Subject: Re: [MK8] Routines when teaching a la cart

I haven’t chimed in for a REALLY long time since my elementary program was
cut and I was moved to middle school chorus. I have ended up really liking
it, to be honest.
Anyway, our middle school solution to keep down contact is each elective
teacher has a 6th, 7th and 8th grade homeroom they teach daily for two
weeks. The elective teachers go to the homerooms. After two weeks, a new
set of classes. There are 8 of us and we started after the first week of
class, so it almost neatly works out to be a full semester.
PE is handling movement breaks outside spread out on the baseball and
football fields. No chorus at the moment, but with about 2/3 kids at home
virtual, it really wouldn’t have worked anyway. half the face to face kids
come one week, half the other.
You can imagine the horrified emails I got from some apparently very non
singing kids when they saw they had chorus! Lolol! I explained it to them
and they were ok!
I and the band director are doing a bit of General music (I am enjoying it,
actually, I have missed it). The twist in this is: I got approved for
virtual teaching so I’m doing my teaching from a computer screen. I am
making it pretty well, but I can’t imagine being a young teacher without
lots of experience having to deal with this!
The plus side is: I am busily recruiting for when it is normal again! I
am choosing to think of this as a reset button that gives me a chance to
reach kids I didn’t get to before. We will see how it goes!
Good luck to everyone!
Jill in NC
On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 10:16 PM Ann Wells wrote:
> All the resource (specials) teachers are going into the classrooms,
>
> including PE - he's doing his health curriculum instead of PE curriculum
>
> right now. They eat in the classrooms, teachers switch instead of students
>
> for the team-teaching grade levels (3-5). Each class has a designated time
>
> and a place for recess outside, but nobody is allowed to use the playground
>
> because the custodians don't have time to clean/sanitize the equipment
>
> between classes using it. Our school district gave everyone (staff and
>
> students) five cloth masks, but I use the ones my mom made for me out of
>
> music fabric (I have some Doctor Who ones, too, finally had a use for the
>
> cloth I had bought at JoAnn just because it was there!). I wear those
>
> around campus when I'm not teaching and on Fridays when the kids aren't
>
> there, but when I'm in the classrooms to teach I wear a KN95 mask.
>
>
>
> I read something recently that said we were still basing what we are doing
>
> on our May understanding of COVID and not the August understanding of it.
>
> Schools are focusing so much on sanitizing surfaces even though we know
>
> that while it can be transmitted that way, that's not the primary way.
>
> Evidence is pointing more and more to aerosol transmission, not just
>
> droplets, yet we're keeping kids indoors in the same space for 7 hours a
>
> day and not making sure the ventilation is adequate - at my older school,
>
> probably not as good as it needs to be to keep the air turned over. Sigh.
>
> At least I'm only in each classroom for 45 minutes at a time (55 for 5th
>
> grade).
>
>
>
> Hang in there, everyone!
>
> ~Ann in NC
>
>
>
> Ann Wells - annmusic7@gmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 4:56 PM Davis, Esther wrote:
>
>
>
> > Are the PE teachers going into the classroom? Are the students eating in
>
> > their classrooms? Do they have recess outside on playground equipment?
>
> >
>
> > I am pushing into the classrooms. I have a small grocery basket, the
> double
>
> > decker kind. I decorated it and have my keyboard, boombox, sanitizer,
> maps,
>
> > posters, instruments that I use only. I have many body percussion
>
> > activities. It took me a week to know how to teach. The first day of
> school
>
> > I had 13, 000 steps. 🤕😵 I have on gloves, two masks and a shield. So
> glad
>
> > to hear your story and we learn from each other. I am in Texas.
>
> >
>
> > Esther Davis
>
> > Fine Arts Teacher
>
> > Music Memory UIL Coach
>
> > Link-Up Recorder/Vocal Coach
>
> > J.L. Everhart Magnet International Baccalaureate
>
> > 2919 Tryon Rd.
>
> > Longview, TX 75605
>
> > 903.803.5422, (my office)
>
> > 903.803.5400, (main office)
>
> > 903.803.5401., (fax)
>
> > website.www.lisd.org
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> > On Sun, Aug 30, 2020 at 1:36 PM Ann Wells wrote:
>
> >
>
> > > I have 20 classes right now - we usually have 6 or 7 kindergarten
>
> > classes,
>
> > > 6 classes each 1-3rd, and 4 or 5 each 4th and 5th, but two (or in one
>
> > case,
>
> > > 3) teachers per grade level right now are teaching the students who
> opted
>
> > > for online-only instruction, at least through the first half of the
> year.
>
> > > We are also on a hybrid schedule - in-person students come two days a
>
> > week
>
> > > and work online the other three. Half of the kids come M/W, the other
>
> > half
>
> > > come T/TH, everyone is online on Fridays. So, I am going to each
>
> > classroom
>
> > > two days in a row to see both the A and B groups of kids, which means I
>
> > > will see everyone once every two weeks. Teachers still have to come in
> on
>
> > > Fridays, and the classroom teachers have three hours in the morning for
>
> > > whole and small group instruction via zoom then time for grade level
>
> > > planning and meetings and whatnot. Once I get my in-person stuff
> squared
>
> > > away, and the new PE and Art teachers are settled and don't need me as
>
> > > much, I plan to use my Fridays to make videos for the online-only kids
> so
>
> > > the teachers who do their resource classes (they are still basically
>
> > > following the same schedule they'd have if they were at school) will
> have
>
> > > something to show them so they aren't stuck with just two options most
> of
>
> > > the time.
>
> > >
>
> > > ~Ann in NC
>
> > > Ann Wells - annmusic7@gmail.com
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > >
>
> > > On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 8:00 AM Davis, Esther wrote:
>
> > >
>
> > > > How many classes are you teaching?
>
> > > >
>
> > > > Esther Davis
>
> > > > Fine Arts Teacher
>
> > > > Music Memory UIL Coach
>
> > > > Link-Up Recorder/Vocal Coach
>
> > > > J.L. Everhart Magnet International Baccalaureate
>
> > > > 2919 Tryon Rd.
>
> > > > Longview, TX 75605
>
> > > > 903.803.5422, (my office)
>
> > > > 903.803.5400, (main office)
>
> > > > 903.803.5401., (fax)
>
> > > > website.www.lisd.org
>
> > > >
>
> > > >
>
> >
>
> >
>
> |=============================================|
>
>
>
> Hosted by Plank Road Publishing: https://www.musick8.com
>
> List Administrator: list_admin@musick8.com
>
> To send a message to the list: MK8-talk@lists.musick8.com
>
> Subscribe/unsubscribe: https://www.musick8.com/html/list.php
>
> List Archives: https://www.musick8.com/listarchive/list_archive.php
>
>
>
> User Options:
> http://lists.musick8.com/options/mk8-talk/jillty94@gmail.com
>
>
>
> Visit our Music Teachers' Forum: https://www.musick8.com/forum/
>
>
|=============================================|
Hosted by Plank Road Publishing: https://www.musick8.com
List Administrator: list_admin@musick8.com
To send a message to the list: MK8-talk@lists.musick