Distance learning back to school 2020 – online virtual resources at your fingertips
Distance learning Back to School 2020….may be a possibility for you at least for some amount of time. If you are looking for back to school 2020 ideas and back to school 2020 lesson plans so you can wrap your head around what might be coming or how to prepare this is your GO – TO post!
Bookmark for all your distance learning Back to School Needs!
If you need some home office teaching essentials make sure you check out this post. Comfort and necessity are great to have set up ahead of a virtual back to school situation.
What does distance learning back to school 2020 look like?
Every school is different full in person, hybrid (almost will be with parents not choosing to send students back!) or virtual/online distance learning for back to school this year….whatever camp you are in – take these ideas and use what works for you!
I’ll lay out a basic structure that could work and PLENTY of beginning of the school year ideas that can be done in person or distance learning to help you plan for back to school 2020.
It’s great to pick ideas that can work in print and digital form to accommodate all learners and families if possible.
INTRODUCTIONS: I love iPad Intro (Google Slides) as it is so fun for students, but does take a little to create. I break up introductions so we have more time for each student + the first day is a lot about logging in!
Routines and Procedures and Building Community are also important parts of Back to School that can and need to be done virtually as well.
Special 2020 Back to School Ideas
We all know normal back to school lessons won’t work for b2s 2020….the last year ended dramatically and normalcy is unlikely for a number of schools!
This Distance Learning Engagement calendar is PACKED with ideas – great for all year but always good to have up your sleeve planning content!
Let’s dive in the BIG list of 2020 Back to School Lesson plans (aka Distance Learning Back to School Ideas!)
1. A Fun Introduction Activity!
I love this iPad intro because Google Slides makes it easy to fill out and share with “the class.” If you are in session they are easy to print and display!
- Don’t forget to introduce students to you as well. Do a Classroom Tour video for students (either your home office or classroom if coming back in is predicted so students get acclimated.)
This Emoji Bubble Pop Intro Activity is perfect for Back to School 2020 in person or distance learning! The teacher pops the bubbles for a FUN get to know you activity for any grade or content area! Great for a Smartboard or to do sharing screens with students!
Would You Rather….but get students up and moving for back to school 2020. Distance Learning needs MOVEMENT with constant sit and screen time. Use these slides and incorporate movement but ones you can see as a teacher to easily learn more about students.
*BONUS* transform this into an EASY writing activity for elementary by asking them to defend their choice!
A Scavenger Hunt may be a good fit for your students!
Break up this virtual scavenger hunt in multiple days…..
Do one a day to start class…..
Get movement and student relationships all in one!
Can use ANY time of year not just for back to school!
Of course Edit to meet your students as well!
These K-6 Distance Learning Frames are awesome for your class!
Insert picture, edit prompts and instant momento from your first day or week.
Grab yours FREE here perfect for Back to School!
2. Classroom Community from the Start!
Send postcards to students ahead of time is a great way to start building relationships with students and families that extends beyond the classroom – even more important with back to school 2020!
You can grab a FREE Editable Postcard for you to use – here!
- Send students an accessory (sunglasses…friendship bracelets….temporary tattoos…) or dress the same color/theme to build togetherness!
- a Virtual Would You Rather Game (FREE) is fun to start and easy to customize for any grade!
- Positive Notes are another FANTASTIC way to communicate with students ( and families!). Adding bitmojis and fun encouragement and praise is great for students but especially in working with a new class at the beginning of school.
- Dance party (a Friday staple in my normal classroom – was great to add in virtually) Teacher plays music and mutes all students and dance together.
- Supporting students and families with encouraging yard/window signs is another great way to build community!
- Start a class cheer to end all meetings together – “Go Team _____”, “_______ Pride,” “___________ Rock.” Something you come up with together!
- I love this idea for doing origami together!
- Design a virtual classroom background together. Work together to decide what should be needed for successful online learning. Students can use the classroom backdrop for their meetings!
3. Build in **updated* Classroom rules and procedures for back to school 2020!
Starting the year looks different. Student expectations have to be started day 1 – with a new teacher what is expected for each day/week so students can begin to see how their week is structured.
If you are in person or transitioning back and forth covid read alouds maybe helpful for social distancing measures used in school or with younger students.
This list of coronavirus read alouds is a great place to start.
So much of school is routine and structure and it is likely to look different make sure you address it day 1 but have plenty of flexibility in working with families!
Here are some key points to incorporate into your 2020 Back to School Distance Learning or online back to school lesson plans:
- How to login/troubleshoot virtual meetings (might send out or create information ahead of time)
- How and WHEN to reach you! (set realistic “office hours” and times you are available)
- What does a typical week look like – preview information together and what is expected (great to include in a Meet the Teacher night as well!)
- Online Digital Etiquette (example below + practice)- how to you the chosen platform appropriately and what is expected when coming to class
- What digital works looks like (sample assignment and how to turn it in). What programs should students be familiar with? How do they ask for help?
- Include how grades factor in – if required assignments need to be turned in! (yes it’s an ugly topic but important for families to know!)
If you’ve made it all the way to the end here and are thinking – Yep those are things I need to do – definitely check out this Back to School Bundle – it’s the perfect mix of technology distance learning activities and in person (although the technology ones can be done in school!) that will have you prepared for whatever next year may hold!
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great presentation of materiial.. thank you.
Virtual learning takes a lot of time to get creative….thanks for all your hard work….and for sharing. Will definitely use the postcard and other suggestions.
Happy to help even one teacher during these times (and every year!). Ready to use ideas are THE BEST to take and use!
Distant learning takes a lot of focus, preparing and listening all around. Thank you for the resources shared. Looking to improve upon the quick thrown into experience from March 2020.
Lots of good ideas and resources
Great material . Thank you!
Thank you for helping teachers find so much in one place. I love the origami idea for our class-community building.
I like the active participation in the Would You Rather. So much computer time can leave the kids restless.
I love the idea of sending out postcards before school starts. My district is releasing class lists next week, so this idea is perfect to reach out to families!
Albertine – how timely! Hope your students love their back to school postcards!
Love the information and materials. The content is great as well.
Gosh I hope I won’t have to use these ideas!
I am going to save some of these I love them
Awesome material! Hope everyone has a positive school year.
I like the idea of sending postcards to make a connection to students and families before the school year starts!
Rituals and routines are such an important part of a school day for me but I hadn’t thought about having them in distance learning. Thanks for the idea!
Building community is so important to student learning. thank you!
I liked your key points summary. I like that you gave detailed information on what to include in your lesson plans and also gave example plans.
Love the idea of breaking up introductions into multiple days!
Thanks for the great resources and material! I feel they will come in handy this year!
Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. I got lots of good ideas! I especially like your suggestion of taking one goal and breaking it down into smaller chunks. My little first graders short attention span was always a huge concern, and this suggestion is perfect for that!
Julie – yes first grade definitely attention span would modify to what is needed. Glad to give a place to start for back to school distance learning!
Love the IPad and Emojoi activities.
In the past I’ve sent post cards, and in the spring we did Would You Rather. I like the picture board of Zoom expectations. I think screen sharing that at the beginning of each meeting would be helpful to start the year.
Love the emoji bubble pop intros! So cute!
Thanks for the great ideas! I have looked into ordering personalized yard signs to use for student encouragement throughout the year. My school is starting out all online, so got some good ideas from this post! Thanks!
Cristi – so glad you got some distance learning ideas! Good luck on your school year!
This all looks spectacular. Thank you for sharing!
I love the teacher dance party–we do that very often in class. I also like the bubble pop activity to learn about the kids.
Laura – dance parties are like a prerequisite for even distance learning (maybe even more so!) do you have a favorite song or playlist?
This covers so many topics that are going to be critical when we start “school”. Thanks so much!
I love all the awesome ideas you give. I will definitely be incorporating the class cheer – maybe at the end of the day/last zoom meeting. I also love your lesson plan focus with 1 community, 1 procedure, and 1 introduction topic a day. It narrows it down to the most important things.
That’s what I tried to do. Planning can be so OVERWHELMING but keeping it simple is easier for students (and maybe more so parents too!!)
Awesome information!!! Thank you for sharing
I love the intro ipad activity! I’m currently brainstorming ideas to adapt this to my chromebooks for students. Thank you for the suggestion!!
*Entering the giveaway* 🙂
Julia – it is a Google Slides activity if that helps. I guess I named it that since it has iPad clipart??? If you’re a google school you are good to go. It is such a favorite and fun to use!
Great ideas. Thx
Great ideas for my home classroom. I’ve already ordered the glasses 🙂
I LOVE the way emoji bubble pop activity. What a great way to engage students virtually AND face to face. So versatile to work with all grades😀. Thank you for sharing.
Great ideas, I took lots of notes!!
Class cheer – great idea!
Class cheer – what a great idea!
Great ideas! Very helpful!! Thank you!!!!
I like the iPad idea and a simple tour of the class will get them excited for whenever they return.
Definitely bookmarking this post to come back to later! Thanks for all the great tips!
Great ideas! Thank you for sharing. !
I love all of these Back to School ideas for distance learning. I look forward to incorporating some of them into my first few days. Thank you!
Your back to school ideas are very helpful and creative! Thank you for sharing them.
These ideas are great! Thanks for sharing them.
Great ideas! Thank you for these. I look forward to applying them to my classroom.
Great info! Thank you for sharing so many back to school ideas. I know several will work awesome with my kindergarten class!
Omg these are a lifesaver! I feel so much better about going back to school now. I love actually SEEING what people are putting together (rather than just them telling me about it). THANK YOU!
Definitely keeping this tab open as I plan our Back to School in a few weeks! Planning for it has been overwhelming, but getting great tips like these have been helpful! Thanks a lot!
I love the idea of sending postcards to the students, especially this year since I don’t get to meet them at Meet the Teacher night. It is a good introduction.
Thank you for the great ideas!
Thank you for another great post. We will be doing remote learning for the first 6 weeks, so I will definitely be using some of these back to school ideas.
What wonderful ideas!!! I will definitely use a few.
I love the iPad Intro activity. My school is 1:1 iPad so this will be a fun activity to do.
Great post! Awesome and easy to implement ideas.
Thank you,
Kim H.
Thank you for all the great ideas!
With all of the unknowns of the upcoming school year, it is nice to have good resources to help us. Thanks for the great ideas!
These are great ideas! I’m starting to plan this week…I have some ideas to get started! Thank you!
I love these ideas! Planning for distance learning is going to be a challenge, so this is definitely helpful. Trying to find all the great resources from your blogs (first year teacher). Thank you so much for the ideas!
Such great ideas! Thank you!
These are great thank you.
Love the idea of sending post cards! What a fun way to get kids excited about the year!
Thanks for these fantastic ideas. I really like that bubble pop activity!
Great ideas for distance learning! Thank you for helping us make the transitions easier in times of uncertainty.
great ideas
So many amazing ideas!! Thank you!
I think these ideas are great ways to motivated the students and families. We are starting in-person school, but a month later than our original start date. This will give me enough time to incorporate these wonderful ideas into my planning for the first few weeks back to school.
Thanks for the great ideas. I have begun getting the postcards ready for my students!
Thanks for the great back-to-school ideas! I like the postcard idea. The Would You Rather activity looks like fun, too!
Thank you for compiling so many great ideas to help get us started in this “new normal” way of teaching.
YOul have some awesome resources
Thanks for the great ideas! My students love the Would you Rather activity.