Teaching during a global pandemic was a challenging experience that pushed me to adapt and change in ways that I did not know were possible. I had to learn how to provide both beneficial synchronous and asynchronous experience learning to my students. I was teaching Kindergarten during this time. I was fortunate enough to build strong connections with my students and parents even though we were online (spending time in whole group, small group, and individual Zoom calls). From March to May, and then August to November, my students were learning from home. My day was divided into periods. I would see all my students for a Morning Meeting (whole group), followed by small, flexible groups for ELA and Math. Our afternoon ended with whole group Science, Art, or Social Studies. The late afternoon was dedicated to individual Zoom meetings with students as well as small groups (for extra support). When my students were not learning with me directly, they were working on asynchronous work. Students were given Choice Boards for all subjects ( ELA, Math, Social Studies, Religion, and Social Studies) to pick assignments to complete during asynchronous time. These choice boards were posted in Google Classroom.

In November 2020, we were able to return to in-person learning. This was still much different than a normal classroom setting as students had to not only remain physically distanced, but also wear masks throughout the entire day. Additionally, I had a handful of families chose to continue distance learning during this time. These students would Zoom in for some live instruction during the day, and then they would be working asynchronously for the other parts of the day. I would also meet with my at home learners to provide them with the support that they needed.