when needed.

2.  Use Google Forms or Microsoft Forms!

My friend, Mari Venturino has blogged and tweeted about student check-ins in the past.  In fact, it's one of her most viewed and shared blogs!  Be sure to check it out here.  She has also created a family check in form that encourages families to be engaged.  She uses this opportunity to share pertinent information re: school updates, free student meals, etc.

To check in with her students, Mari uses Google Forms because that's what her students are familiar with, however you could also choose to use Microsoft Forms.  When the data is received, she has created conditional formatting rules on the Google Sheet (on the back end) that color code the students responses.  This way, she can easily and visually see how her students are doing.  You could definitely use this information to guide the order of your phone calls and/or video calls talked about down below!

3.  Pick up the phone and call 5 students a day!

Created by Jennifer Hall

This doesn't have to take long.  Think back to my college professor calling me.  Your students would be both surprised and excited to hear from you right now!  This is also an opportunity to make sure they are all caught up with where they need to be and that they have everything they need to be successful during this time.  If your students have access through eBooks through their public library or through a tool like myON, you could also share book recommendations with them.  And just an FYI...Scholastic is offering some free "Learn at Home" resources for students right now for PreK through 9th grade students.  These resources are aimed to keep kids reading, thinking and growing.

Be sure to keep a phone log of every phone call that you make and receive.....because...ya know....documentation!

If you don't want to use your personal phone to call your students, you can create a Google Voice phone number.  My friend, coworker, and educational technology guru, Jennifer Hall has created an awesome quick sheet with simple instructions on how to do so.  Access it HERE.

4.  Create a Google Slides or online Microsoft Power Point presentation!

Share some kind of presentation tool with your students that allows them to "claim a slide" and create a visual representation of how they're feeling and what they're doing.  This could be done once a week or more often if you felt it necessary.  Students can add text, images, videos, audio, etc to represent what they need to.

Go one step further and create a video montage of each of the slides and send it in a weekly recap newsletter to your class newsletter!  Of course, make sure you have permission to share them if you have students with photo release forms on file.

You could also create a Padlet and have students leave a daily check in post there!

5.  Schedule virtual one on ones with your students!

I know our schedules are overflowing right now but we've got to maintain some kind of personal contact with our students during this time.  Hopefully doing so will help to keep some level of normalcy in their lives.  Have your students sign up for calendar slots either through Google Calendar or Sign Up Genius, or some other tool.  These time slots could be as short as 5-10 minutes.  Just a quick virtual, face to face check in.  You could even use this time to have your students read a book to you as well.  Host these virtual one on ones in Google Meet, Microsoft Teams or via Zoom!  I would also recommend that you make sure to record these so you can have them as documentation if and when you're asked for it when we return back to school!

FUN BONUS TIP!!!!  

As we are still building community in our classroom, find a kid friendly movie on Netflix and host a virtual Netflix party!  Learn more about it HERE.  Of course you want to make sure that you have parent permission.  Actually....invite the entire family!  Everyone could be eating their own snacks in their homes, watching the same family friendly movie on Netflix and talking about it online!  Such a fun concept and way to bring everyone together virtually!  If you're an upper grades teacher, there are a ton of documentaries that might apply to your content.  Search for documentaries on Netflix and see what you find!

How are you checking in with your students during this time?  Are you making a concerted effort to do so?  Share all of your tips and tricks!

10 Ways to Take Care of You During Distance Learning

While we are all running around taking care of our administrators, teachers and students, we must also remember to take care of ourselves.

Yes, we're all stressed out right now and being pulled in a million different directions as we work through this "new normal."  What I want you to keep in mind, and what I continue to repeat is that we are all going through this for the first time together!  This is new to all of us!  None of us are experts...even the experts!  We're all figuring it out!

Even with all of the stress and trying to manage our days right now, we have a HUGE opportunity to come out of this better than we have walked into it.  I don't know about you, but that's exactly what I plan to do.

You know when you're on an airplane and they tell you that in the case of emergency, to put your oxygen mask on first before you assist someone else?  You've got to do that now.  Put YOUR oxygen mask on first so you can be a better teacher, colleague, parent, spouse and friend.  Making sure that you have some self-care options in place while you are overwhelmed with everything that is going on is critical to your mental and physical health right now!

Here are 10 way you can make sure that YOU are taking care of YOU during this time.

#1-Create a schedule and try to stick to it.

While we work to create a new balance, it would be hugely beneficial to create a daily schedule.  Mine may be a little bit different than that of a classroom teacher because I don't have specific content to teach.  Teachers will more than likely be adhering to being online during certain times during the day so they are available for their students.  For us ed tech specialists, some of us are online all day answering different questions and responding to different people's needs.  Some of us may be able to create an hourly schedule that works for us throughout the day.  Mine looks more like a "to do" list that allows me to check off the tasks that I complete every day.

Passion Planner has several different FREE planner page downloads available on their website that you can print and try.  Here's a link to the daily version: https://passionplanner.com/daily-pdf/

Start Planner also has some sample pages that you can download and try for free:  https://startplanner.com/pages/sample-pages

A good old fashioned notebook works as well!  As educators, I'm sure, like me, you have a million of these laying around!

#2-Drink enough water and eat balanced meals

The great thing about working from home is that you can go to the bathroom whenever you need to!  For teachers, this is HUGE!  Drink all the water!  Keep yourself hydrated.  In regard to eating balanced meals....I know that we all ran out and prepared our houses for a couple of weeks of food and this probably meant a lot of packaged and canned foods.  Not a lot of fresh produce because it spoils quicker.  I stocked up on as much fresh produce as I could and will try to get more without putting others or myself in harm.  As much as possible, I would like to encourage you to eat as balanced as you can.  Our health still needs to be a priority.

#3-Keep yourself accountable for your work

For those of us that are still getting paid for working at home, it's important that even if you haven't been told to do certain things to report what you're doing, that you keep a level of accountability...just in case!  We don't know if and what may be asked of us as we get this work from home thing to a nice flowing thing or when we return to our brick and mortar buildings.  I'd suggest that you find a way that works for you to keep up with what you are doing and accomplishing on a daily basis.  For a teacher, a Google Classroom might suffice.  For those of us that are outside of the classroom, that may look like a OneNote Notebook or a physical paper notebook where we keep track of what we do every day.  Keep important emails.  File them into folders for easy organization.  Record any Google Meet, Skype or Zoom sessions that you conduct.  Upload them to YouTube and create a playlist.  you can keep it unlisted so it's not open to the public.  If and when you are ever asked for proof, BAM! you've got it!

#4-Wake up and get ready for the day

Set an alarm and make your bed as soon as you get out of the bed!  It makes a difference and it starts your day.  It also gives you the sense of completing a task.  Wake up, bed made, CHECK!  Also, take the time to get dressed and get ready!  I recently saw a post on Instagram by Jon Acuff and the author talked about the importance of getting dressed for the day!  As someone that works from home (he's an author) he spoke about how important it is to get fully dressed from head to toe and not just from the waist up (what will be visible on camera in your virtual classrooms).  He stated that  it's so easy for people to fall into depression at times like these because we are out of our normal.  Taking the time to get ready every day, from head to toe, will keep you in as much of your normal as possible at a time like this.

#5-Take periodic breaks

Sitting in a chair, staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day is not a healthy practice nor is it a practice that we want to start to make a habit.  Set alarms on your phone to make sure that you get up from your work area at least once every hour.  Walk around your house.  Walk outside and get the mail.  Stand outside for 5 minutes.  Get some vitamin D.  Stand up and stretch.  Use a meditation or breathing app and just breathe for 5 minutes.

#6-Make time to move your body

As a health and wellness coach, this is super important to me.  I make intentional time to move my body for at least 20-30 minutes a day.  Do I WANT to?  No.  But I know it's the best thing for me.  Sitting down in a chair all day is not the best thing for us so it's important to make sure that we find the time to get our heart rate up, stretch, and be good to the body that we have that is so good to us!

If you are interested in having me send you links to FREE workouts that you can do from home simply by clicking on them and pressing "play," let me know!  Inbox me your email address on Twitter (@apsitnatasha) or on Instagram (@fithappyeducator).  No obligations at all.  I just want to get you moving your body.  It's THAT important!


#7-Get outside

This is simple.  Get outside for a few minutes a day and take a breath of fresh air!  I know it's the start of allergy season but I think it's important to soak up a few minutes of vitamin D and inhale some fresh air every day.  Take your allergy medicine and head out doors!

#8-Turn off at a certain time

When your work day ends, you need to end it!  This is hard for me as I'm never really "off."  However, I am going to try to make a more conscious effort to "turn off" after a certain time.  True story, I woke up in the middle night, Sunday night because I was having a dream about Google Meet not working and I knew my teachers were depending on it!  We have to find a way to separate work and home if we're going to maintain any kind of sanity.  I would even suggest creating a work area in your house that you can physically get up from at the end of your work day.  Even better if you can close the door to that room!

#9-Create "me" time

This is sooooo important to me!  As I stated earlier, you can sit around and binge Netflix for these few weeks or you can come out better on the other side of it.  I am a firm believer in "me" time and taking care of yourself!  Establish a morning routine.  This will look different for everyone.  Maybe you practice gratitude, read 10 pages of a professional development/self help book, and journal for 20 minutes every morning.  Maybe you go for a walk every morning.  Maybe your morning routine consists of you sitting at your kitchen table and spending time in your faith.  Whatever it looks like, establish a morning routine that allows you to connect with yourself.

This is also a time that you could take an online class.  If you are in the world of educational technology, there are TONS of ed tech certifications that you could pursue right now.  If you need some suggestions, let me know!  I have a ton!  LOL

If you're not in education, you could learn how to use Excel or Google more effectively.  YouTube is the BEST teacher out there.  Figure out what you want to learn and go to the internet.  There is free learning right there, waiting just for you!

Learn something new!  I bought some hand-lettering books and plan to spend some time learning how to hand letter.  I may not get it perfect but I'm going to spend some time diving in and seeing what happens.

READ!  My TBR (to be read) pile is HUGE!!!  I plan to spend a lot of time reading over these next few weeks.  Authors are releasing new books left and right.  I am a member of the Book of the Month Club and I get at least one book sent to my house every month.  It's like Christmas every month!  If you'd like to try out the Book of the Month Club and get your first month's book for only $5.00, click this link: https://www.mybotm.com/yfl4hl0qros?show_box=true.

#10-Create family time

Once your work day is over, how are you spending time with your family?  About a week ago when there was a lot of chatter about things shutting down, my youngest son and I ventured out to Target to purchase some games that could keep us occupied.  It was very important to me to find some options that would ensure that he wasn't just doing homework and then playing video games all day.  I wanted to find activities that would allow us to bond as a family and engage in conversation.  We already had a few games in our house but we added a few more decks of cards, another set of Uno cards and a game called Mastermind.  It's a strategy game and once we figured out how to play, we've been playing nonstop!  Think outside of the box and come up with some ways that your family can spend quality time together.

• Play games
• Watch a movie together
• Watch a Ted Talk a day during dinner and talk about it
• Cook a meal or bake something together

Bringing it all together...

Whether you incorporate one of these ideas of all ten of them, I hope they bring some balance to your life during this crazy and unknown time.  Now it's your turn...what are you doing to make sure that you are taking care of you during distance learning days?