Being an educator can come with its share of stress, but the transition to distance learning this year has added additional challenges for everyone. Educators and school staff in British Columbia have risen to the occasion, adapting to changing circumstances, supporting student well-being, and bringing care, compassion, and creativity to learning. We are so grateful for all that you do.
We wanted to highlight some of the innovative approaches that schools and staff have taken to connect with their students during distance learning.
- Vancouver Coastal and Fraser Health: All across the lower mainland educators and other school staff members have been coming up with creative ways to connect to their students virtually using video as the medium. Teachers at Deltaview Secondary School in Delta, B. C., collaborated on a music video showing them holding up messages for their students, and David Barnum, a science teacher at Larson Elementary School in North Vancouver, B. C., has been taking his students on virtual field trips, including a trip to see the salmon release (as an added bonus “Baby Yoda”, a beloved classroom stuffed animal, makes cameos in the videos). Read more and watch the videos here.
- Interior: At Arrow Heights Elementary in Revelstoke, B. C., staff participated in a parade through the streets of the small community, equipped with balloons, signs and even a few Papier Mache characters. Read more about the event and see photos from the parade.
- Northern: In Prince Rupert, B. C., school staff has reached out to connect with students who normally access their breakfast and lunch programs. They are now providing over 200 families with “Bags of Goodness”, large bags of groceries including lunch and breakfast items.
- Island: Alex de Medeiros is a grade 7 teacher at Gordon Head Middle School in Victoria, B. C., and he started riding his bike to his students’ houses to give them more in-person time from a safe distance. He found that virtual learning didn’t provide the same human connection as he was used to. Therefore, he asked the families of his students if they’d like a little more in-person time, and he had a lot of positive responses. Listen to his full interview here.