Capturing the magic of Walden from a distance

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” - Carl Jung

Have you experienced the banging of pots and pans in an early evening salute to front line workers? It’s a raucous symphony of gratitude for the people who put the needs of others above their own.

For this week’s post I chose to take a slightly different tack and bang some virtual pots and pans for our teachers. I was inspired to do this when I read this article about one teacher’s experience with teaching during the pandemic. This lead me to ask some of our Walden teachers to share how they’ve been adapting.

“As a second language teacher, I rely on a lot of verbal cues and actions with my students to help them with understanding and was unsure of how that would transpire online. I have adapted to create fun learning activities that are not too difficult to be completed with little assistance in the event their parents do not speak the language.  My goal is always for my groups to have fun, so when the younger students go off topic to show their classmates a “friend” they brought with them that day, I allot a few minutes of our meeting for it as their happiness and well-being is my number one priority. The students, like the teachers, have to adjust to their new virtual classrooms as well. It is definitely more challenging to incorporate a lot of inquiry when you are not working together in a classroom, but we make do with the different resources that are available to us and provide the students the best education that we can at this time and hope to see them again soon in our classrooms.” - Karen Taylor

“When we were first challenged with creating our home learning programme, we were planning for a two-week absence from our school building. When it became evident that we were in this for a longer haul, we realized we needed to adjust our delivery. In a normal world, educators complete post-graduate work to plan and implement online courses. Our teachers had days to learn how to adapt their programme to our home learning platform. It has been a learning curve for the staff to continue to find creative ways to capture the magic of Walden from a distance. It was important to continue to have wellness at the forefront, especially during these trying times. Teachers and families are beginning to find their groove. The students are making relevant connections in their learning. We thank the parents for the positive feedback we are receiving. The teachers are thrilled when they hear their tireless efforts are making a difference in the lives of the students they are missing so much.” - Shelley Charanduk, PYP Coordinator

“The teacher that wrote the article captured a lot of really great reflections. I particularly like her quote, “I hope when this is all over people will value the teachers who never gave up, never stopped working, and gave their time, emotion and energy to ensure students are as safe, happy, loved, and engaged as possible.” It's very affirming and makes what we are doing seem very rewarding. Online learning has been the most steep learning curve for everyone. Perhaps the best part about it is connecting everyday and having that sense of appreciation and gratitude for each other. My students and I miss each other, and I feel that one of the ways in which we reciprocally show our mutual respect and appreciation for each other is through the hard work we all plan, prepare, and submit.” - Kerri Bejaoui, Teacher, Grade 3 

I understand that these new circumstances pose very real challenges for all of us. I acknowledge the efforts of parents, of students and our teachers. We genuinely are a community of good people devoted to the needs of our children.

I thank you all.