Online Teaching with the IB PYP- A Starting Point

I am going to begin with applauding each and everyone of you, my dear colleagues, wherever you may be in the world, as we endure this CORVID 19 pandemic and work together to keep educating our young learners and making their lives as normal as possible given the incredible abnormality of the entire situation. I’m hoping, by sharing a few of my own trials and successes, that I can lessen some of the concerns you my have and help you to recognise that we are all feeling the same feelings. Teachers, children and parents alike.

We were thrown into this online learning situation with only 12 hours notice. Italy announced on a Sunday evening that schools would be closed the next day, for one week. Three weeks later, we re still working through it and growing from it! Stay positive, stay strong and focus on the silver lining of this cloud.

We have since learned that our children are incredibly positive, incredibly independent and incredibly willing. Their beautifully innocent honesty and openness is heart-warming. You will find too, that your kids are what keep you going.

Maya Angelou said,

“Every storm will run out of rain.”

Let’s keep our eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel and keep on going!

FREE RESOURCES TO HELP

Below, you’ll find a quick list of what I find to be essential reminders. And I am providing some resources for free that can EASILY be used at home FOR 3rd-6th grade. These will be available from my Teachers Pay Teachers store for the month of March & April 2020. You can take a peek here at the Tic Tac Toe, free choice activity for maths. I have made it editable so you can adjust as necessary

And this resource is great, hands on STEM activities that require critical thinking for all ages.

The Crowns with Attitude activity below, is another easy to implement at home activity. This would suit kindergarten and up. Have the children choose an attitude, colour and create their crown then take a photo or video upload of themselves wearing their crown. They can share why they chose that attitude wither verbally or in a writing assignment, depending on age and ability.

• Keep Your Sense of Humour 
• Keep it Simple:- less is more. Specific, clear instructions, including time expectations for completion. This helps parents.
• Have the children suggest activities for their learning:- Keep their voice an important factor.
• Use this opportunity for highlighting the ATL Skills: –Never before have we integrated these skills as loudly and proudly!
• Really bring the children’s awareness to their own unique Learner Profile:-Remind them of the language of the PYP throughout, use within daily/weekly reflections, both verbal & written.
• Building Reflective Thinking Skills -we have a short daily reflection that the children record & upload to our platform. ( Toddle) This allows us to keep track of the children’s sense of the situation and adjust as we feel.  I have created a journal that we use for daily reflection in class and we have been using this together, remotely,  as I shared the activities from the journal, helping to build those reflective thinking skills. You can learn more but the IB PYP Reflection Journal here.  
• Have a Daily Schedule: -this allows clarification for parents and routine for the children
•  Maintain A Sense of Community– this is the first thing that we ALL miss; the face-to-face socialisation, through online meetings, postcards, photos shared on school blogs or social platforms.
• Focus on Emotional Wellbeing:- both your own and that of the children. Read a calm story aloud so they can hear your voice and see you. Plan specific PSPE activities. Lots of growth mindset opportunities. You may like to read more about that here. 
•  Balance screen time & off-screen activities:– Both for you and the children. Dont become a slave to the computer!
• Set Clear Schedules/Times:– And stick to them! Communicate this with parents. It  helps parents and helps to reduce your workload. We all need to rest.
• Use what resources are easily available in the home:- especially if lockdown is in operation. Gve the parents notice by the end of the week, what materiasl they will need to source for the following week.
• Think outside the box:- You will be amazed at the learning you can conjure up within a typical home.
•  Find a source for community contact: Zoom meetings, Ed Modo, Google, Seesaw etc. There are many, many out there. My favourite so far is Zoom. It allows me to have breakout rooms, thus enabling continuation of differentiated group work and collaboration. Not to mention the kids love to be able to chat together.

Wherever you are, keep the faith!  Thinking of you all.

P.S. You can keep up and join in the chat with me on Instagram @pypteaching and Facebook @PYPTeachingtools