As KIPPsters, we persist! We are flexible and strive to remain positive, no matter what is thrown at us. In crafting digital lessons for our students, I have been creatively challenged to deliver something engaging, enriching, academic, and accessible to our little musicians that are at home. Each week, I make five lessons—one for each grade level. Each lesson is specifically catered to the music curriculum for that grade level. When this transition to digital learning began, music lessons were delivered as a ten to fifteen minute video that took the students through a few different activities aligned to specific skills or learning objectives. Now, we have moved to using Google Forms for lesson delivery. This has had the benefit of breaking up the videos into smaller chunks and allowing students to answer questions about what they are learning along the way.

Lastly, I want to give an enormous shout out to everyone reading this, because you deserve it! Teachers, parents, and students have all had to change their entire way of life. For some it may have been an easy transition, but for many it has been very hard. I have seen so many people continue to persist and excel no matter what. We are all in this together and I cannot wait until the day that I can be back at CONNECT with my favorite musicians.

The Art room has changed a little over the past few weeks, but learning is as exciting as ever!

Although it can feel disappointing that I cannot be in the art room talking and creating with our KIPPsters, it has been so much fun getting to see how they and their families are creating at home. I feel so much JOY as I see our little artists making good use of the supplies they have at home. Even when they may not be able to participate fully, they are still watching the video lessons and learning what they can!

Coming up, our KIPPsters will learn how to make their own sketchbooks or notebooks using reusable materials at home in honor of Earth Day! Be on the lookout for some fun sketchbook drawing prompts that you can do at home, TOGETHER. I miss you!

I remember the last day of school before spring break. It was dismissal time filled with hugs from students, wishes for a fun break, and promises to see each other soon. Even though there were talks of COVID-19, the virus still felt far away from us. I could not have imagined how things would change 24 hours later.

One thing I teach in yoga is the idea of accepting what you can and can’t control. This message is more relevant today for students, families, and teachers. There are things out of our control like this pandemic and what decisions elected officials will make. These times can make a person feel powerless. But we aren’t helpless or out of control, we have so much in our control.

We can control our breath. More than ever, I practice mindfully breathing, especially when I’m feeling emotionally exhausted or worried. It helps calm down the part of my brain that wants to run and hide. I’m able to think better when I sit on my balcony, take in the fresh air, and breathe.

We can control our bodies. Move around! Play music and stretch, wiggle, dance, do yoga. The movement will keep our body healthy, improve our mood, and make the day fun. Finally, you can control the negative thoughts by using gratitude thoughts. Sometimes, I get sad, but out of the blue, I will receive a message from a student or parent. I am forever grateful for the words, photos, and smiles I’ve received during this time.

I am thankful for how technology helps me teach yoga. It’s different from teaching you all in person; however, no matter what, my students and I are still connected, and I will deliver the best lessons I can. As I navigate teaching online and sharing with you all, I want you to remember that we all are resilient, strong, flexible, and powerful. Keep breathing,CONNECTors, and we will see each other again!

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I know things are still not back to normal, but things are not stopping in PE. We will continue to exercise and have fun together. We are exercising every day. In PE I am uploading videos on YouTube and assigning exercises from Monday to Friday. I encourage you to try the exercise every single day and take the fitness test every Friday. Please make sure to eat healthy. Remember, eat more everyday foods than not everyday foods, drink water, and get a good sleep every night. I miss you all very much.

Hello KIPPsters, we are very proud of all the ways you apply each value of our school in these times of distance learning.

Honor: We know that adapting to a new virtual classroom system is not easy, but you have done an excellent job honoring the times to do your work and continue your learning.

Exploring with enthusiasm: When we are fully available to continue learning with different methods, in this case Google Classroom, we further explore our intellectual capacity, adapting to the resources you have at home.

Always with Excellence: Doing everything with the highest level of excellence as when you did it in class, but now receiving instructions through a virtual classroom, uploading works, videos, photos.

Ready to try again: We are very happy because we know when your jobs do not turn out as you expected, you try again and again until you do it perfectly.

Together: All this we are experiencing is not easy, but we know that together with the best disposition we will be able to close a school year full of knowledge.

I know that you miss the library and the large number of new books we received this year, as well as the reading tests, but there is good news. I will be sending more links on www.tumblebooks.com so when you finish reading your book you can take the reading test the way you did it in the library. Right there, you can continue browsing, since there are a great variety of options to choose books of your interest, games of skill, puzzles, etc.

I miss you so much and hope to be back together soon to enjoy our beautiful library.