“Will we have snack all together?”
“Where will eat lunch?”
“There will still be recess, right?”
“We all get to be together all day?!”
“No more Zoom?!”
“So, remote days won’t be a thing anymore?!”
“Oh man, I’m going to be tired.”
“Will there be homework?”
“My parents want me to come to school double-masked, now.”
“Will we still have desks?”
“What about Book Groups?”
“How long is it going to take for all of us to wash our hands?”
“Do we still get to keep our Chromebooks?”
“Will we still have Google Classroom?”
“Our line is going to be realllly long with all of us an arm’s length away.”
“I’m going to miss my Cohort. We felt like a close group.”
“Does this mean we can have 5th Grade Graduation?!”
These are just some of the questions and statements that have been swirling around our classroom lately. We are going back full-time in-person in a few weeks. Some students have been very vocal about their thoughts, questions, worries, and excitement. There are other students who I can’t quite get a read on how they’re feeling about everything.
Like all responsive instruction, we use what we know about our students and data to inform. I need to get a sense of where all my students are. I’m in the process of creating a Google Form for them to fill out to help me. Afterwards, I’ll think about whole class lessons they’ll all benefit from, small groups, and conferring work to make this as smooth a transition as possible. In some ways, it feels like starting over. In some ways, it feels like what we’ve always done to give our students what they need.
Allie Writes 
I am hearing a lot from students right now too. It is a huge change for many of them and a mix of emotions. I love how you framed this as formative assessment. We need to connect soon – I’m looking forward to hearing how things are going!
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