Casually organizing (Day 28/31 #sol20)

I am under strict orders this week to do zero, Z-E-R-O, school planning during Spring Break.

I immensely appreciate this directive. Having this week to soak up our changing landscape on all levels, not just professionally, has been critical.

I have mostly been following the rules. Mostly. I really have! I have had more than my fair share of Spring Break-ing, social distancing style.

But my brain can’t help itself.

Earlier this week (maybe it was earlier last week? Maybe even the weekend before that? Who knows.), unsure of what my classroom’s future would hold, I began collecting links and samples from other teachers all over the world who have already been teaching via distance learning procedures. Hoarding these resources in a Facebook folder, coding emails through my inbox labels, and weeding through photos to collate screenshots that I’d snagged has been my organizational plan.

Up until today.

I realized today that this plan needed to evolve, so I casually created a Google Sheet to organize all of my randomly collected resources. Tabs for reading, writing, math, wellness, classroom community, teacher resources, and fun extras are helping my brain sort through my digital piles. Casually, mind you. I’m still on Spring Break.

Knowing me, I’ll probably change my organizational plan a few times before I’m happy with it, but I just HAD to start somewhere. New ideas keep flowing my way from inspiring and brave individuals, and my brain is leaking resources left and right.

I feel lighter, knowing that this casually organized step will already be created before I “go back to school” on Monday for our virtual teacher workday. Everything else coming my way on Monday will be so new and will need to be thoughtfully consumed, so I’m feeling grounded in the fact that I will come casually prepared with something that I’ve created. If others might benefit from my Sheet, then so much the better!

One casual step closer to a clear-as-mud view into what my job will look like from next week on. Stay tuned.