As we continue to find ourselves in a time of deep uncertainty, stress, and change, I want you to know that I am with you. I hear you, and I feel the toll this pandemic has taken on teachers across the country through every email, Instagram message, and Facebook comment. Not only are we concerned for the health of our nation, we are concerned for the safety and well being of our students. We are trying to maintain a semblance of normalcy for our families, and we are working, at an unbelievable pace, to learn a completely new teaching modality.
It’s overwhelming. And so, today, I am not here to share “10 new tips” on anything. You’ve likely received enough of that through emails and social media. Today, I am here to share an honest conversation I had with our team member, Kara Wojick, who works for us part-time while also working as a seventh grade Language Arts teacher in Connecticut. I asked her to be on the podcast today because I wanted to speak openly and honestly with an educator who is experiencing the same things you are.
In today’s episode, Kara shares her experience with school closure, moving to distance learning, and balancing teaching content with looking after her students’ well being. Kara offers several fun ideas to nurture relationships and joy, even in this difficult time, plus we discuss two ELA activities that are creative, meaningful, and easily transferred to the online world we find ourselves in.
I hope this unedited and raw conversation demonstrates that, while we may feel very alone at this time, we are truly in this together.
You can find more from Kara on her blog or on Social Media.
Today you will hear:
- [02:00] A bit about Kara as an educator and EB Academics team member
- [06:00] Kara’s experience with school closure & transitioning to online learning
- [10:05] The technological barriers to teaching online
- [11:25] Simple ways to transition to online learning without spending money or too much time
- [13:40] How to use an online enneagram personality test to analyze a character from literature
- [15:55] How Kara maintains community and checks in on students’ wellbeing with daily creative challenges
- [17:45] How to keep your students’ emotional state in mind before assigning work
- [19:00] A simple way to take care of your students if you can’t teach online.
- [20:00] How to give yourself grace throughout this experience
- [22:40] One last fun and FREE activity that can be used on or offline with your students
- [24:00] Information on the Facebook Live trainings we will provide on online teaching basics
Subscribe & Review in iTunes
Are you subscribed to our podcast? If you’re not, we want to encourage you to do that today. We don’t want you to miss a single episode. We add a brand-new episode every week, and if you’re not subscribed, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here to subscribe in iTunes!
Now if you’re feeling extra awesome today, we would be super grateful if you left us a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find our podcast, and they’re also so much fun for us to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let us know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!
