The gentle spring breeze blows the cherry blossoms along the moat, and it has been now a month since SHSID started online teaching. The outbreak of the epidemic cannot stop the pace of learning for the fourth and fifth graders. They are absorbing the essence of knowledge, waiting, and saving energy to improve themselves.

The first stepto effective online teachingis learning to use the LinkedClassroom (LC) platform. In order for students to become more familiar with LC, the teachers in grades 4 and 5 assigned various special tasks, such as posting fun experiences from winter vacation on the forum, a photo of housework, a video of physical exercise, a reading audio file, taking a picture of their favorite book cover.Students were asked to upload their filesin PDFformat and send a message to theirhomeroom teacher on LC. These daily tasks not only strengthened the communication between students and teachers, but alsohelped students quicklymaster the basic functions of the LC platform, which is conducive to the smooth development of teaching and learning in the future.One week before Pi Day, the fourth graders were assigned an interesting activity—a Number Hunt. Every day,they were given a small question related to the course structure on the LC dashboard (for example,howmany items in today’s checklist, or how many science lessons per week). The answers can be reorganized to make 314, the “top secret number”.Students who were able to get the answer could win a special badgefor Pi Day. This not only helped students know the platform operations and course contentbut also reinforced their math practice.Sothrough online teaching, studentswereable tocelebrateannual Pi Day in a special way.

Social distancing helps isolate the virus, but it cannot stop the love between teachers and students. Reading is a good way to stimulate daily life during the special period. The fourth grade teachers and students shared their recent reading books through pictures and texts so that the joy of reading could be widely spread. In order to reduce the distance between teachers and students in virtual classes, the fifth grade teachers organized students to carry out topic discussions to share their own stories or insights during homeroom time. The topics are varied, such as an experience about showing kindness or describing why SHSID is unique. When talking about her special item, Nini Yao from 5(8) mentioned that she has been collecting stones since childhood. She likes to collect all kinds of stones, big, small, smooth, rough and so on. Her grandfather gave her a jadeite necklace, and her friends gave her small gems as gifts. In her eyes, not only do these stones look different, but each one carries a different meaning. Each stone is unique, and so are we.

Every day, the teachers prepare a daily checklist for students in the “Start the Day Right” folder. Students can check the process after each task is completed. In the grade four P&B class, a fun riddle is arranged every day, and the answer is announced the next day. The fourth grade teachers also made a section named “What Day Do We Celebrate Today”, which has provided students the chance to get a glimpse of the world when they are at home. The fifth grade teachers designed a section called “Special Holiday”. Student learned to cherish and appreciate each day. It is important to remember that every day is worth celebrating for its historical and social meaning.

In a personal growth class, fourth graders discussed “Why am I unique?”. One student said he loves to read difficult English fiction books, another likes secretly singing in the shower, and another student loves to eat yogurt without sugar. These seemingly insignificant small features make everyone unique. Infifth grade, teachers also played some videos to help students realize that they are different and that’s awesome. It is acceptable to make mistakes, and learning from mistakes is also a process of growth. It is our imperfections that make us who we are.

Teachers also invited students in each class to make a video to share their learning experience. For example, in fifth grade, 18 students were invited to share their online learning methods and experiences with everyone. From the third week of March, students in grades four and fivebegan focusing on a weekly habitto better adapt to autonomous online learning. The first habit they focused on was note taking. Each grade invited students to share their own notes-taking skills through their videos. Inaba Karen from class 5(2) has developed good note-taking habits. She systematically introduced the steps and points of taking notes in the video. She also shared tips for taking notes: using different colors to make notes easier to readand using abbreviations to make note-taking more efficient.In fourth grade math classes, a gallery walk was used to show excellent examples of notes-taking, andthe students were able to reflect on their own note-taking methods and share thoughts. The fourth grade teachers also introduced the Cornell Note-Taking Method and the Visual Note-Taking Method to help students improve their note-taking efficiency. Thispast week, students have been focusing on developing their time-management skills for their weekly good habit focus. Time management requires students to set goals, make plans, and implement them on time. Students must not only manage the time they spendlearningbut also the time they spendexercising and resting.

Although online teaching limits face-to-face communication, it creates more sharing opportunities between students.The students chose their most satisfactory assignment to post on LC to share with everyone, which enhanced their pride in learning. March 17th was St. Patrick’s Dayand to commemorate this Irishnational holiday, the fifth graderstook pictures of green items in theirhomes. In addition to green plants, they took photos ofgreen sofas, green golf courses, and many more.

We also encourage family communication. The fourth graderswere encouraged to doexercises with their parentsand cookfor their families. The fifth graders shared what they learned with their parentsand gave their parents a massage once a week. These activitiesnot only enhance parent-child relationshipsbut also allow parents to feeltheir children’s growth.

In the season of cherry blossoms, let us immerse ourselves in the joy of sharing, harvest, and growth, and wait together for the day when we meet each other!

(Written by Shen Jingfeng Pictures by G4–5 Teachers and Students)