Summer Quarantine Scrapbook
With adversity comes opportunity. Ending a school year in the midst of a pandemic, after three months of distance learning, has been a challenge. Children have suffered, unable to see their friends and family, practice sports and other activities, or travel outside of their immediate neighborhood. How do we want our children to remember this unique moment in their lives? Do we want them to recall their frustration, unhappiness, and struggle? From these questions came the idea of a quarantine photo/scrapbook. Unlike most school projects, this time I strongly urged the parents of my second graders to collaborate with their children, choosing photos together while discussing the beauty that CAN be found during this trying time.
Parents and children selected photos in four categories that highlighted positive differences that they have lived: family/friends, helping around the house, school/distance learning, and activities. After choosing representative images, the children learned about basic graphic design, informative writing, and how to be an optimist.
Guiding the students in the process was key for student success. From simple lessons in how to properly glue photos to paper to page layout to starting a chapter with a topic sentence, the children learned bookmaking. I considered a digital book. Then, I thought about how much time my 7-year-old has spent on Seesaw, Zoom, and Youtube for school activities. The choice was easy - old school! How many great photos have we taken that we never print out and rarely look at? Creating a project that culminated in a physical book has so much value in their all-too-digital lives.
In five years, this student-created artifact will serve as a memory of the family bonds formed, new hobbies tried, and the meaning of resilience. Creating a book gives students and their families alike a chance to reflect and process what is happening to them in a constructivist way. There is therapeutic value in bibliotherapy - storytelling for healing. Yes, this has been the most difficult moment in my fifty years. Yes, we have all had to live with conditions ranging from adverse to downright tragic. And YES, there is room to grow, learn, and bloom despite these obstacles.
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Austin Levinson is an experienced teacher specializing in K-3 education, STEM/STEAM, differentiation, English as a new language (ESL), engagement, intrinsic motivation, and habits of mind (perseverance, resourcefulness, independence, impulse control). Austin engages with students through jokes, juggling, guitar— whatever keeps them interested. With connection, there is a chance to grow as a learner. Austin maximizes student learning by tailoring lessons to students’ interests.
