We asked, and you answered! In an effort to help our Eagle village succeed during remote learning, we asked you to reflect on a very important question: “What works for you?“. Thank you for participating and sharing so many tips and tricks below! Please email us at tceaglespta@gmail.com if you have any more ideas to add. This collaborative effort will continue to help our families feel connected and may end up providing a much needed tip that could make all the difference. #WeAreTCE

CMS Eats at Home: “Save time on food prep because pre-made meal bundles are now FREE for ALL students.” From the website: Meal bundles with five breakfasts and five lunches will be available for students. Meal bundles will be available for pick up at meal sites or delivered to students’ bus stops. Click HERE for all the details. “Your support of this program enables us to keep more employees working while we are in a period of all remote instruction.” — Earnest Winston

iPad Alarms: “Canvas has been okay to figure out, we like the daily schedule provided by our teacher with the times, zoom links, etc. all in one place. But we needed a way to keep track of when the various class times begin, so we set alarms on the school iPad for each one. We renamed each alarm so it reminds our child what Zoom link to look for in the Canvas schedule.”

Headphones: “We have multiple Eagles enrolled, so wireless headphones have been great at diminishing background noise and keeping our Eagle focused on their particular class. These are the ones we use (favorite color for each kid!) and they stay charged the entire day and connect easily to both the iPad and Chromebook bluetooth so far.”

Cleaning up the workspace at the end of the day: “It’s become part of our routine that my child cleans up his workspace at the end of every day. We talk about how he wouldn’t just walk away and leave a messy desk at school and the same is true for home learning. It helps him get organized at the end of every day and also prepares for the next day to make sure everything is put where it belongs, chromebook is charged, etc. I really believe this little step is helping him take ownership of his workspace and makes him look forward to sitting down at it again in the morning.”

Large Display Clock: “Our first grader needed a clock in her workspace to keep track of the day of the week, time, etc. when scrolling through her Canvas homeroom schedule. We like this large display clock because she never loses track of the day of the week or the time and have it sitting on her desk right in front of her. There are five alarms that we set for various Zoom reminders and it comes with a remote control, which she thinks is neat to turn off the alarm.”

Morning Walk: “Our family starts our day at 8am with a walk around the neighborhood. During the walk we talk about only things we are thankful for. No complaining allowed. It can be that we have new virtual friends and CANT wait to meet them face to face or even mask to mask. It gets the juices flowing and starts the day with positive vibes.”

Morning Music: “Get pumped up with some music before school!”

Door Hanger: “A dry erase door hanger has proven surprisingly helpful to keep my 3yo out of my 1st Grader’s room while “he’s at school” 🛑 Dollartree Find!”

Tech Tweaks: “Miss Mary and Mr. Mike have been wonderful incredibly agile these first few weeks and it’s making a difference. 1. Miss Mary uses 1 Zoom link for all our class meetings (except specials, of course). 2. When we’re on break, she sets and shares a countdown/timer with an alarm so we don’t have to do that individually, or wonder if we’re on time. 3. We found that when both small groups are in breakout rooms, it’s hard to add someone. Instead, now we have 1 breakout room and 1 main room session. That way, if someone is a minute or two behind, Miss Mary can let them in to the main room.
These tech process tweaks have been really helpful!”

Google Mini Alarms and Agenda: “My 2nd grader uses her google mini to set alarms for all her zooms; she knows when to set the alarms because she writes her daily schedule in her agenda (I still have to check it for accuracy). She loves and is thriving with the independence- it’s really building confidence! My kindergartener is struggling fiercely with all of it though so I’d welcome any bright ideas for the TCE Eaglets ❤️”

Designated Learning Space: “We have a designated learning space with “Flex” seating they are allowed a break when needed and they go run and play get the energy out and come back ready to learn sight words on post it notes on the wall help with spelling white boards and their individual white board like they would have in school for math. We have a treat jar for when the teachers give shout outs and when they complete the work and confetti pops up on the screen they can pick from a treat jar or save their treat for a bigger one. I kid you not when I tell you my ENTIRE loft has been turned into a classroom. Also I have a master planner with all of their specials individual zooms small group zooms and assignments for the day in it. If your not organized it’s so hard. Creativity is key.”

Closed door learning space, Reference Sheet and Timers: “For my 3rd and 8th graders, having a dedicated workspace in their rooms where the door can be closed. I have the posted daily schedule on the wall and one piece of paper with each user name and password listed for reference. I also have a timer set for when my youngest is to have small group zoom sessions.”

No video games: “My household tip is to not allow the husband to play video games while the kids are ‘schooling’. It prevents distraction and saves some of the bandwidth. 😳🤣”

A place for school and recess: “A dedicated school space outside their room (I read this was best). A place “to go to school”. And for my 5th grader- actually using the recess time for recess!”

iPad Alarms, Alexa, Agenda and Daily Family Check-ins: “Today my Kindergartener got on her zooms without any help. 😁 Setting alarms on the iPad helps sooo much! My 4th grader uses our Alexa to set reminders! He writes his to do’s in his agenda. We always check in at the end of the day as a family to see how everything went. Feeling like we are catching a groove!”

Screen Time: “Try to limit screens on the weekends with “Screen Free Saturday and/or Screen Free Sunday.”

Outside time: “Play outside at the end of the day, even for just a short while.”

Caretaker Attitude: “Be excited and positive, even during this stressful time. Kids pick up on parent energy!”

Visual Schedule: “Post a visual schedule, especially if you have more than one scholar. Helps keep the whole family organized!”

Communication: “Communicate with the teacher and read all the parent square information that goes out.”

Clothes: “Lay out clothes the night before because it’s easy to want to stay in pajamas or lounge wear. Dress for success!”

Sleep: “Go to bed on time and get a good night of sleep. Just like if the kids were going to school at the building. They’re still learning the same amount of material and need the same amount of sleep.”

Organization: “Keep school supplies, books and materials together.”

Food: “Eat breakfast and pack snacks/lunch the night before if possible. Routine is important!”