Virtual classrooms may have temporarily replaced the traditional form of teaching in-class but one thing that can’t be replaced is human connection.
Teachers are working to find new ways to stay connected to their students and let them know they are missed.
“I think one of the great challenges right now is engaging with students and connecting to them,” said Tim Bonnar, principal at Belmont Elementary School. “Obviously we’re missing that opportunity to see them day-by-day.”
READ MORE: Teacher parades connect staff to student families during quarantines
To remind kids they are missed a former Belmont Elementary music teacher came out of retirement to re-write the words to the Belmont school song.
“It was a collaboration between our current music teacher (Kanata Soranaka) and our retired music teacher and they both put in a lot of work on that” said Bonnar. “Our former retired music teacher Jamie Thomas is well known in the community and retired last year after teaching 20 years at Belmont and he had actually written the school song… so he wrote some new words to go with it.”
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At Belmont, we are one! Staff reached out to their students by singing the school song as a way to share how much they miss their students.#MySD35Community pic.twitter.com/ai2k5qsTAI
— Langley Schools (@LangleySchools) April 15, 2020
Many Langley schools have been taking to social media to share uplifting messages with students and several have hosted community car rallies or parades to maintain a connection with students – something that has proven difficult to do in the pandemic.
“That’s one of the real benefits of school normally is that it provides so much connection for students and families, and us as a staff,” said Bonnar.
Belmont will continue to find creative ways to keep connected with its students, Bonnar added. An earlier car parade hosted by the school and the music video is just a start.
READ MORE: VIDEO: 150-car parade in Aldergrove lifts student’s spirits during self-isolation
“Our music teacher was doing some thinking around her role and how she can still be connecting with students and felt that one of the nice ways to do that was to create a video,” Bonnar said. “So she thought it would be a great idea to develop and create something and send that out as a way to connect with our students and families and just let them know we’re missing them and thinking about them and hope that they’re doing okay.”
@JotiGrewal_joti.grewal@blackpress.ca Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
