Back to School Amid COVID-19

After working remotely since March, I report back to school in-person this Thursday.  My students are (as of this writing) scheduled to report in-person fully masked on August 20th.  

At home, my own children have been practicing wearing their masks during the day.  Their favorite game to play with masks is "Chick-fil-A," where they take turns being the servers at Chick-fil-A. 



We are also reading lots of books at home to talk about some of these feelings we (all) may be having -- such as "The Invisible String" which addresses separation anxiety.

To help me prepare for returning to in-person school, I created a bundle of resources to use with my students.  As hard as this is for adults, I know it will be difficult for our children, and I wanted resources ready to educate and inform these youngest learners.

 

The resources within the bundle include a read aloud on COVID-19 and the changes we may experience at school and WHY they are important.  


Next, a general resource on hand washing, that I adapted from a few years ago when the flu was rampant in our school building -- and I watched multiple students from one classroom pick their nose and eat their boogers and one other lick the bottom of his shoe.


In creating these resources, I thought a discussion on what's the same and what's different might be helpful for students.  A lot is different, but so much of school is the same.



Finally, I wanted a resource on "big emotions" during COVID-19.  In this resource are also coping strategies and opportunities for reflection.

  
I hope these can be helpful to others as we return to school -- whether it be in person, online, or a mix of both.  

As I mentioned in the Big Emotions resource: "talk to an adult about how you are feeling!  It might make you both feel better!"
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