I can officially say this 2020-2021 school year is the longest school year I’ve ever experienced. Switching between hybrid learning, virtual learning, and in-person plus virtual learning was A LOT. It feels SO good to know I survived this year, with minimal tears shed. Ugh.
This week, I’ve been working on cleaning/packing my classroom, as well as planning for the beginning of next year. I can’t help but think about the resources that helped me (and my students) get through this year. I have no idea what next school year will hold. Regardless, I still want to incorporate some of my favorite resources that I used this year.
I decided to compile a list of my 10 most favorite resources that I used this school year. These items/resources helped make hybrid and virtual teaching a little easier. This list is in no special order. Some items are linked to my Amazon storefront and to my TPT shop. I did this incase you also want to check them out!
#1 Blue Light Blocking Glasses
I’m not going to lie, at first I though they were just a gimmick. I didn’t see how they would help me. I decided to try a cheap pair I found on Amazon. To be honest, they gave me a headache. Then, I received an e-mail about a Quay Australia eyewear sale. I own sunglasses from this company. I thought maybe if I tried a little nicer/more expensive brand, they would help. Luckily for me, this was true! The sale was buy on get one free. I picked up the Hardwire glasses in Tortoise. I wear these every time I work on my computer/iPad. My eyes feel far less tired, and I’ve had fewer headaches.
#2 Mini Anchor Charts and Reference Rings
These are something I have always used in my classroom, prior to virtual/hybrid teaching. My reference rings have always been available for my students to use in the classroom. They proved extra helped needed when writing or using a calculator. These rings were perfect for me to use during Google Meets with my virtual students. Recently, I decided to make my mini anchor charts digital. Students who were in my physical classroom had access to their own mini chart sets, while students who were joining my Google Meets had access to my digital mini chart sets in my Google Classroom. These were a huge help for both me and my students.
#3 Google Classroom Monitoring Binder
I have actually been using this resource for nearly three years now. It started out as my cyber school monitoring binder, but in March of 2020 I changed its name. As a special education teacher required to monitor my students in their other classes on Google Classroom, I felt INCREDIBLY overwhelmed. Having this binder, and the forms included inside, allowed me to stay organized and able to easily keep track of my caseload students in their other classes. I takes me a little bit of time to set up at the beginning of the school year, but it’s definitely worth it. This has also been handy for all of the Google Classes I’m a co-teacher in.
#4. My iPad
Now, don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a necessity for surviving in a classroom while teaching on a hybrid/virtual schedule (I more than realize how expensive they are), but I am SO thankful I have one because of all that I was able to do on it.
My iPad has been a tremendous help in planning for lessons and IEP meetings digitally. I no longer had to lug around my massive binders filled with student work and information. Over this past year I’ve created interactive PDFs to help me with IEP meeting preparation and progress monitoring. I was able to upload these interactive PDFs onto my iPad as “digital binders.” I no longer had to worry about papers being left in my classroom or left at my house, depending on what schedule we were running that week. I was also able to upload other PDFs I used for tracking, to my iPad. Every PDF I uploaded I opened in the GoodNotes app. I did not miss having huge binders to carry and then find a place to store, at all.
#5 IEP Input Google Forms
I believe I originally created these Google Forms in 2016. NEVER did I realize just how GRATEFUL I would be for having these input forms, especially over this past year. No matter what teaching schedule we were on, I was still always able to easily collect IEP input from students, teachers, parents, and any other service providers. I actually did an entire blog post where I explained how I used my IEP Input Google Forms.
#6 Cell Phone Holder for Recording Myself
This year, I recorded A LOT of lessons, instructions, me reading novels, etc. Having a phone holder, that I could easily manipulate and adjust, made it so much easier. I used to hold my phone with one hand and write/point with the other hand. This worked fine. However, this gooseneck phone holder made it easy to position my phone on whatever I wanted my students to be able to see, while keeping both my hands free. It was easy to attach to my desk, a students desk, my coffee table… where ever I needed it to “teach” from.
#7. BOOM Cards™
I’m not sure if I know how to fully explain my love for BOOM Cards™. I had originally started out using the Free version. I loved how easy it was for me to assign my students activities in Google Classroom, whether I was teaching virtually from my living room or in my physical classroom.
Then, a few months ago, I decided to go all in and sign up for the Ultimate Subscription. I did this because I wanted to add more of my Google Classrooms to my profile, I wanted the Live Monitoring option, and I wanted to upload task cards we normally complete in class as my own BOOM Cards™. Never did I think I’d be alright with paying a little money for a website to live monitor and check student work, but here we are. I love everything about this site – especially that my in-person and virtual students could both complete the same task card sets I assigned.
#8. Class Slides
I was never so overwhelmed, as I was at the beginning of this school year. At the beginning of the school year, I had a group of students coming into my classroom on Mondays and Tuesdays and a different group of students coming into my classroom on Thursdays and Fridays. Then, on top of that, I had students who were full virtual. I desperately needed the first few minutes of each class period to regroup, take attendance, and to get my Google Meet ready fo synchronous learning.
I created Google Slide – Class Slides so that the students could come into my classroom and begin working. While they completed the work for them on the class slide, I had time to get situated before instruction began. My class slides were easy for me to edit each day. They are also easy for my students to look at and be able to understand when needed to be completed. I love using my class slides so much I did a complete blog post on how I use them.
#9. Calendar Quick Writes – Monthly Writing Prompts
This probably seems like a strange “resource” to be thankful for. However, it’s quite possibly my favorite.
This past year (year and a half, really) was hard on us all. Some of my ELA students I either didn’t see at all, I saw two days a week, or I saw four days a week. Regardless of how often I saw or didn’t see them, they always had a daily writing prompt from me. These prompts allowed the students to write about themselves. Each prompt promotes positive thinking. It was great to learn about my students I never had a chance to see. It was also great to hear how all of my students were doing/feeling.
I originally created these quick writes two years ago, as an interactive writing calendar. Then, last year, I turned them all into interactive Google Slides. I assign a calendar at the beginning of each month, students write daily, and then students turn them in at the end of each month. It was an easy way to stay in touch with my students. I’m so thankful I had these.
#10. My Rolling Utility Cart
If you follow me on Instagram you know that this was my “classroom” while teaching virtually from home. Sitting at my desk all day in my house just didn’t work for me. I ended up jumping from room to room and table to table to teach. This hopping around made me a huge, disorganized mess. Luckily, I stumbled upon this cart on Amazon. It was everything I didn’t know I needed.
This cart took me no time at all to assemble. There are hooks that made it able to hold my reference rings and mini charts. There are holders that held my pens, dry erase markers, and dry erase erasers. My phone holder even attached to the top handle perfectly. The three baskets are incredibly sturdy to hold all of my books, binders, papers, iPad, and even my computer. My exact cart is currently unavailable on Amazon, but I did link a very similar one.
Alright, now that you know what helped me survived virtual and hybrid teaching this year, I want to know what resources helped you survive your school year! Leave them below in the comments.