Kia Ora bloggers,
Lockdown level 4 just like that...
It was Tuesday afternoon on 17th August when I first heard that there is a community case of Covid and my first gut feeling was oh no it will be another lockdown but then I don't know why but I did not want to believe it. Probably because Term 3 had just kicked off and I had just begun making a shift with some of my learners who were needing to be accelerated. Anyway, lockdown did happen and just within few hours whole country went into level 4 lockdown. Auckland will be in lockdown for a bit longer as we need to do the heavy lifting being the gateway to NZ.
Lots of feelings, thoughts and things rushed in my brain when I heard the news. My husband is an essential worker who looks after the IT side of things at Middlemore Hospital and that meant just like last year I would be responsible for the emotional and mental well-being of the people in my bubble. My bubble consists of my in laws, my children and our two dogs. AND of course my professional role of a teacher for 24 students.
Online learning began from Thursday 19th August for our students at my school GTS. I spent Wednesday 18th August connecting with all my students and their families via phone calls and setting up online learning page on my class site. Why connect with the students and their families via phone calls you may wonder? Well, I believe having a good positive working relationship with students and their families is integral to learning and especially when learning from home. As Rita Pierson in her very famous TED Talk says- "For any learning to happen, there has to be a good relationship first formed with students". I totally resolute with this statement of hers.
Online learning has it's own proc and cons but I like last year focussed on the pros and made a plan and dived into online learning. I think being in a school that is part of the Manaiakalani cluster of schools gives us as a school that capacity, skills and ability to launch into online learning as our students already skilled in using their chromebook (Digital tool). All as a teacher I need to focus on is designing learning programmes that are fun, engaging and also support students in maintaining their achieved levels for their age.
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