Finding the Problems

 Everyday in a classroom presents challenges that need solutions. This year especially we are faced with some new and difficult challenges. When speaking with the 4th graders in my classroom, I am hearing the same thing day after day. They LOVE being back at school, but wearing masks is a challenge. Mask wearing and social distancing prevents them from interacting with peers and staff as they normally would. It creates challenges with building community in our schools and in our classrooms, especially since we started our school year online for 3 weeks. 

We have spent a lot of time and energy figuring out how to create a classroom environment where students can feel invited, comfortable and welcome while still following the guidelines of staying six feet apart and wearing masks. There are no more share days where students can bring in items to show to their classmates, because they are not allowed to bring anything to school. All of these small problems have been leading up to the bigger issue of: How can we successfully create a classroom community while following COVID protocols in our school?

We are still in the problem solving phase of this, but I will share some of the solutions we have come up with. First of all we rearranged our rooms entirely so that even though desks were six feet apart, they were able to have a meeting place on the rug where we could do a brief ten minute morning meeting in our three foot bubble. Morning meetings have really helped us keep up morale and connect as a class community. During our morning meetings, we have begun asking a question of the day. They could be silly or could require deeper thinking. Each day we learn more about each other and feel more comfortable sharing our answers to the questions. Another change we made was lengthening the times of our movement breaks and adding in an extra one. We went from one 15 minute movement break in the morning with a 20 minute recess, to two 20 minute movement breaks and their normal recess. Recess posed another challenge, as students still have to remain distant as they play. Our solution as a school was to take their PE time to learn about different activities they could do outside that were a safe distance away from each other. We also shortened our academic times for the first three weeks back in school to make sure students weren’t feeling overwhelmed. Instead of one hour blocks we shortened them to 45 minute blocks. 

We still have a long way to go and many more brainstorming sessions to work through, but I feel proud of what we’ve accomplished. We have managed, throughout all of the new safety regulations to create a space where the students still want to come to school and enjoy being here.