Teacher Mimi reaches out

05/12/2021

Helpful guidelines tor understanding 5 year olds in your life!

Five Year Old Development Stages & Milestones | Help Me Grow MN By admin | May 5, 2021 | 0 Share this...FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinStumbleUponTumblrRedditYummlyDiggemailFive Year Old Development Stages & Milestones | Help Me Grow MN Do you know the typical developmental stages and milestones fo...

04/28/2021

Important information about learning optimization through breaks.

The Science Behind Brain Breaks By admin | April 25, 2021 | 6 Share this...FacebookTwitterPinterestLinkedinStumbleUponTumblrRedditYummlyDiggemailThe Science Behind Brain Breaks Research shows that breaks can provide more than rest. Use them to boost creativity, cognitive function, and social skills....

03/24/2021

With vaccines on the horizon, and relaxing restrictions on public movement, schools have opened and our students'lear ning is not so much the responsibility of the moms and dads.
I am noticing, with the student in my life that there are things that come home from school with my 5 year old that require parent
intervention and support.
Is anyone else noticing a shift in their student's interests and demeanor as compared to the pre pandemic lock down?

02/11/2021

Part 2 of my reflections on the Home Schooling challenge of January 2021.
I would like to offer, that, should we again go into Home Schooling Mode, I am available to chat with you, and work together to come up with some solutions, and , perhaps altenatives to support learning that is more individualized to your student/s/
We can figure out how your student learns best, then look at the classroom activities, to see how we can modify them to support your student's success in the required learning.

We have all learned that we can only really get through this new reality successfully if we work together, so let's do that!

02/11/2021

While I was working to provide support to the Home School Moms and Dads, I was derailed in my efforts by the reality of being a Home School Granny! We endured the month of working with a 'not really interested in the learning parts' 5 year-old. He didn't try to hide the fact that his only real interest in sitting in front of the laptop was the opportunity to sn**ch short connections with his class mates. As an only child, these were very lonely times for him, and the excitement of seeing other children was sometimes more than he could contain. The down side of those little sn**ches of interaction was often several over-excited 5 year-olds in front of cameras in the teachers' faces when class started. This, of course, led to some significant parent ( and likely, teacher)frustration. It was hard not to notice that the schedule of breaks for the kids was not well balanced during the 5 1/2 hours of sceduled class time.

I have to admit, that there were some challenges presented that I had never ever encountered in the classroom during my 31 years of classroom teaching, even when I had 31 6 year-olds on their first day in French Immersion. I must also be honest, I was not able to come up with lasting satisfying solutions to some of these new issues.
For example, when the on line activity is not getting or keeping the attention of the student. My grandson is in a blended Jk- SK class and many of the activities were too easy, or repetition of familiar activities. There were few extension activities provided for the on line classes. I guess the teachers were struggling as much as the parents and kids in this new reality. I hate to admit to the great feeling of relief when news came that schools were re-opening this week.

To be fair, the classroom teachers had little time to assess the students, as a foundation for more individualized or grouped tasks for students. Not being privy to the parameters given teachers in terms of the class set ups and timings, i must assume that simply getting them in front of their students was the primary goal.
I would think it would be nice to know that teachers received support with teaching as much as with handling the technology before being asked to take on this daunting task. in my heart, I think it is not likely that they did. I also assume that, the challenge of preparing and presenting the classes was probably too big to permit much research in methodology and resources for said classes.

11/20/2020

[email protected]

My response to Covid-19 is the website above. Another period of lock downs appears to be on the horizon, and, as a teacher and concerned citizen, I want to share my experience and skills with the many new Home-School Moms and Dads out there, who are juggling the normal demands of responsible adults, and the demands of providing their kids with the required support to be successful in a home-school situation. Every tip, page, pdf provided on the website is freely offered in the hopes that it can be of help to keep the joy, sanity and love of learning alive during these challenging times.

11/20/2020

It has been a while since I took time to post here. I have been building my repertoire of helping techniques for a Life Mastery Coaching practice that I plan to open in the new year.
I have decided that, since it looks as though another lock down is on the horizon, I will endeavor to support the Teacher Mommy and Daddy teams out there, who will be faced with supporting school children at home with home schooling, whether with lessons on live from their own teachers at school, or with preparing lessons to meet class objectives set out by the school teachers.

Today, I will talk about setting up the learning space and your tool kit for home schooling. I will be posting a website link for access to my materials. This is a free offer of help. I hope it gives you some comfort with this new branch of parenthood!

08/26/2020

This year of on line teaching to China has been an on again,off again kind of thing. To begin, I was starting up again with my 2 companies after messing up my class times and missing classes. I got back on with both companies. I anticipated rebuildig my stident roster of regulars much as I had in the first place, however, none of my past students booked me :(. However, both companies offer "Sprng and Winter Camps", during which students try out the platforms before enrolling with the company. I did a fair number of Trial classes, and picked up a few students. With Say ABC, you are assigned a group of 4-6 kids for the duration of a unit , usually 10 classes including Assessment. Kids in the group will move around, depending upon if they like the course, or the teacher or the other students. Sometimes, the mix of kids was such that a dominant one would monopolize the class, leaving others constantly waiting for a turn to answer. Managing a group of students hands off, at a distance is definitely an art! As the summer went on (2019) the number of students on my regulars list began to increase until I had to close booking slots so that I could move to Whitby. SayABC requires teachers to open paired slots for a minimum of 5 consecutive weeks. This meant that i had no classes with them for the period before, and after the move. VIPkid are more flexible, as it is common for kids to hop between teachers for individual classes during a unit of study. By the time I was moved and confident that my IT set up was ready, it was into November. In China, many families are Christian, celebrate the holiday in much the same way as we do here. Christmas is followed by Chinese New Year, the Moon Festival, Spring Festival, Dragon Festival, and so on, with the result that January is very low bookings, and February is basically a month off. This year, Covid 19 played a role in keeping students in class, or not, as I explained in earlier posts. Now, in July, I have one regular student with VIPkid whom I share with another teacher due to the fact that I have actually had 2 summer vacations this year, something I have never done. As explained earlier, a week off in June, and again in August, knocked my out of the Say ABC schedule. And, now, I am moving again, as the landlord sold our rented condo to a new owner who is moving in here. So another disruption so service is on the horizon in September. I have been thinking of letting go my contracts for on line teaching, but I must admit that I am addicted to those little faces. Once a teacher, always a teacher! It's a wonderful career and profession, although I do worry about teachers in this new normal of inter pandemic reality.

07/31/2020

This conference addresses a topic that will soon be top of our minds, as the new post-covid school year draws closer.
I am sharing this for all the parents who want to know how to best support their children in re-enterng the old normal
of classes, large groups, routines and homework. For some, it is a relief to go back to a familiar routine of work, meals,
and so on. For the teachers among you, i am sure there are big concerns around personal safety, and regulations to
protect the kids. Around me, the question is, how on earth do you stop 5 year olds from holding, hands, sharing books and
toys, all of the other sharing that they do naturally, and that we have valued in the past as being good little people?
So, while we have little control over what the new school experience will look like, we do have control on how we inform
and educate ourselves as parents, and members of our communities. I hope this will help. It will be a few hours well spent.
Teacher Mimi/Marilyn

The most daunting start of school in memory brings logistical worries of how to plan for a school year that may be virtual, in-person, or both and stress over best teaching practices in an unfamiliar remote or blended learning environment. These concerns, along with health, social and emotional well...

05/22/2020

So here we are, 12 weeks into our lock down. At the beginning, China was just about to come back from the Spring Holidays, and then they were extended due to the outbreak of Corona Virus. For the month of March I had lots of classes booked, because this extended need for classes for kids coincided with the spring camps. That continued until mid April,when China ended the lock down, and kids were back in school. Since then, I have had fewer and fewer bookings. The students that I did have reported doing multiple online classes, some in Chinese, like Science and language, but also English classes such as English. My impression was that the kids were getting sick of online learning, although I cannot complain about the level of engagement or learning they were giving me.In the month of May, I have had 2 classes of 4 students and one of 6 students with one company, and 2 single students classes with the other company. During this lull, I have been studying and certifying to become a life coach. This has kept me busy and fills my hours,probably more than I should, because I have my 4 year old grandson here, and he would really like more time to play with Mimi. He is pretty good, if I am on headphones, he will poke around in my teaching materials and play fairly quietly by himself in the room with me. I now hear that our Canadian students will not return to school until September. I am also hearing that China is experiencing a second wave of the virus, but it is perhaps changing. This means that there could be even more students for me this summer than usual. My normal summer months are pretty heavy with back to back classes in my open time slots ( 6- 9 am). This summer, I will open a wider window of classes, starting at 5:30 and going until 10:00 am) Then I will also have evening availability from 7:30 -10:30 pm. Last summer, when I was teaching 3 classes a morning each day of the week, I was earning close to $1000 USD per month. It makes it much easier to get up in the morning at 4, with this kind of reward. My biggest gripe,is that I usually need to nap during the day, and so I lose a lot of time in the summer weather, like beach days with Preston. For this reason, I am trying to get another online business going, with the hope that I can make the money without losing the days. Wish me luck! For anyone interested in doing online teaching, my companies are VIPKID AND SAYABC. I know for a fact the Palfish is hiring now, and DADA. Check them out! Palfish does not require a degree, only that you be a native US, Canadian, UK or NZ speaker.. Ive also noticed that many of the companies have streamlined their hiring processes so that you can pass, and start teacher in ust a week or so.

03/21/2020

video clip for submission for a contract appication. Ends on an oops momet,as I fumble to find my prop. Obvkously ot the one I submitted, but gives you an idea of the role. Enjoy, but don't judge! please!!