LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – With a green screen and a closet full of costumes, Kooser Elementary School librarian Betsy Thomas is helping all students start their mornings with a smile.
“They can’t come to me right now, so my goal I’ve been working on is to come to them,” Thomas said.
So every morning, there’s a new video posted. Each one has a theme, like dinosaurs, donuts or bears, and encourages kids to participate in daily learning challenges put on by librarians.
“We have all kinds of activities, there’s website they have access to do do research, physical activities and games, art activities, sometimes singing,” Thomas said.
The goal is to get student’s minds working, and busy even though they’ve been doing review work for the last two weeks. But that’s not the only purpose.
“I just want to bring a smile to their faces and make them laugh,” Thomas said.
She’s not the only teacher going above and beyond.
Andrew Courtright, an ELL teacher at Elliott Elementary school, too, has donned costumes and brought out props during daily read-a-louds.
“It allows them to get a quality lesson, and to get to read and see a story read to them when they may have limited access to books, or not have someone able to read to them,” Courtright said.
Courtright and other Elliott teachers read a book every day, many with lessons covering getting enough sleep or eating healthy, all things teachers hope students are doing while at home.
Both teachers, using technology to foster a love of learning, and continue keeping the connection between student and teacher strong, in a time when they can’t be together.
“It’s hard to know I may not see them again,” Courtright said.
But they said this love of reading, learning and one another will keep them connected, even if it’s only through a screen.
To watch the videos, go to Kooser Elementary School and Elliott Elementary School’s Facebook pages.
