Among the many benefits of reading, escape is a leading player. In many classrooms, students’ time with books is given the appropriate title, “DEAR” time: Drop Everything And Read. When we do this, we open a door to be transported into a new world, a new perspective, a new land. In times of trouble like we are in now, many people turn to entertainment to keep them sane. We escape into movies and television shows, games and electronics. But there is something especially magical and personal about reading.

Whether your child is bored or stressed, reading is a beautiful cure. While school instruction continues to be delivered via distance learning, students may get several opportunities to better shape their reading lives. Because they are home, teachers have a harder time gauging their actual reading and supporting their reading habits. That’s where you come in!

While at home, a student’s reading life can be fostered, and parents’, too! Consider opening up a new realm in your living room and diving into a new adventure. There are several ways to bring reading into your new quarantined reality, and though reading is often a solo act, there are many ways to make it a bonding opportunity!

 

Start by investigating your reading personalities!

Although we may read the same books, everyone reads a little differently. Reading preferences and habits differ from person to person. It can help scaffold a students’ reading habits by investigating what kind of reading personality they have. Try taking some short quizzes that provide some insight on this topic. This clever quiz can give students a description of what type of reader they may be. Have some fun navigating this infographic to put a name to your reading style (I’m a compulsive hoarder, myself). 

For older students, see how many “Great American Reads” you’ve both completed using this PBS quiz. For younger students, check out this list of 100 best children’s books to see what you’ve read and which you’d like to add to your reading bucket list! Which did you love? Hate? Misunderstand? Abandon? Reread? Share these opinions! It can be an incredible moment of bonding when parents and children share similar favorite titles, but it can be equally exciting when your opinions differ. This opens up the conversation to talk about your own reading styles and preferences! 

Once you’ve got a handle of your student’s reading style, start to put together a book wishlist. It can be challenging to stare at a list or shelf of books and come up with a title that is just right. Luckily, the internet has some awesome solutions! For younger readers (infants to tweens), try BookTrust’s Bookfinder! This tool selects recommendations based on age and preferred topics and genres.  GoodReads offers excellent recommendations based on books that were enjoyed in the past, favorite genres, and authors. Create a free account and try out GoodRead recommendations for all readers! For a quick search, try out “What Should I Read Next” to curate an extensive list of books based on your favorites!

Consider choosing a book you’d both enjoy and share the experience reading it together!

 

Next, explore your options for ebooks, audiobooks, and book delivery during social distancing!

Sadly, libraries have had to close their doors during this time. As much as we readers enjoy scanning the shelves and picking up books to preview, it is simply not a luxury we have during this pandemic. Fortunately, there are other options to acquire books safely. Your first stop can be your local library’s website to browse their digital collections. Many libraries offer online ebook and audiobook rentals free with a library card. Your child’s school library likely offers similar options.

If you are looking at an older book that may now be in the public domain (and is therefore typically free), check out this list of 25 sources for free public domain ebooks. If you are interested in audiobooks in the public domain, Librivox is an excellent option. 

For other ebooks outside of public domain, take a look at TCK Publishing’s list of the 10 best ebook apps. 

If you’d really like to get your hands on a physical book, ThriftBooks is one of many book vendors offering delivery during this time. Thriftbooks has a comforting message about the extra precautions being taken to ensure safe products and delivery available on their homepage.

 

Start reading together!

Perhaps Strickland Gillilan said it best in his poem “The Reading Mother” when he wrote “You may have tangible wealth untold; / Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold. / Richer than I you can never be — ; I had a Mother who read to me.” 

Reading aloud, parent and child, is an irreplaceable experience. It makes the book have that much more resonance and your common language that much greater. Understandably, we do not all have that time in our schedule. If this is the case, try setting aside just 20 minutes in the morning or at night to settle down and share a few pages. Otherwise, set up a reading partnership and allow yourselves to read the same book independently, conversing throughout the day.

Now is a great time to share your favorite novels with your children and to relive them yourself! If your child is currently reading a book for school, consider reading along with them so you can share a common experience. 

Having a hard time convincing your child to buy in? Try getting them interested by selecting a book that has been adapted into a movie or series! IMDB has curated a lengthy list of books with movie adaptations (movies included for children, teens, and adults). Set up a reading schedule and arrange a movie night to see how writers and directors interpreted the same story in unique ways! Or, grab a book whose movie adaptation you’ve already seen and do this in reverse.

 

You may also want to set your student up with a book club.

There are many opportunities to create your own book club whether it be within the family or with your child’s peers. Now is a great time to build a reading community in order to bolster those (safe) social connections we are lacking during social distancing. Brightly, a Penguin Random House company, has many resources on selecting and supporting a book club environment for your student. Scholastic also offers some tips and tricks on creating a family book club as well as additional resources to engage your child in book club activities. The School Library Journal just recently published a great read on running a virtual book club with your middle schoolers, but this can be adapted for many learning levels.

The goal is to establish a community of readers so that reading is not just a solo act. Talking about a book with others can help boost critical thinking skills, build empathy, and improve social skills. With a common topic, children and teens can engage in meaningful conversations and exciting debates while reinforcing the power of reading with each other!

 

Overall, aim to establish new or better reading habits.

It is important to lead by example. Asking children to read before bed is one thing, but sitting down and reading a book at the same time, whether out loud or independently, can speak volumes for your learner. Maybe setting aside a time to turn off devices and read in a common space works for your schedules now, when it may not have before. Maybe reading more habitually is something you can foster in your child now by checking in on their reading or sharing a common reading experience.

Think about setting reading goals with your child. This can be done in many ways. One way is to figure out their reading pace. Have your child read for 10 minutes, then record the number of pages they read. Convert this number into a 30 minute reading pace by multiplying by three, or an hour reading pace by multiplying by 60. Having an idea of how many pages, on average, can be read in those time spans allows students to set reasonable goals for page numbers. They can then decide on a date to finish their book in order to keep up with others reading it. 

You may also consider creating a “reading nook” in your house. It does not need to be elaborate by any means. Simply set aside a corner or a chair where your child feels comfortable and not distracted. This can be a nice repreive from the areas where they complete their schoolwork or use their devices.

 

Finally, celebrate reading accomplishments!

Even if it is one small step – choosing a book that is interesting, reading for 20 minutes straight, finishing a book for the first time in a while – be sure to celebrate these accomplishments. In the end, we want to raise readers in order to expose children to different perspectives, lives, and situations. We want to support thinkers and problem-solvers and set them up for a successful future. 

Reading can open so many doors, and we now have the time to help our learners prop them open!

Read on!

 

There is no denying that teaching has been a major topic of discussion ever since schools have closed their doors at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers have been called to adapt their pedagogy and curriculum in as few as a couple days in order to design a program fit for distance learning. Teaching distance learning – or “quaranteaching,” if you will – has had mixed reactions from staff, students, and families. Parents and guardians are now tasked with overseeing their child’s schoolwork on top of holding down their own jobs and duties as parents. Teachers are constantly creatively problem solving, trying to make this new reality as user friendly as possible, while maintaining a relationship with their students. Students must acclimate to new technology, new expectations, and new forms of academic communication. We have all been thrust into a limbo-like world where we must adjust to a new way of teaching, learning, and living. 

There are the moments when families feel frustrated with the at-home schooling situation and wonder – sometimes to themselves, sometimes on social media – what is it that teachers are doing if parents and guardians are the ones keeping their children on a school schedule? Believe me, we wish we could explain, but we’re a little busy over here.

What follows is one perspective on a distance learning teacher’s typical day in their home office. This by no means accounts for the extra obligations many teachers face who are taking care of their own children, taking their own online classes for higher degrees or certifications, or caring for family who may be sick or elderly. This is one glimpse, one window into a day of a “quaranteacher” delivering lessons digitally. 

 

Morning Kickoff

So, this commute isn’t all that bad. A typical stop on the way to work includes one at the coffee maker, maybe taking an extra minute or so to appreciate the still-hot coffee, one at the dresser to change into your day-time pajamas, and one in the bathroom to freshen up and see if your face is video-conference-ready. 

Before students are likely to be up and working, we teachers prepare our material, writing, rewriting, and rereading directions a half dozen times to ensure that instructions are clear. Assignments are described and posted on the preferred school platform, due dates are assigned, material is uploaded, point values are checked and double checked, a daily announcement is crafted and sent out to students, and a friendly meme is posted for good measure. 

After the knuckles are cracked, we open our inbox and sift through the dozen or so emails that seemed to have all flooded in overnight. Google Classroom updates are checked, concerned parents and students are responded to, daily and weekly meetings are RSVP’d, and bosses receive our replies. 

We stare at our momentarily empty email, relishing that one, pure moment of being caught up.

Then the first email comes in.

 

Mid-Morning Rush

“What is this essay about again?” 

“Where is this assignment posted?” 

“I didn’t read directions; is that score permanent?” 

“My computer crashed.” 

“What are we supposed to be doing?” 

“I just don’t get it.”

We breathe. We smile. We remind ourselves that this is an adjustment for all. We respond with carefully placed smiley faces, a line to check in on their well-being, an encouragement, an answer. 

In the case of mass confusion, we quickly put together a screencast lesson, pointing out exactly what students should be doing today. If we’re lucky and can find a quiet space in the house, (and if our district allows), we send out a link to students who are struggling and meet with them virtually to ease their stress and anxiety. We clean the lenses of our blue light glasses and smile when a familiar face pops up on the screen. Our students show up on the other side of the digital world and talk us through their confusion. We share our screens and guide them through some difficult concepts. Many times, we also get introduced to their furry friends and our own hairy coworkers make a quick cameo if they are snoozing nearby. 

These are the moments that make us smile. These are the things that we miss. For a moment, things may even seem normal; then our student signs off.

 

Afternoon Marathon

Confession: I giggled the other day when I received an email advising we make sure we’re taking our “proper lunch and prep periods.” I giggled as I ate my hundredth peanut butter pretzel, dipped in Nutella, dipped in anxiety. Then I moved on.

Afternoons are often blocked off for meetings and grading. For some reason, I find I am grading more than ever before. A recent strategy I’ve employed for myself is grading five assignments, then taking a moment to breathe or watch a short video or, let’s be honest, pour another cup of coffee. Repeat.

Grading comes with a new wave of emails to be responded to and followed up on.

Then, the meetings. After shushing the spouse or roommate or child, we find a corner that seems somewhat decent to be filmed and log onto our meeting with our colleagues. Here are more faces that make us smile in our day! We joke about what we would have been doing in our school buildings, how long it has been since we put on real pants, and what totally irrational worries we’ve had while working with minimal social interaction. Then, we get to work. We share our concerns over students who have been outwardly or quietly struggling and work together to come up with new plans to help. We brainstorm ideas on how to build community and make our students feel cared for and important. When we sign off, we give wistful waves and try and find a way to say “see you soon” and mean it.

 

Mid-Afternoon Panic

Things start to settle in: that meeting earlier this week that relayed a change in the state’s teacher expectations hangs over you like a storm cloud. That one student who hasn’t turned in work all quarter is tattooed on your brain. That email that you wrote and rewrote and revised over and over again before finally sending echoes in the recesses of your head. Was it misread? Misinterpreted? Was I too assertive? Your day-to-day unit plan starts to fall to pieces as you see those gaps in understanding and wish to scrap the rest of the unit and start over. 

In some sort of strange, possibly telepathic, possibly spiritual connection with the internet, all of your windows are malfunctioning: Google Classroom is on the fritz, BrainPop has gone off the grid, your school platform has slowed to a crawl, and your email will not reload. 

Your screen manifests the frenetic state of your brain and mirrors it back to you.

So you take a moment to reset. Refill that coffee. Walk outside for a moment of rejuvenating fresh air. Count the few cars that pass by, and don’t allow yourself to return to your work until you have counted 15. 

12…13…14……..15.

Then, back on the horse.

 

The Afternoon Wrap Up

With emails sent, grades submitted, feedback delivered, and meetings adjourned, the afternoon demands a reflection. What went well? What didn’t? What plans need to be changed based on how students are performing? Where do instructions need to be more explicit, and what can be done to differentiate across the cyber-sphere? 

We revise plans and check in on our kiddos. We hope that what we have done today was worthwhile. We imagine what might have been in other circumstances, and try not to list the objectives that are simply not feasible at this time. Our posts are prepped, our gradebooks updated, and our reminders are scheduled to send out in the morning. 

At last, we close our laptops, determined to try and turn our teacher brains off for the night.

Then an email notification lights up our phones: “Can you please help me?” 

 

And we open our laptops again.

Our daily teaching practices have changed. We are now faced with the more tedious of duties – grading, emailing, record-keeping, digitalizing material – with a significant lack of face time with our students. The conversations and sparks that took place in our classrooms, the very ones that made us fall in love with this crazy profession, have been muted, and we bemoan this loss as we get out of bed each morning and close our computers each night. 

No, we are not caring any less for our students than we did before we were tossed into this unthinkable situation. In fact, they’re always on our minds. There is a palpable void in our lives without our learners. Teaching is, at its core, a synergetic act; we give what we can to our students, but they, in return, give us more than they realize. They give us energy – and exhaustion – and purpose. We miss them. We love our pajamas, but we’d much rather shimmy into our work pants and see our students than miss them the way we do now. 

Rest assured, we are working hard to make this manageable. We are working hard as we bide our time until we can return to our classroom and high five our students in the hallways. We are here, and we are forging on.