Positive Postcards

A few days ago we found out that we would not be going back to school for the 2019-2020 school year. I teach in Virginia and what started out as a 2 week quarantine, ended up changing so quickly into something we could have never imagined.  

We didn’t get to say goodbye, we didn’t get to pack up our classrooms, we didn’t get a class picture, field day, or end of the year celebration. During this crazy time, everything is so unpredictable and schools are no exception. 

I know so many teachers have come up with great distance learning activities, and teachers are  jumping on Zoom calls left and right, so I knew I wanted to do something special and different for them.

I remembered how much I loved getting mail as a kid, and I decided to send postcards  because it was easy, printable, and something I could do from home. (And who doesn’t want a postcard from their teacher?)  I spent the next few days looking up puns and staring into my computer. I finally came up with my top 18 cute little postcards ready to send out to my students! 

Then, I thought what if this could be more? I included my return address and turned it into a mini writing lesson for my class! After I wrote all my heartfelt notes and apologies for not being able to say goodbye, I posted a class story to my Dojo account and asked them to write back. We talked about starting with capital letters, using our finger spaces, and punctuation. When parents started sending me pictures of the kids checking the mail and writing back, it warmed my heart! It felt a little bit more like I was doing what I should be. 

P.S. I reached out to my class parents on Dojo and asked permission for their mailing addresses before I sent anything! I know a lot of us have access to that information, however I felt more comfortable asking their permission first! 

Want to check out the Positive Postcards for yourself? Click here