Thursday, March 12, we had a staff meeting after school where we learned that eventually schools might be closed for a period of time.

Friday, March 13, at 12:30, I learned school would close the following Monday. We were told to gather work to send home that would support student learning for the next six weeks.

I flew around, getting math, ELA, and science organized so students could take them home by the end of the day. Before they left, I hugged them all (one last time before social distancing made us stop that!) and said I planned to start teaching them for “at least one hour a day” starting the next Monday.

I spoke too soon.

The next Monday teachers in my district learned that, due to equity issues, we were not allowed to teach any new material. (So much for the lessons I was posting on my brand-new YouTube site!)

All the material I’d sent home was now “enrichment.” We were not supposed to grade any of it.

Those first two weeks at home, I made phone calls. I talked to the parents of every child in my class. I asked how they were doing. Was everyone ok? Was everyone healthy? Was everyone working at home or was anyone still working at an essential job? I could hear the level of stress go down in so many voices, just with having a chance to talk to a sympathetic adult.

Many parents said they appreciated the work I’d sent home. They had a structure in place so their children were doing maybe two (or four!) hours of school a day, and they loved having materials to support that learning time.

I said that was perfect.

Some parents talked about alternative lessons their child was involved in, from music lessons to cooking to foreign language to robotics.

I said that was perfect.

One or two parents said “I’m not a teacher! I can’t handle doing lessons with my child!” They had other activities they were doing at home.

I said that was perfect.

I talked to nearly every student. The first thing I asked was if they were doing anything fun or exciting. They told me about trampolines and bikes (and cooking and robotics) and art and books they were reading. Students I couldn’t get to say five words in my classroom talked for 15 minutes with me on the phone!

I set up three practice Zoom meetings where the kids could see each other. (I’ve been learning about Zoom security so I can keep my Zoom classroom safe from hackers/spammers.)

On Wednesday kids shared what they were doing that was fun. On Thursday they recommended shows and movies they were watching. On Friday it was “bring your pet to Zoom day,” which was hilarious. Once we finished our sharing time, I read aloud.

I took attendance every day. Two children out of 28 missed all three days. I will definitely be in touch with those parents again.

This week is vacation. Our district told us, “Take the vacation!”

Beginning Monday, April 13, we will start doing new instruction.

How will I handle the material I sent home?

I sent home math for three units—everything the students needed to finish the geometry unit we had been working on before the shutdown started plus two additional units.

I know some students did nothing.

Some finished the geometry unit.

Some moved ahead.

I told parents that if their child had finished the geometry unit, they could send that in to me. I would love to see it. But I would not require everyone to finish it. After the break, we will start the next unit. For those students who actually worked farther ahead, they might have to wait a couple of days for everyone else to catch up.

Most of what I sent home for ELA will still be ungraded enrichment work.

Reading Boy by Roald Dahl is required. To make homeschool simpler and more fun for parents, I added:

• If you like to draw, make illustrations for Boy.
• If you like to make models, make a 3-D model or a diorama of a scene from Boy.
• If you like to write songs, write a song (and music) to tell a story from Boy.
• If you like to write, either write a review for Boy, write a letter to Roald Dahl about his book, or write a short story based on one of his chapters.

I told my students they would be able to share their Boy projects during our Zoom sessions. I would teach science and social studies during those Zoom sessions, and I would also have daily check-in times on Zoom for math.

Meanwhile, the key word in social distancing is SOCIAL, so having kids connect with us and each other is crucial.