Snowflakes, flight attendants and moving away from typical PA announcements

Teachers at D.202 in Plainfield find creative ways to connect with students during remote learning

Learning in a remote environment is not the same as learning in a classroom setting.

But teachers have become savvy at finding creative ways to spark their students’ interests and stay connected to their students, while helping students stay conneted to each other.

Here are some of the ideas teachers at Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 have implemented.

Liberty ES teacher creates ‘Fun Thursday’ to connect with students

During her lunch break on Thursdays, Liberty Elementary School third grade teacher Jeanette Denton sets aside optional time for her students to connect through sharing stories and fun activities, watching movies, show and tell, and art and crafts.

During one Fun Thursday, Denton held her annual 3D snowflake activity , which many of her previous students loved, she said. The only difference this year was that Denton did her “how to” demonstration of cutting and taping virtually.

Denton also sent parents a step-by-step video ahead of time to make the process a bit smoother, and for students who were not able to attend the live Zoom session.

Planes, trains, helicopters and safaris

COVID may have restricted travel, but it can’t stop virtual travel.

So in December, first grade students at Wesmere Elementary School “traveled” to new countries to study winter holidays in different cultures.

Each day, first grade teachers Shannon Nelson and Wendy Traina and their students boarded a “plane” (with Nelson and Traina dressed like flight attendants), “helicopter” or “train” to study holidays and cultures through books, music and other interactive activities.

To further stimulate their imaginations, the teachers gave their students paper luggage with a travel scrapbook, where included the country’s flag, location, and pictures of a holiday tradition like a yule log in France, Traina and Nelson said

The students also received country stickers to for their luggage after they visited each country.

These lessons incorporated parts of District 202 curriculum, such as social emotional learning, social studies, writing and math.

Special guests also visited virtual classrooms to talk about countries including Poland, Sweden, and Brazil.

Speaking of traveling first-graders at Freedom Elementary School in Plainfield went on a virtual field trip to the zoo last month.

Students dressed up for the field trip and invited their own stuffed animals to join the fun. The students learned about the responsibilities of zookeepers and watched live footage of a variety of animals at the zoo.

Not the typical morning announcements

Morning school announcements at District 202 in Plainfield usually feature the Pledge of Allegiance, birthday shoutouts and important information students need for the day – all read over the school’s public address system during in-person learning.

Now that students are learning remotely, administrators are getting creative with delivering these messages. They’re now incorporating video, photos and slide shows and including jokes, trivia, prizes and even science experiments, all of which deliver some normalcy to kids who stare at a screen all day.

In a news release from District 202, Constantine “Dean” Kariotakis, principal at Timber Ridge Middle School. said each Timber Ridge administrator has a part in the announcements including telling jokes, offering a word of the day or giving some motivational advice, he said.

“We want to personalize our school to the kids,” Kariotakis said.

Indian Trail Middle School follows a similar formula and incorporates administrators, teachers, and students in their broadcasts.

Administrators at Indian Trail and Timber Ridge also drop off prizes for winning trivia answers at a student’s home – using appropriate social distancing and COVID-19 protocols.

Creekside Elementary School has been doing video daily announcements since 2016, said Anthony Yakes, who teaches physical education and health.

Creekside also offers theme days including What in the World Wednesday and Thankful Thursday, he said.