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I have had twelve 90-minute + five 40-minute class periods condensed down into two 30-minute online sessions. That's 20 extra hours per week of time available to work on my preps!! And I have so much more energy from not having to constantly manage disruptive and distracted students. I feel like a completely different person. I've been pursuing a lot more creative projects that I had been putting off for years. I'm actually going to create the level of high-production quality video lessons that I had originally planned on, rather than trying to squeeze as much creativity as I could into the sporadic, often interrupted conference periods.

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What will be great and what I've communicated to the students is that they can each basically have one-on-one instruction from me. I don't have to manage the classroom or spend the majority of my time with the students who are distractions.

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I am getting very organized with Google Classroom in ways I never had been before.  This will help in the future! 

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I am getting very organized with Google Classroom in ways I never had been before.  This will help in the future! 

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I'm enjoying researching, talking to other educators and creating systems I wouldn't have necessarily tried out before.

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I am enjoying taking my dog for walks and doing yoga. 

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I am enjoying taking my dog for walks and doing yoga. 

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I am celebrating the return of mentoring from Zoom!

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I am celebrating the return of mentoring from Zoom!

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Russell: With fewer time draws from classroom management, paperwork, accountability, I've had more time to play around with educational tech tools including flipped classrooms (recording videos), Flipgrid, and Nearpod.  Very fun although I'm not sure how effective it is for kids yet. The verdict is still out but the promise of DLP is tantalizing!

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I am finally using google classroom for due dates which we planned to do anyways. :)

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I am finally using google classroom for due dates which we planned to do anyways. :)

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David - Learning to use google classroom to keep myself and my students more organized

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David - Learning to use google classroom to keep myself and my students more organized

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I've had multiple students tell me that the way I'm setting agendas and listing things step by step has made it clearer what they are learning and how they are going to learn it. I want to continue using these practices moving forward.

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I have the time to learn how to integrate new technology for communication, and student support.

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Since a lot of the bureaucratic procedures have been removed from our day-to-day as well as classroom management tasks that are very time-consuming, I've had time to experiment with new tech tools for education such as flipped classroom, Flipgrid, and Nearpod. Perhaps we can do more with less? The verdict is still out but the promise of itis exciting to contemplate.

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It has been neat to balance helping my CAST students and my own children throughout the day. I have been surprised to see how many of our 9th graders feel more comfortable using the CHAT BOX opposed to the microphone during ZOOM meetings.

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Allows me to plan and craft a lesson. I have more time to vet videos or look through the multitude of resources available and choose which best scaffold together. Likewise, I think "classroom management" does not take away from the lesson as much as the students can do so in class.

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After our zoom classes, my students hit me all day on Remind for follow ups and quick explanations. They also use it to vent about their stuck at home realities. Working next to my wife, who is a 1st grade teacher, helps me see the challenges of teaching little ones as opposed to older kids who can maybe handle this a bit easier. (Best case scenarios of course.)

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During the "live" sessions I have enjoyed that students can send me a private message in the chat to ask questions in real time. We often encourage students to not be afraid to ask questions in class, but a private chat message removes social stigmas/anxieties far more effectively than a variety of strategies in a classroom.

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I enjoy that I get to learn and try new things. I also like how there is more time to revise lessons based on the previous week's issues.

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Everyone is patient it feels like students want to be there to learn, which is fulfilling.

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I had fun co-teaching with Kretlow and using food to discuss history. We "taught" kids how to make Spam Fried Rice; and while CAST has some amazing perks...there's not a kitchen in my classroom :)

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I had fun co-teaching with Kretlow and using food to discuss history. We "taught" kids how to make Spam Fried Rice; and while CAST has some amazing perks...there's not a kitchen in my classroom :)

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I have always been an advocate for connecting with students by letting them know that "I too am human". We all have real world problems too. Distance learning has given me the opportunity to reach out to students and their families on a whole new level. The great thing is that if my strategy to reach students does not work, I have the time to think of more strategies. Yes, I am human and yes, I am also learning this "distance learning"
but I look at it as my way of further creating those bonds with my students.
Richard Juarez-CAST Tech

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I can sleep later, see the sun, and save 3 hours per day

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The slower pace allows time to reflect, plan and complete self-driven PD. For next year, I am wondering how we can incorporate online learning to have more of a blended instructional platform in the classrooms to ease the pace for students and teachers?