As summer approaches, you will need to take some simple steps to ensure that your Walking Classroom program materials find a safe home for their off-season and are ready for action come fall! For those of you adopters implementing the program in a classroom setting, use these suggestions to help you pack up your devices and plan for next year.
Bid Adieu to Your Batteries … at Least for Now!
Your batteries don’t want to spend the summer sizzling away in your WalkKits. Pop them out or you’ll find yourself face to face with corroded batteries come August.
You can accomplish this with a little help from your class. After returning from your last walk of the school year, simply ask your students to remove the batteries. Not only will this student support save you time, it will also guarantee that you won’t come back to messy and damaged WalkKits!
Keep Your (WalkKits!) Cool!
Storing your WalkKits in a cool and dry environment is critical. This will help to ensure that nothing happens to the devices while they are idle over the summer. Even your WalkKits can enjoy a break of their own!
It is equally important to store the WalkKits in a safe place! Many school buildings are still used in some capacity over the summer — for summer programs and the like — and you definitely don’t want any WalkKits “walking” off while you’re gone!
Take a Little Time to Plan!
Whether you will teach the same grade and/or content area, or you will experience a slight shift in the new school year, take some time to revisit that list of podcasts from the teacher guide (or the website). Determine which podcasts you might incorporate in which teaching unit, or build a content area or thematic unit around several podcasts. Putting some fresh eyes on the options can be refreshing for you . . . and for your teaching!
Let us Know Who’s Who!
Finally, while this last detail isn’t device-related, it’s nonetheless important! If you’re a program adopter and haven’t yet completed the year-end update, take a few moments to complete it now.
- Is this your first year using The Walking Classroom? Click here to access The Walking Classroom’s 2022 New Adopter Year-End Update.
- Did you start using The Walking Classroom prior to the 2021 – 2022 school year? Click here to access The Walking Classroom’s 2022 Year-End Update.
In order to keep our records current, we need to have your correct contact information. We also need to know whether you will use The Walking Classroom next school year, or whether you will pass it along! As former educators ourselves, we are well aware that a change in school, position, and/or grade level is a common occurrence. Keep us in the loop, so that any new adopters are fully prepared and supported!
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