Hi, my name is Michelle Lewis and I teach 4K (four year old kindergarten) at Rexford-Longfellow Elementary in Clintonville, WI.I have been teaching with Clintonville Public Schools for 6 years and am truly “living my childhood dream” teaching kindergarten. I simply do not think there is much greater in life than looking into the eyes of a child and watching them grow, discover and learn about the world around them. My students teach me way more about "life" than I could ever teach them :)
Due to Covid 19, we started the school year in a hybrid model as a way to have less kids in the classroom at one time and help with social distancing. The 4K program at my school is a four days a week program and there are two sessions, morning and afternoon. The morning and afternoon students are each divided into two cohorts, A and B. Students in cohort A learn in the classroom Mondays and Tuesdays and at home Thursdays and Fridays and Cohort B does the opposite. Wednesdays are a planning and deep cleaning day at our school. We also have students and families who have chosen to do 100% virtual learning.
As a way to wrap my mind around all of this and help actively engage ALL of my young students in their learning both in the classroom and at home, I created this google slide show to use to help “walk” us through our day! Little did I know when I first created the slide show how useful it would be and how well it would work. Before I made this slide show, I wasn’t even sure how to add hyperlinks and by the time I finished making it, I learned a lot. ;) I am humbled and yet AMAZED at how far my slide show traveled when I shared the file. I went to school one morning and my email was filled with hundreds of requests for me to share the file. I have had requests to share it from over 40 different states and 30 countries! WOW! I still cannot believe it! My slideshow being shared around the world is awesome but what I think is even more awesome is that the positive affirmations I recite with my kids each and every day might now be said by teachers and children all around the world. Kids need to hear positive messages about themselves and truly believe those positive affirmations. Kids need to know they are loved and that their lives matter and that they can make a difference in this world. I felt compelled to share my google slide show for FREE because I personally know how hard teachers are working right now to best meet the needs of their students. If my slide show can help teachers and students, why not share?? In sharing my slides, all I asked was that if a teacher used my slide show that they would reach out and help another teacher or do a random act of kindness to help make another person smile! That’s all I wanted :) We as teachers need to stick together and help one another. Collaboration is the key for surviving this time as we walk through uncharted territory.
The slideshow I made titled: A Walk through Our Day in 4K basically takes the kids through the entire day via slides. On these slides I have songs to begin our day, the Pledge of Allegiance, our classroom mission statement, the positive affirmations we say each day, our entire calendar time, our entire literacy time and a wealth of different activities and songs as well as math and literacy tools that are all hyperlinked. I also have some dance party songs linked because thanks to Greg Smedley Warren’s idea, from Kindergarten Smorgasboard, we end our day with a VIRTUAL dance party!
Due to the high numbers of Covid 19 in Wisconsin, we are now doing 100% virtual learning. Using Google Meet, I share my screen and my 4K kiddos can see exactly what we are doing. I would love for them to be in my classroom where we could learn and grow together but on the computer, although it looks different, learning is still happening, the classroom community is still being built, friendships still formed and the love I have for my kids and teaching still shines bright even in the midst of a global pandemic!! My heart is full when I look at their smiling faces on my computer screen! We are still singing, dancing and learning and growing together as a school family! We will get through this and we will be stronger because of it!
