Central Idea: Knowing and caring for myself, others, and the place I’m in impacts our community. Key Concepts: form, connection / Related Concepts: interdependence, resiliency, well-being, community, relationships, empathy
Line of Inquiry #2: Knowing and responding to myself and others (as a learner, as a friend, etc.)
Line of inquiry #1: Community and personal well-being
Line of Inquiry #3: The interconnectedness of self and community
Being empathetic to the needs of others
Be open and vulnerable with this new "normal" and understand that others are going through the same experience...parents, peers, students.
How do we create an online community? (Form)
I'm thinking about how challenging this will be (interconnectedness) given our bubble scenario.
Anxiety vs excitement of starting a new year.
What does community look like in the time of COVID-19 (Form)
I'm thinking about what this will look like for kinds who are online and kids who are in the classroom--how can they experience interconnectedness with each other?
I think one area
to emphasize the interconnectedness in the upper grades is taking a role of leadership and leading by example for the younger grades.
Ways to build grade level community whilst respecting the bubbles?
Not allowing myself to get caught in others' stress
checking in with one another (even if it is virtually)
Keeping physical distancing
Last year in grade 2 our entire first unit centered around the concept of wellbeing. We used a 'wellbeing wheel' to guide us through the unit and added to it as we moved through the unit. Our focus was on the daily importance of being active (LR), learning, social wellbeing
, safety, health, and responsibility.
I'm thinking about the word "responding" here--it will be important to respond to our students social/emotional and academic needs. I recently heard someone say that for some children, sacrificing their ILP/IEP services is more harmful than having them share a pencil with someone else. I think we will need to be vigilant about responding to the needs of our learners.
Create a personal connection with students.. connect with their interests
Learning about others' boundaries and respecting them
Finding ways to disconnect for our own, and our students well-being even in a virtual, or blended learning, environment.
Maximising outdoor education
And really inviting conversations from students about how this looks and feels different
How do we respond to others in a safe and connected way whilst upholding physical distancing?
And wearing face coverings, washing hands and monitoring any signs of illness.
reminding ourselves and each other how to take care
How can I support students, parents, faculty and staff and also get support?
Acknowledge the uncertainty of the new year
Allowing students the space and providing them the tools to recognize how they are feeling and how to respond.
Being honest and transparent with students
The importance of feeling connected even without physical contact or close conversations.
Team building activities / Morning meetings
What are the ways that we can keep the bubbles connected in an online way.....Adele's song 'hello from the other side'........The Bubble Buzz....... Weekly Flipgrids?
spending time together outdoors
How do we know ourselves well? How do we know what we need and take action accordingly?
Knowing what we need to be well, and then communicating that to others
Yes, the screen fatigue factor is so real!
Presuming positive intentions
Understanding that everyone will experience this differently and it is all real and okay.
Using physical activity as a means to bolster social and emotional (and of course physical) health.
Makes me think of the connection and balance between public health and personal needs and how personal actions and strong needs may not always be able follow public health guidance.
Designing ways to stay connected with the rest of the community while physical distancing
Developing and using personal awareness in our students own personal well-being and how they can be mindful of their community's well-being. Strategies for doing this? How do we build it into the schedule in each day? How do we ensure equity for online and in-class learners?
This connects to the ICS Way
These concepts are key at the beginning of most years, but this year they seem even more essential.
Finding creative ways for kids to check-in with themselves..as opposed to just "How are you doing?", as well as allowing kids to share negative feelings (avoid the toxic positivity)
I really appreciate this term instead of social distancing
Developing fun ways to greet friends without touching
The importance of really listening.
Even with the physical distancing we are still one community where each member shares and cares.
Creating a virtual lunchbunch or other social to decompress.
adapting healthy habits sharing ways in which we can take care of each other
Buddy up lower and upper classes?
Having empathy for others and ourselves.
introducing pen pals across the school to connect and have a shared experience at ICS- without coming into contact.
taking care of myself is taking care of others and this place
Using Technology to connect us
How important continuous reflection is.
Understanding ourselves as a person
The need to allow for both engagement as a learner and engagement as friends, especially within online sessions
creating learning engagements we can share across grades and bubbles to connect with each other
Explicitly discussing how we can show empathy (eg. wear a mask, wash off germs)
virtually or outdoors?
helping young students learn to focus their attention using a song that explicitly teaches how to listen effectively
Instead of fist bumps, we'll have to do a welcome waggle or goofy face.
Model appropriate behavior in terms of mask use, physical distancing and washing hands. Make sure we are also re-iterating the necessary precautions to take care of ourselves. .Let's not assume they know/remember
it's ok to make mistakes, even with the physical distance or with masks, we all need to learn and we need time to learn the new way of being together again
Both
We can stress that it is physical distance and not social distance
What kind of person do I want to be? ie student, teacher, sister, brother, colleague, parent etc. & reflecting on, am I being that person?
And perhaps a dedicated time for afternoon check-ins for students to process the day and make a plan for the next day.
This is a great way to build community
Observation will be key
Knowing how Covid 19 transmit
Asking students 'What do I (the student) need to feel safe?'
We need to set a routine of checking in with students/staff about how they are doing. I like the 1-10 scale. "How are you on a scale of 1-10? Feel free to share why if you wish."
an engagement similar/same as the poems would be great to share with students, connect on and offline, and also involve families
Needs to be intentionally planned for
What actions can I take?
Unpack the concept of community
Responsive Classroom has a good protocol that emphasizes a lot of the social and emotional points that we're all identifying as vital for our students.
Taking care of each other, even though we are keeping distance
This is a great way to introduce resiliency and then have it carry on all year, across subjects.
SDG#3 - Good Health and Wellbeing :)
and compassion
Understanding and learning about our basic needs (Belonging, Fun, Freedom, Power, Survival) and how we meet these needs effectively
Taking time for students to share their experiences since March will be an important part of building community, understanding and support
But this would also be a great opportunity to introduce more feeling vocabulary in the younger grades. We tried this last year in G1 in one of our unit and students really responded well to having words beyond 'good' 'bad' etc..
New term for me. I know toxic negativity but what do you mean by toxic positivity? Is that where you say you're all right even though you're not because everyone else seems to be okay?
The Unit Plan includes some ideas about inter-bubble mailboxes. Ideas like these sound really fun.
With all the unknowns that's happening around the world. highlighting on the importance of resilience is the best thing we could do. One doesn't have to be resilient by themselves. it can be done so as a community. That way we can handle whatever is thrown at us.
Definitely need to be creative in meeting individual needs of each student
could use images as well- "what image do you identify with today"
Keeping Action piece in your mind and students' minds.
And understanding that other's experiences and feelings are valid as well.
This embody some of our learner profile and also who we are: taking care of ourselves, others, and this place.
Knowing when to take a break, take a moment
Continue to emphasize that this will help us take care of ourselves and others. We are a community that needs to work together to succeed!
Understanding ways that we can identify and meet our basic needs
The toxic positivity comment was not mine, but I experienced students who tried really hard to exude a positive attitude but ended up having a melt-down because they weren't actually "enjoying" the online learning as much as they thought they should.
Allowing permission that its okay to not be okay... self awareness and management of emotions
mindfulness, community circles, gratitude circles
We may need to keep in mind developmental understanding here and be careful to not overwhelm with too much information
Our choices of reusable vs single use masks have impacts on the environment inside and outside of school. How could we help students choose a type of mask that best suits their needs?
Make up some silly songs to greet each other.
link to 'our best with Africa' and mask wearing and hygiene
Very true... and teaching children how to fix a mistake
EY5 to Grade 5 : 3 grades on yellow day and 3 grades on green day for the use of the outside spaces.
There were actually some really great activities on Seesaw last spring about this and children's books have already been made, too.
"My Hero is You" - How kids can fight COVID
A book (for 6-11 yrs old), collaboration of United Nations agencies
(https://interagencystandingcommittee.org/system/files/2020-04/My%20Hero%20is%20You%2C%20Storybook%20for%20Children%20on%20COVID-19.pdf)
Yes! What a great way to think of well-being beyond ICS
I've also done, "What color are you today", and they explain the color they are feeling today and why. Example: "I'm feeling red because I'm really angry at the computer!"
YES! and also being able to name these feelings - confused, annoyed, frustrated, lonely... and what they can do to respond
my students in China loved air hugs where we hugged ourselves!
Good point...what could this look like?
digital lounge, gallery etc...
Hear! Hear!
Explicitly share that this fits with all of the school and community goals and we are 'in it together'
Also understanding that kids' experiences since March will greatly impact their understanding of the virus and safety protocols, depending on where in the world they were
Create ways for students in different bubbles to interact (video calls, pen pals, geocache notes, carefully plan physically distanced visits
and teachers and parents too!
Thinking about other ways we can connect families and the larger ICS community since they aren't allowed on campus and large gatherings aren't happening
Love this idea and it could work across bubbles and grades too
Is there a student news show at ICS? This would be a good way to highlight what other bubbles are doing and build community when we can't actually be together across grade levels
Inquire into the ways we are still connected at ICS even though we are physically separated.
Feeling Faces Link Title
Impacts SDG#3 Good health and wellbeing
I read that book in library and it was okay but the problem was that we were dealing with such different cultures that some people equated red with happy and celebration (Asian) not anger or jealousy and so the little kids were confused when someone said they were red and that was a + and another kid used red to mean that was a -.
and utilising technology too for collaboration and connection:)
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More links to books for learning about Covid https://nycdoe.libguides.com/COVID-19ebooks/free
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