When everything seems to turn a little too bleak and dark, it’s what you do in response that can make a world of difference to some of our nation’s youngest citizens.
Grade 4 teacher Amber Thompson seems to know that fact.
The educator from Outlook Elementary School decided to embark on something of a road trip recently in order to reach out to her students, taking time out of her schedule to literally go and visit them at their homes. Obviously, those visits had to respect the physical distancing guidelines right now, but that didn’t take away from how special they were or what they meant to each of Amber’s students.
Her coworkers also joined in the fun, such as Kindergarten teachers Donna Pearson and Tracey Walzak, as well as Grade 2 teacher Janaya Norrish. Their visits with students made for some fun adventures and gave everyone a chance to enjoy an “offline” visit for a nice change of pace.
Thompson emailed this reporter to talk about what inspired her to hop in her vehicle and arrange these personal visits to check in with her young pupils.
“My inspiration comes from knowing the importance of connections and relationships,” said Amber. “My philosophy surrounding family engagement steers my thinking in my teaching and it definitely inspired me to make connections with my students in a different way. I believe, now more than ever, during these times of uncertainty, that relationships are number one. I believe that teaching and learning is important of course, but relationships is what is going to get us through these challenging times. A lot of inspiration comes from my colleagues, as many conversations are had about making connections with our ‘other’ kids! We miss them dearly. This idea came out of a particular conversation I had with a colleague and we were both wanting to do something different for our students, so we started planning from there.”
Thompson prepared for each of her visits with students and their families by putting together special packages for the kids that allowed them to stay connected through uncertain times. She says these gifts have produced many smiles from the young students, but in all honesty, Amber gets something out of it too.
“The visits have been wonderful. It is so great to see the kids and their families,” she said. “I have had pure joy when I pull up to my students' home and get to see them. Seeing their smiles, makes my day! More often than not, I was always greeted by the time I opened my door to grab my safely prepared 'special delivery' packages. Many of my visits have been with several family members coming outside to talk. In lots of visits, younger and older siblings have ventured out. At one of my families' homes, I was entertained by the kids jumping on the trampoline and doing tricks! At another house, I met the much-loved cats that I have heard so much about throughout the year. The kids are just excited to make those connections too!
My special delivery package was a balloon that said, ‘Pop me’ and I put a personal note inside. Then I had an envelope with a bitmoji of myself so that we could play a virtual game, ‘Where's Mrs.T?’ - similar to ‘Where's Waldo?’. I've been getting pictures of the kids hiding my bitmoji in different places; in one of the pictures, I was hidden inside a gigantic wood pile. It was a challenge to find myself! My plan is to make a virtual scavenger hunt book for the rest of the students to find me in the different pictures that kids took. Kids are missing each other, so this was another way we could connect!”
Of course, in putting together meetings with her students and their families, it was understood that the proper precautions had to be followed.
“Safety was a priority, which is why our visits were done outside and making sure that we remained far enough apart,” said Amber. “I blew up the balloons with an air pump, so that they could be safely popped. I had my hand sanitizer in my van so that I could sanitize my hands before and after setting out the packages, to make sure that my hands were clean for the kids. I set the packages out in my students' yards and then stepped away while they came out to get them with their families.”
When Thompson showed up to greet students and their families, it was a special feeling to get to see another familiar face during these trying times.
“Absolutely. I've wondered who enjoys it more...the students or me?” questioned Amber. “It has been very rewarding for me to connect with my students face-to-face...even if it's 6 feet away.”
At the time of our chat with Mrs. Thompson, she had visited all of her students with the exception of one, though that was set to happen shortly after our correspondence. She has enjoyed making these trips and having these visits; undoubtedly a special memory brimming with love and positivity at a time when such memories are in short supply for far too many others. Amber credits her incredible coworkers at Outlook Elementary School for their dedication and passion towards enriching the lives of young minds, even if it means they have to do it differently for the time being.
“I have managed to visit everyone so far, except one,” said Thompson. “The one student I haven't visited with yet is happening this week. I could have dropped it off, but the parents asked if I could come when they were home because they knew their child wouldn't want to miss seeing me and having a chance to say hi.
I have had the best adventures. I may have gotten lost a time or two, but it makes for a better story in the end. I've managed to find myself in the middle of a field and then told by the app that I would have to walk the rest of the way and in one other instance, was 30 miles off course due to Google maps leading me astray!! But we all had great laughs because of it!
I work with amazing teachers at OES. Everyone is dedicated to their professional and we are all deeply missing our students. All of the OES teachers have been reaching out to connect with their students in different ways. There are other teachers that are doing home visits as well, and have experienced similar joys that I have. The other teachers in our building are sending letters in the mail, doing online meetings, creating different family activities like talent shows, and creating music videos etc. The ways we are all connecting with students are so creative and every week we talk about how we can continue to make those connections.”
OES Principal Darla Thorstad commends her teaching staff for reaching out in such a unique and heart-grabbing way with their students. At the same time, she’s glad to see that safety has been a consistent priority since the COVID pandemic started to grab hold.
“I have been relieved that the government has been putting student safety first,” said Thorstad. “Student safety is always a priority for schools but once COVID-19 arrived, we were grateful that our students would be safe at home and that they would also have the opportunity to continue their learning. As a staff, we have been working hard to offer excellent learning opportunities to our students and we have been really happy with the number of families who have been completing and submitting work to their child's teacher. We are disappointed that we won't be 'back to normal' before the end of the year, but given the situation the world is in right now, that is what is safest for our students and staff.”
Darla feels that Outlook Elementary has managed to adjust quite well and quite efficiently to what many describe as “the new normal”. It’s interesting that it isn’t just the students who are discovering new ways to learn.
“As a staff, OES has adjusted quite quickly to work outside of the school and as a result we are seeing some amazing projects that teachers and Educational Assistants have worked on,” Thorstad explained. “This situation has pushed each staff member to take on new technology challenges which has resulted in each and every staff member currently utilizing tools that they would have not accessed prior to COVID-19. The growth in staff learning is quite remarkable when we reflect back to March.”
The key word in developing these new and unique ways to connect and provide a different form of education is collaboration, Darla explains.
“Our staff has always worked closely, collaborating on various projects, student learning, and student support but we have found that there have been even more opportunities for more collaboration in this situation,” she said. “We have all staff sharing their learning with each other, teachers are developing 'units' with their colleagues that are modified for 'at home' learning, staff is supporting each other if one hits a bit of a road block, brainstorming ways to reach more families, Educational Assistants have been jumping right in with connecting with students online with reading support or math support, helping teachers to gather resources for students, assisting with the learning package pick-ups, etc.”
Another tool that OES has embraced fully since the pandemic is social media, which has proven time and time again to be a powerful way to spread a message. The school has been posting a number of “Success Stories” (which will soon make their debut in The Outlook) and the feedback has been excellent, allowing for families to stay connected with staff and see what’s happening.
“We have several successes that have been shared on our OES Facebook page and also through the Sun West School Division Facebook page,” said Thorstad. “We have been really celebrating how learning at home looks different than it does when students are in school and that is okay. Teachers have been providing students with the opportunity to challenge themselves through things like a kick ball challenge, soap challenge, physical activity challenge, etc. As well, we have had several staff writing letters to their students or doing safe social distancing visits with students. Teachers and Educational Assistants have been working online with students with a focus on reading support and math support. The groups of students who were receiving additional supports are still receiving support, just in a different format.
I also feel that we have been fortunate to have excellent division supports as well. Overall, Sun West is doing a great job of supporting schools as we navigate this unprecedented time.”
Indeed, success seems to be the recurring theme at Outlook Elementary. Not even a pandemic can keep a good school down for long.
