When the Zoom platform suddenly became the new classroom, Preschool 4 immediately moved in and settled into our new school life. Grownups and children set up little office spaces at home and peered into their screens. Teachers discovered the value of the mute button so everyone could hear each other. As hard as it was to wait, the students learned right away that their voice would be heard only when they were unmuted. Together, our class community experienced many Zoom learning moments, and teachers, parents, and children sometimes had to suggest tech tips to each other. One child advised his teacher to swipe left to regain a view of her screen while another child reminded his friend to turn the screen direction to improve the camera angle. One mom, who uses Zoom often for her work, helped us to resolve a tech glitch in the middle of a lesson. Patience continued to reign throughout the Preschool 4 world as parents, children, and teachers figured out how to navigate features such as screen-shares and virtual whiteboards.
We should not be surprised but Zoom has its benefits. Our classes usually have only six children, which means each child is regularly called on to actively participate. The mute button provides the children with some freedom from the quiet necessary to hear each other in the classroom. In fact, children can move around quite a bit while still using their eyes and ears to listen and contribute. This is quite helpful for 4- and 5-year-old children. Moreover, the children are not as distracted by their natural social impulse to interact with their friends as they are in the classroom. For some children this is a game-changer since they are more easily able to focus on the lesson.
With all the changes swirling around, one aspect of our education world remained paramount- ENGAGEMENT. On Zoom, engagement is the only way to keep the children looking, listening, and learning. At first, the novelty of our new adventure was fun, but when spirits flagged, the Preschool 4 Comedy Giggles Club came to the rescue during our closing meetings. Here are examples of the comedy that brought us smiles and laughter:
Where do cows go on Saturday night? – To the moo-vies!
Why was 6 afraid of 7? – Because 7, 8, 9
What does a train say when he eats? – Chew chew!
Riddles, silly stories, tongue twisters and jokes are not the only way to keep children’s eyes on the screen. Playing is an integral part of children’s learning, so teachers found ways to incorporate games into lessons. Parents regularly checked emails for game boards and playing cards to print, craft templates to cut, and dice to make. Teachers simultaneously used the screenshare feature and checked their audience for raised hands, which opened the door to a large variety of interactive screen practice games that keep the children engaged and in front of their screens. Participation is key in learning. It is important to give students a voice and a choice. Engagement flourishes when the children can actively participate emotionally, physically and verbally.
We intentionally strive to provide hands-on learning through our new platform. The day begins with a Morning Meeting and a Message which always includes a question asked by a child, which all their friends answer. A sample of these include:
What is your favorite color?
What is your favorite sport?
What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
Their daily schedule includes a literacy lesson with Ms. Karen, a math lesson with Mrs. Muus, and a music & movement session with Ms. Erica. In our literacy classes, the children regularly contribute their own word suggestions to the weekly lesson. After listening to a book read aloud, they raise their hands to contribute individual questions, comments and predictions. Some of their literacy learning includes the Sounds-in-Motion movements, letter related yoga poses, letter crafts, clapping out syllables, identifying consonants and vowels, rhyming word families, and phonics treasure hunts.
During math class, the children play math games using dice, number cubes, tallies, and ten frames to practice counting and adding. They are encouraged to use a variety of tools such as cheerios, coins, and the always-available fingers & toes. Essential skills such as “automaticity” and “subitizing” are developed through a wide array of games that include bright colors with bells & whistles which make it fun to answer the math problem. Concepts such as counting backwards, counting on, subtraction, sharing, and dividing are illustrated with finger puppets and “popsicle people” (the kids’ faces taped onto craft sticks.) To help ‘cement’ their learning, Ms. Erica leads the children through musical movement and dancing activities that reinforce phonics and arithmetic skills with exercise. In addition, Lisa Dove, the lower school music teacher, also regularly visits our class several times a week to lead us in songs related to our lessons. Music and movement are vital to academic learning and also keep the children involved and close to the screen. With or without Zoom, we always remain mindful that the key to learning is engagement.
Engagement on Zoom necessitates that we remove technology barriers, give the children a voice and choice, engage them first then make a connection to our lesson’s content, offer ample opportunities for hands-on learning, and provide both students and their parents with authentic timely feedback on and off screen. The last-mentioned means that, at times, teachers ask that parents do their best to email us copies of their child’s work, and teachers make every effort to respond quickly with suggestions and encouragement. The completed work that is sent back by their parents gives us all a shared, realistic impression of each child’s efforts, which is what really counts in preschool. In many ways, our bonds with the children and their parents have strengthened with the recent seismic shifts, and as teachers, we feel more connected to each child and their families because of our shared Zoom adventure. As always, we love working with our students and are ever thankful for the willingness of their parents to support our work.