The end-of-the-day routine brought what has become a typical weekly email: a Google classroom report on the two high school students in our house.

In it, there is a full report of all that has happened in their classrooms this week.  This used to come for some classrooms, but not for all.  And for those that used it, some teachers put a lot in there.  Others, not so much.

The top item in the email is “missing work” (if there is any).  Instantly, we can see the due date and how late the assignment is.

Underneath, the next section is “class activity”. It’s separated by class, and then by day.  I can see what the announcements are and what the assignments were.  Due dates are clearly noted, as well as zoom meeting web addresses if they had a meeting scheduled. The teachers for each class are also listed. 

Interestingly, our daughter has PE right now.  Yes, PE has gone virtual too.  The teacher includes options for activities that total at least 30 minutes or more, and a log that they need to fill out.  She even gives them a little reminder of how good physical activity is, particularly during times of stress. (A bonus!)

This is truly a silver lining. 

As years go by, I felt I knew less and less about what the kids were supposed to be doing. It seemed to greatly depend on what my child wanted to tell me, too; I couldn’t check on a day-to-day basis.

With the change to “e-learning”–and thanks to Google–we are all on the very same (web) page.  Fantastic!