 Life is a winding road, no telling where it goes Driving through days and nights, won't stop for traffic lights If I'm falling down, I will keep on searching for my eyes You can say I lost my mind, I will keep on holding my head high Even if the sky's falling down Hello friends Happy Friday Today is March 27th and I am at school and I'm feeling very emotional I'm here to pick up a few things I need to get some picture books, a couple of chapter books some whiteboards, whiteboard markers and then I know I have some hand sanitizer here and some wipes and even though I'd love to keep all of that here, I need it so I am just grabbing a few things and then I'm going to head straight back home It's crazy though that this place looks like people were just here Jackets and books left out There's even a book bin It just doesn't seem like this place has been deserted for almost a month now So I'm just going to collect the things that I need and then I'm going to talk to you guys a little bit about my perspective of what's going on I feel like I haven't shared, I haven't really spoken a lot about what's going on and I just feel like so many of my teacher, tuber friends have done a really good job of informing people of ways to teach digitally and everything that I would say is basically the same So I don't feel like I need to make a video about ways that you can teach online and digital resources and things like that I just don't feel like that's necessary for me to do right now just because everybody's already kind of taking care of that But what I do want to share is what an amazing community this is here online where we have that resource, each other as a resource and I just think that it's so wonderful and powerful and I'm just very grateful for it In my school district we have been doing some things So look, I'm literally stocking up what I have in my cupboards Sanitizer, Windex, even though these are things that I would normally not use to clean my home I'm going to use them now just because of the circumstances Now nobody's been in my classroom since the beginning of March except for the janitors and they were only here to clean So that's why I'm wearing gloves, just you don't know who's touched what Let me go ahead and pack up all the stuff that I need and then I'm going to sit down and talk to you guys Since I'm here, I'm just going to chat with you guys a little bit So obviously I'm not going to be putting out a video that talks about what you guys can be doing at home as teachers to teacher students because I just feel like so many of my teacher-tuber friends and people online have really done such a great job of already explaining that to you So I don't feel like I need to do that right now But I will just kind of walk you guys through what's going on in my world So our district has given us instructions to not do anything digitally yet We have a lot of diverse needs in our district So a lot of our students do not have access to the internet A lot of them do not have devices that they could use to access the internet And so we have not done a whole lot of push for digital learning yet A lot of our work has been surveying families, reaching out to families And the district has been doing a lot of collaborating together to figure out a plan for us As of right now we are only closed until April 10th But just from seeing what other people are doing I have a feeling that will probably be closed up until the end of the school year And it is what it is As far as I know right now they have cancelled our state testing Which is great for our kiddos Because obviously they can't come in and test We have been doing a lot of professional development We have been doing a lot of work as a team in our grade level teams And so we plan to roll out some sort of digital learning coming up here around April 6th And we really don't know what that is going to look like yet for our families We do have a plan in place, kind of like a weekly schedule of things that we would like to do But for now we're just kind of in limbo waiting to hear what we're expected to do So since then I have reached out to my students We have done a zoom date We have been on class dojo We've sent pictures back and forth And I think that that's really important right now Is just to make sure that our students know that we miss them We love them and I seriously miss them so much But something else that's been perplexing me in this time Is that I think that this might be the very last time I am here in my classroom Before I move out of it I am very happy to announce that I have accepted a position at a school in my neighborhood And I'm so thrilled to be able to share that with you guys It has been a long time coming I actually got the job back in February I'm going to be teaching fourth grade again You guys, I love fourth grade And I'm going to be teaching science and social studies So they do departmentalize there It is a K through 8 school And so they departmentalize starting in fourth grade So I'm going to be teaching fourth grade science social studies And I'm really excited It's going to be great My commute is going to be a minute and a half compared to an hour So I will have two hours extra in my day each day to do who knows what And so I'm very excited to be sharing this news with you guys But it is very bittersweet to me And I am very upset and angry at all of what's going on Because it is robbing me of my last three months that I had with the staff here With the administration here and above all with my students here You know normally when you stay in a school you continue to see your kids throughout the years And you watch them grow and I'm not going to be able to do that And I'm very sad that I didn't get a proper goodbye So I'm hoping fingers crossed that we don't have to stay closed till the end of the school year But if we do then I will only return to pack up my classroom And that really makes me sad It's a very emotional time right now I'm looking out at all the empty desks and just coming to the realization that I might not see In person the sweet kids that filled them ever again In person I didn't get to hug them goodbye or anything So the best thing I can do right now for them is to just be strong And to just make sure that they know how much I love them and miss them And I pray that they're doing well So anyway that is my announcement I'm very excited The time that I'm spending at home now is being focused on What I'm going to do for my students while they're away And really starting to look forward to next year And what I'm going to be able to do next year with my new students So anyway that's enough of that I'm going to show you guys what I packed up What I'm going to take home with me And then I'm going to get out of here So that I'm not here any longer than I need to be Okay so I'm going to take this black cart home And I got some butcher paper I got a lot of it I'm going to cut some off and give it to a friend of mine Who has her kids at home So that they can draw on it And then I'm going to keep some at home for cash So he can draw on it But I'm going to take the cart home so that I can kind of organize My teaching tools in one space And then that way it's not like cluttering up my whole house And then in addition to that I'm taking home Some base 10 blocks I'm going to give my friend Becca some for her kids Because they're first in kindergarteners And I think that that would be very beneficial to have for them So I'll divvy up a little pack for them And then the rest I'm going to take home to use for modeling I've got number lines, fraction tiles I have some area squares My students did not get a chance to learn area and perimeter Or elapsed time So it's the best job to teach them while I'm away Luckily these are two skills that they do get again in fourth grade And so I'm confident that when they get to fourth grade The teachers will take extra time to introduce that to them Down here I have some whiteboards and some whiteboard markers Again I'm going to give my friend Becca a couple of these For her kids so that she can work with them at home And then a couple read-alouds that I'm taking home I know that it's not a third grade level book but it is a read-aloud And I think that they will love this book I also promised I would read that to them before the school year was over So I'm going to do it, it's going to be like a weekly live stream And then I brought the tales of a fourth grade nothing Because that's a super fun book And then my favorite all time book We were starting to do a read-aloud of Island of the Blue Dolphins In a small group and I know this is a way higher level But they love it They love listening and reading along so I'm going to bring that home to do with them And then I also brought them a pencil sharpener I don't have one at home and I brought pencils And I'm like well how am I going to sharpen them So then I brought some highlighters in case I need them And some sticky notes And then my laptop charger is down there I'm bringing home my gopher sport brain break dice I thought maybe I could use them for cash or whatever This is a sunscreen that's been here for a while so I'm bringing that home I'm bringing this pot home for my plants And then obviously the clock I'm bringing home my laminator I got to throw some laminating sheets in here Some tissue Because we are running low on toilet paper And if need be I can just grab this if I need to And then I'm bringing home a ton of sanitizer And sanitizing wipes, spray, a multi surface cleaner These are just things that I haven't been able to find at the store And I have them here And I have way more than this here I'm just, this is all I'm taking Because I feel like if we do come back We're going to need some here too So I'm leaving some here but I'm bringing this home What else is in there I'm leaving this one here I don't need that one And then my cart And I need to grab some laminating sheets I'll grab these Maybe I'll bring my light box home And put it like behind me That would be super cute It takes batteries only Because A little ninja destroyed the port Maybe I'll bring that home That way I can kind of like write inspirational messages on it To put behind me When I'm doing read alouds Or live streaming lessons or whatever I'll bring those just for positivity And that's all I'm bringing guys Oh I do have a basket of picture books outside by the door I'm also taking those home That's what we're getting As always friends don't forget to follow me on Instagram At Apples NTRs where I post updates daily I hope you all are staying safe and healthy inside at home And I will see you in the next video Bye guys