Think Out Loud

Kindergarten teachers prepare for unprecedented challenges of starting school online

By Julie Sabatier (OPB)
Aug. 12, 2020 9:28 p.m.

Broadcast: Thursday, Aug. 13

During prefrontal cortex time in Jill Anglin's classroom, a few kids and a volunteer splatter paint on purpose after reading a book called "Beautiful Oops." “We tend to understand that mistakes are a part of the learning process,” says Kendra Coates, a teacher who helps educators better teach social-emotional skills.

Kindergarten teacher Jill Anglin with her students at Lava Ridge Elementary in Bend in 2019.

Elizabeth Miller / OPB

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Kindergarten is about so much more than ABCs. It’s about learning how to be in school — how to hold a pencil, how to share, how to sit still during storytime. So, how do you do that when school is all online? We hear from two kindergarten teachers about what distance learning will be like for them and for some of the state’s youngest students. Marissa Ching is a kindergarten dual-language teacher in the Beaverton School District and Sarah Adams teaches kindergarten at Mill Park Elementary in the David Douglas School District.

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