All of us in Ontario are adapting to working and learning at home. If learning and working from home are new to you, you have likely endured a steep learning curve. Teaching elementary children in a virtual way is something that is new to us at March Academy. We are working hard to meet the needs of our families. Here are some of our learnings over the past few months.
We appreciate being connected.
Our teachers and students thrive on connecting with each other. Every day we meet as a whole school, classmates and colleagues, through a virtual chat experience. This time together mirrors how we have always started our day in Meeting Place. Meeting Place, whether in person or online, is a time to greet each other, share news and hear about the activities planned for the day. We have always valued this time together; however, it is even more striking, now, how much we appreciate these 20-minutes to learn about each other’s pets, notice new haircuts, talk about the weather, and hear about the learning opportunities ahead.
We enjoy learning.
To be truthful, jumping into online learning was more than a little frustrating; perhaps even unnerving at times. When we look back, we realized how much we have accomplished in such a short time. The human brain is truly incredible. Young children who had never opened an email, are now receiving and sending emails to teachers daily. Projecting our faces and voices online was a new experience for most of us. Using a stylus, saving files and adding text boxes to annotate work are proving to be second nature. Who would have ever thought?
We thrive on consistency.
It is reassuring to all of us that we will meet at 9:00 every morning to begin our school day. Even if our virtual chat may not work exactly as planned, we are comforted to know that our friends and colleagues are all trying hard to connect. Being responsible for our work, knowing that others are counting on us, and having important work to do each day, keeps us moving forward.
We can be flexible too!
Submitting an assignment at the end of the day, before bedtime, is actually possible! Doing math in pajamas can be fun! Cooking, cleaning and playing are all important parts of our day and it really doesn’t matter in what order they are accomplished. Recess at 9:25 a.m. – sure, let’s go outside!
We can be successful.
Looking back, we all realize that we did it and that we’re still doing it! We can continue learning together and setting high expectations for each other even at a distance. Students are becoming more independent and parents are recognizing the growth in their children. Given that we had come so far this year since September, we wanted the learning to continue. Now, we know that we can be successful teaching and learning this way.
Most importantly, we have realized that we can move forward joyfully.
Laughter and optimism have kept our spirits high. It is a joy to witness the boundless creativity of our students and teachers. We have learned to appreciate each other and our families in a new way; for this we are very thankful.
Of course, we are looking forward to being back in our wonderful facility. For now, we are learning to embrace this new way of teaching and learning one step at a time. To learn more about how we learn The March Academy Way, visit us at www.marchacademy.ca