Learning at home school COVID closures

Learning at home during school COVID closures

As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to rage on, causing what appear to be mainly larger urban school districts to make the decision to close in-person learning, whether for several days/a week at a time or for longer periods, many students and families find themselves suddenly left without a solid, reliable learning plan in place. Some districts and individual educators are trying to do all they can with the virtual tools and other resources they have at their disposal, while some districts and individual educators are simply closing shop altogether. As one parent whose daughter's large urban school district recently closed for a week told me, "Some teachers are going above and beyond, while others are treating this like a vacation. They're not meeting with students virtually, and they've assigned no work." And a high school in a nearby district decided to cancel semester final exams altogether because of COVID-19.

 

The data are pouring in on how COVID-19 has impacted learning for K-12 students.

Whether you're a student reading this, or a parent, guardian, other relative, or fellow educator deeply concerned and frustrated by this truly tragic situation of lost time and learning, I offer a number of resources, ideas, and strategies here, in no particular order, to help you design your own at-home learning plan when you find yourself not provided with one by your school system and/or teachers. The following suggestions can also certainly serve to enhance and reinforce the assigned learning from school if you are, hopefully, receiving regular instruction virtually.

BrainPOP - I make use of BrainPOP, a subscriber-based learning platform, quite frequently during my typical day in the classroom. I highly recommend it. With a very clean layout that is easy to navigate, the BrainPOP family of websites offers young learners video lessons on a wide range of curriculum-aligned subjects, as well as quizzes and activities that can be completed for deeper engagement with, and understanding of, the material presented in the video lessons. Check the BrainPOP homepage frequently for various specials and discount offers that run from time to time. You can purchase your own home-based subscription, or see if your school or district already has a subscription that you can use to log in with. A very high-quality, fun, and engaging learning tool.

"Art for Kids Hub" on YouTube - For a fun and engaging resource, check out the "Art for Kids Hub" channel on YouTube. It features step-by-step instructional videos on how to draw all sorts of things.

Think about possible careers and professions - Check out this career readiness resources page I put together a while back, featuring previously-published posts here on this blog, as well as content from other sites. If you're thinking about entering a trade and you reside in Wisconsin, learn about the Wisconsin Apprenticeship System.

Explore volunteer opportunities - Check out this previous post I wrote about the many benefits of volunteer work. Volunteering can provide a wealth of opportunities for learning new skills, strengthening skills, making meaningful connections through networking, gaining new perspectives, sharing talents, and making a difference in the lives of others.

Prepare for the ACT and/or SAT - It's never too early to begin preparing for these tests. Check out this page I put together a while back with various resources, ideas, and strategies to help you prepare for these very important college admissions tests and ultimately get the best score(s) you can. If you start early enough, even years earlier, then your preparation work won't feel like a burden, you'll perhaps even improve your overall grades and performance in your classes, and you most likely won't have to worry about retakes! And yes, these tests are still relevant.

Learn a new language, or make the time and effort to strengthen and deepen your existing language skills - The ability to communicate in another language is a highly-desirable, and hence marketable, skill to have.

Learn, practice, and master cursive handwriting skills - Two wonderful and free resources are ConsistentCursive.com and K5learning.com. ConsistentCursive.com is a course created by cursive handwriting expert David DiGiovanni, who has over 100 videos on YouTube teaching cursive. You can check out his videos and follow his YouTube channel @PerfectBiscuits. K5learning.com offers an extensive variety of cursive worksheets readily available for download.

Research a country - Is there another country whose people, culture, cuisine, history, language, and economy capture your curiosity? Gather facts, photos, and relevant video links, and put together a nice presentation on your chosen country using a slide deck format like Google Slides or PowerPoint. Give a presentation to your family just as you would to your classmates or any other audience. This is a wonderful learning opportunity allowing you to build on a variety of relevant life and career skills, like research and fact-finding, conveying information and ideas, public speaking, writing, creativity, and educating others. For more fun ideas, check out this post on how you can travel the world without leaving home.

Let's plan a trip! - I took this idea from a wonderful social studies course by the same name (Let's Plan a Trip!) that I assisted in during my district's summer school this past summer (you can read more about that here). Similar to the above idea of researching a country, but with a slightly different focus. With this idea, you research one or more countries as if you're getting ready to actually visit them as a tourist. Where will you stay? How will you get there, and how much will this transportation cost you (for example, your flight ticket)? Who will you bring with you on the trip? What's your overall budget? What kind of activities and sightseeing would you like to do?

 

Take courses on Udemy - Udemy is an awesome site. You can read my review of this wonderful learning platform here.

Learn financial literacy - Financial literacy is so very, very important. Learn how to save and budget. Learn how to plan for emergencies. Learn how to spend wisely. Learn about investing and preparing for retirement. Understand how the decisions you make today about money will impact the rest of your life, either positively or negatively. The earlier you begin learning these crucial lessons and begin implementing good strategies and habits, the better for you and your loved ones. The personal finance category here at my blog helps keep track of my posts about money, saving, wise spending and looking for deals, retirement planning, etc.

Work on SMART goals - Use this precious time to write and begin work on career-related, education-related, health and fitness -related, and life goals using the SMART goal format.

Khan Academy - (www.khanacademy.org) Launched by Sal Khan, a Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) –educated former hedge fund analyst, the Khan Academy is a free online education platform, with instruction by Khan himself, all by video. The Web site features an extensive variety of courses and tutorials in areas like math, science and engineering, computer programming, arts and humanities, economics and finance, test prep, career exploration, the college admissions process, and a lot more. Within the economics and finance course offerings, Khan has a subcategory devoted to entrepreneurship, featuring exclusive interviews and conversations he conducts with top entrepreneurs and business leaders.

TED Talks - (www.ted.com) Featuring brief talks via video by a plethora of business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, writers, philosophers, scientists, and subject matter experts of all kinds, TED bills itself as “Ideas worth spreading”. From its Web site:

TED is a nonpartisan nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 110 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.

Documentaries - Every so often, I enjoy borrowing documentaries on DVD from my local public library on a variety of subjects. I'll also check out the offerings from time to time on Netflix, Amazon Prime, and the History Channel. If you love the game of baseball, and its fascinating history and legendary characters, I highly recommend Ken Burns' Baseball. I've loaned out a couple of times now another documentary by Ken Burns called Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies, which not only explores current therapies to combat this dreadful disease, but also takes us through the history of cancer fighting and the pioneering doctors and scientists whose groundbreaking work and ideas have gotten us to where we are today. Through documentaries, I've learned about Milwaukee's Italian-American community, the 2008 financial crisis, the lives and times of captains of industry, the education system, the history of American cars, and, now that I work in schools and usually with a number of special education students throughout the day, various learning and emotional and behavioral challenges. Most recently, I've enjoyed a couple documentaries on Netflix by The Minimalists.

Make sure to work your local public library into your learning routine - Speaking of libraries, are there book clubs or reading programs you can join? Makerspace opportunities? Upcoming speakers and presentations that capture your interest? Art contests? Possibilities and opportunities are virtually endless at the good ol' local public library.

Conversations - That's right, conversations. Simply talking with others. Interested in exploring a particular career? Wondering how college life is like and what the college admissions process entails? Looking to take up a hobby? Curious about how a particular product is made or how a process works? Fascinated about what it's like to serve in the military and wanting to learn more? Wanting to meet new people and get more involved in your community but not sure where to begin? You can get some answers to these and other questions by striking up conversations with people you already know. Examples include your parents and siblings, your friends' parents and siblings, teachers, coaches, classmates, neighbors, your employer and co-workers, aunts and uncles, cousins, and grandparents.

Newspapers and magazines - Keeping up with events and developments in the broader world around you can potentially prove beneficial for you in numerous ways. Having a decent working knowledge base of news and trends in technology, the economy, government and politics, business, trade, education, and world affairs can position you ahead of the competition in the workplace.

Explore AmazingEducationalResources.com - This website, now listing nearly 2,000 resources, was first launched in the early days of COVID-19, back in March-April 2020 or so. My blog is listed on the site, too. You can search by grade level (Pre-K on up to Adult Learning) or by category/academic subject. You'll discover a large, assorted variety of learning games, lesson plans, video content, ideas, and activities to engage with. Most resources listed in this powerful and growing directory are free, while some you'll have to pay for. Other resources may offer a combination of both.

Worksheets, worksheets, and more worksheets - There are many websites out there offering worksheets, workbooks, complete lesson plans, learning activities and games, etc. Here are some sites I'm familiar with in my daily work, and can, therefore, highly recommend: Education.com, MathWorksheets4Kids.com, TLSBooks.com, Math-Aids.com, and WorksheetWorks.com. Some of these sites are free, while others are subscription-based at very reasonable prices.

Television - Not all TV is brain-rotting. In fact, some of it can have quite the opposite effect. Check out this list of The Top 15 Educational TV Shows for Kids of All Ages. 

 

What are some other ideas, resources, and strategies that can be utilized during these tragic times of school closures and lost learning? What are we missing here? Please feel free to share in the Comments section below!

COVID and job prospects for teens

Over the summer, the country witnessed a sudden, explosive need for workers to fill jobs of all kinds, due largely in part to the COVID-19 pandemic. There were, or remain, a number of factors that, when combined, have created a complex labor situation for our economy. 

With many consumers severely limiting their shopping, dining, and tourism/recreation habits - or even outright staying home altogether - during the pandemic, many businesses imposed heavy layoffs or even closed their doors for good due to the lack of demand.

When restrictions started to ease as a result of COVID numbers beginning to drop significantly, combined with a general antsyness to get out of the house more after a year-plus of this, demand naturally began to surge. But the workforce was no longer there to support all the demand, and it still isn't.

Fortunately, many teens stepped up over the summer where many adults chose to - or were forced to, due to economic circumstances or health concerns beyond their control - walk away for a while.      

A brief blurb appearing on the front page of the Business section of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 7, 2021, explains the rise of teenage labor during the summer:

EMPLOYMENT: Teens step up as employers struggle to fill jobs

The owners of restaurants, amusement parks and retail shops, many of them desperate for workers, are sounding a note of gratitude this summer: Thank goodness for teenagers. As the U.S. economy bounds back with unexpected speed from the pandemic recession and customer demand intensifies, high-school-age kids are filling jobs that older workers can't - or won't. The result is that teens who are willing to bus restaurant tables or serve as water-park lifeguards are commanding $15, $17 or more an hour, plus bonuses.

The uptick in teen employment has managed to temporarily help a little, but many teens have to return to school. The overall labor situation is going to take more time and effort to fully resolve itself.

In the meantime, where I'm trying to go with this post, is that, if you're a high school student, or even in college, you have an incredible opportunity right now that you can take advantage of. There are so many job vacancies all over the place, in numerous fields and industries - far more vacancies than there typically are under more "normal" economic/labor conditions. Now, more than ever, is the time to really explore what's out there in the world of work and start gaining critical job skills and experience for your resume. Having to return to school after the summer break doesn't have to get in the way of this unique opportunity, either - so many jobs these days require evening, weekend, and holiday hours. Now's the time to break into fields and industries that may otherwise not really be available to you until further down the road. And with wages (along with bonuses, perks, and benefit packages) rising due to demand for workers - that makes this an even sweeter opportunity to earn while you learn.

International travel and vaccinations

International Travel and Vaccinations: What You Need to Know

Different destinations around the world can pose different health risks to travelers. It's to reduce such health risks that officials often recommend you receive certain vaccinations before traveling to specific regions. Depending on your country of origin and travel history, you may also be asked for proof that you've received specific vaccinations in order to enter certain countries. As an example of this - more and more, it's looking like this is going to be the case for COVID-19 vaccinations, as airlines, cruise lines, and leaders of countries are discussing implementing proof requirements demonstrating that travelers have received a vaccine for this virus. These proposed requirements are often being referred to as "COVID passports," "COVID-19 passports," or by similar names in news reports. For these reasons, it's important that you do your research before any international travel. This way, you'll know exactly what to expect and will be fully prepared when you arrive at your destination.

When starting your research, a great first place to look is online. The Web site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides vaccination information for 245 destinations and can be found at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/destinations/list. While on this page, simply choose your travel destination from the drop down menu marked "For Travelers", press "Go", and information about specific vaccination recommendations and requirements will be provided to you. Though it's not required, you may also provide additional information to help personalize your results by checking off any of the listed options matching your particular circumstances.

Beyond the detailed information about any recommended or required vaccinations, you may also be presented with area-specific travel health notices that can help you further assess the health risks of traveling to your chosen destination. Any notices, if present, will be classified based on three levels of risk: Watch Level 1, where you should practice usual precautions, Alert Level 2, where you should practice advanced precautions, and Warning Level 3, where you should avoid any nonessential travel to the area.

Once you have a better understanding of your chosen destination's vaccination requirements and recommendations, you should consult your doctor. It's recommended that you visit your doctor four to six weeks prior to any international travel to discuss the possible health risks of traveling to your chosen destination and while there, receive any needed vaccinations. Be sure to also inquire about your proof of vaccination documentation if such documents will be required during your trip.

Because traveling to certain destinations may pose an increased health risk, it is important that you familiarize yourself with such risks and visit your family doctor prior to your departure. By visiting your family doctor, you can receive any recommended vaccinations and acquire any needed vaccination documentation. This will reduce your chances of becoming ill during your next trip or missing out on it altogether from being unable to provide the required proof of vaccination to authorities.

Virtual students and breaks during the day

If you're a middle school or high school student learning from home this year due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, it's important to your physical and mental health that you take breaks away from your workspace throughout the school day. Students and parents, read on for more.

At the middle/high school I work at, we implemented for this school year a 10-minute passing time between class periods during the school day. We did this in order to provide for better social distancing and to minimize potential contacts. The logic behind this decision is simple - if students have more time to get to their classes, they won't feel rushed, and, therefore, the halls will be less crowded. I believe our passing time is usually four minutes.

If you're learning virtually from home this school year, no matter what your passing time is, use these times to get away from your workspace for a little while. Make sure you're also treating yourself to several small breaks during your homework time after school/in the evening. 

Breaks during passing times between classes: Instead of sitting at your desk on your phone, get away from the desk and the electronics. Use these passing times to stretch, get the blood flowing, relax the mind, relax the eyes from the electronics. Some ideas: Go outside for fresh air, especially with the weather getting nicer. Do a quick workout with dumbbells, if you have them (perhaps you can knock out two birds with one stone here by using these little workouts for your Online PE exercise logs, if you need to do those!). Grab a quick, healthier snack. Or just get up from your desk to stretch and walk back and forth a little.

Breaks during homework sessions: I have the same suggestions as with the breaks during class passing times - instead of sitting at your desk on your phone or watching a movie or playing video games, get away from the desk and the electronics. Relax the mind and the eyes, and look for ways to stretch and get the blood flowing. Relax the mind to some of your favorite music playing in the background?

Utilizing these simple strategies will help you guard your physical and mental health. It's not good to be seated and in front of electronics all day and night.

What are your thoughts and observations? Have any ideas or suggestions of your own to share? Add them to the comments section below. We'd love to hear, and learn, from you!

Substitute teaching in COVID-19 pandemic

Are you a substitute teacher here in the United States? Are you wondering what your work as a substitute teacher will look like when school resumes in fall 2020 with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic?

I'm a member of a Facebook group for substitute teachers. Recently, one of our members was looking for guidance for fall 2020, wondering if there was any word yet on rules, guidelines, and expectations. Following is my response, for whatever it's worth. In short, there are still too many unknowns at the moment, and, most likely, school is going to look a little different in each community across your state and the country due to local pandemic conditions and the needs and goals of local families and community leaders.

I would reach out to, or just wait to hear from, your school/district or staffing agency (TOC, EDUStaff, etc.) directly. They're ultimately the ones that are going to put rules and procedures in place. Right now, there are still too many unknown variables, so I'd imagine there's bound to be a lot of misinformation, potential scams, etc. floating around out there at the moment. I work as a direct-hire special ed aide at a high school, and I also work for TOC when it doesn't conflict with my direct-hire school's/district's calendar. My district still hasn't announced yet whether or not we'll be meeting in-person in the fall, but it has already put a number of procedures in place if we need to be on premises. They include wearing a mask, social distancing, and filling out a Google Form questionnaire regarding symptoms before we enter the building. Haven't heard anything from TOC yet. Like I said, simply too many unknown variables right now. But that would be my best advice - reach out to, or just wait to hear from, your school/district or staffing agency directly. Hope this helps.

Online learning during coronavirus COVID-19 school closures

Calling all parents, teachers, and students! Following are a few links to huge lists of awesome online learning resources. With K-12 school and college / university closures taking place all across the country due to coronavirus COVID-19 concerns, it can certainly be tough for working parents and teachers to suddenly hunt down and compile quality learning resources on their own. Fortunately, there are many good people out there from all walks of life making this a top-priority mission for the benefit of us all.

My blog, Mr. Robertson's Corner, has found its way on many of these lists, and that's actually how these compilations have come to my attention. I'm getting an influx of traffic from these sources, which I'm very grateful for.

These lists have it all - math, science, ELA, social studies, science, reading, writing, test prep, the arts, history, you name it. From early childhood education all the way through college, you're bound to find some nice gems here. 

Here are those lists:

AmazingEducationalResources.com

Free learning help during COVID-19 - Chegg.com

The best free educational websites for kids - PassionForSavings.com

Happy learning!

All the Best,

Mr. Robertson 

Coronavirus COVID-19 explained

Two videos here. Both are very enlightening. Well worth the few minutes of your time.

Why are we reacting to COVID-19 with social restrictions and travel restrictions? Hopefully this quick video will help you understand our response to COVID-19 - An explanation by Dr. William Horgan, MD, MBA:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/william-horgan-md_why-are-we-reacting-to-covid-19-with-social-activity-6643499848257593344-CgxU

What Actually HAPPENS When You Get Coronavirus? - An explanation by Dr. Zubin Damania ("Dr. Z"):

Coronavirus in Wisconsin

In recent days, I launched a new Web project, CoronavirusWisconsin.com, to track and report on coronavirus in Wisconsin, as well as nationally. It's my sincere hope that the site will be of value to you, as I intend to offer vital information, resources, and news concerning coronavirus in Wisconsin and across the country.

Learn more about COVID-19 coronavirus.