When I made the decision at the end of last school year to transition into a remote Grade 8 teaching position, I knew I was choosing a challenge. I had already been knee-deep in hybrid learning for years, teaching both students and staff how to use technology as a tool rather than a toy. But moving fully online? That was an entirely new level of complexity — and growth.

I accepted the position knowing it would stretch me as an educator… but I didn’t realize just how much until the very first day.

The “First Day” That Took Four Rooms to Get Right

In Ontario, teachers visit their new school on the last day of the previous school year to set up their space. The irony?
Most of that day is spent in meetings, so “setup time” is usually more of a hopeful idea than an actual reality.

This year, I spent the day migrating between three different “classrooms.”

Room #1: The Closet

I started the morning in a tiny closet off the Learning Resource Room (where last year’s remote teacher lived). It was windowless, cramped, and never meant to be anyone’s full-time teaching space. In fact, when the school was built 150 years ago, it was the library storage closet; BUT before I could finish imagining how I’d make it work — they moved me.

Room #2: The Shared Specialist Space

Next, I was set up on the first floor with three other specialist teachers. I gently broke the news that teaching live online in a shared space… doesn’t work. They agreed. I was moved again.

Room #3: The Special Needs Washroom Room

Then came the “room with a built-in washroom.”
I had a little corner behind the washroom, a drafty window, and a giant gym mat I was told to prop up as a “privacy barrier” between my electronics and passing students. It smelled… exactly like you’re imagining.

But the EAs were wonderful. They did their best to only bring students by right before break and always supervised. The rest of the staff? Let’s just say it took a few firm conversations to stop non-special-needs students from wandering into the washroom in my classroom while I was teaching online.

It was also the year I realized just how real my ADHD was — managing a remote class while being physically stationed in a hallway-adjacent space was… a sensory marathon. Let’s just say we invested in lamps and curtains pretty early on.

Room #4: The Dumping Ground

After a month, I was moved again — back to Room #1. Except this time, it had transformed into a storage warehouse.

Photocopier.
Microwave.
Floor-to-ceiling boxes.
Zero windows.
And apparently, it was now the unofficial staff room because the “real one” had moved floors.

So while I taught online, staff would pop in to print, heat up lunch, chat while waiting for the photocopier… and occasionally leave their giant stacks of copied worksheets on my desk.

The photocopier fumes meant I couldn’t shut the two doors. And yes, it printed loudly every two minutes.

But there was a silver lining:
After a few days, staff started waiting until breaks to come in. Some even came to help clear out the mountains of boxes. One colleague even used her lunch and prep to help me create enough space to breathe, teach… and not trip over stored appliances.

Building a Remote Classroom Community From Scratch

Once the physical chaos settled, I turned my focus to the real heart of teaching: my students.

I had expected their social skills to be a little rusty after years of disrupted schooling — but I hadn’t realized just how low they’d be. So the entire first week had one purpose:

Rebuild Connection Before Curriculum.

We spent days playing social games, finding common interests, sharing high school plans, talking through fears, and asking the big question:
“Why did you choose online learning this year?”

In week two, we shifted into curriculum — but gently.
Every subject was rooted in engagement first:

Math: Review games
Language: Letters to future selves + Top 10 presentation
History: Team timeline building
Science: Make slime with a family member
Anything to help them remember that learning can be joyful — not just another worksheet on a screen.

Breakout rooms became a MUST. Slowly, students started opening up. Talking. Laughing. Helping one another.

Then I introduced something that changed everything:

Monthly 1:1 Meetings

Every student.
Every month.
20 uninterrupted minutes.

Casual. Collaborative. Human.

They tell me what they want me to know.
I tell them what I’d like them to know.
We talk goals, fears, challenges, and honestly — life.

It has transformed our classroom culture.

This year, I’m also working with a teaching partner for the first time, and we’ve implemented the same structure across both classes. The improvement is real and ongoing.

Letting Them Be Kids Again

One of the biggest realizations this year?

Kids were never meant to sit glued to a screen all day.
So I stopped making them.

We send them to:
🎵 make musical instruments
🧪 run household science experiments
📐 measure everyday objects
🎨 build art projects with family members
Anything to get them moving, touching the world, and enjoying learning again.

And guess what? Engagement skyrocketed.

Creating Online Community Through Shared Identity

This year, we launched two initiatives that changed everything:

⭐ Mascot Contest

Students submitted their own mascot designs.
They voted.
They rallied.
and They bonded over a shared identity — something bigger than themselves.

(More on that in another post!)

🎉 Optional In-Person Christmas Party

Our first ever in-person gathering for the Remote Day School.
Students who had only ever seen one another in tiny rectangles were suddenly real people, laughing, talking, connecting.
It was pure magic. Yes, there were some tears, and lots of heightened emotions/anxiety, but I don’t think anyone would trade that days experience for yet another online class day!

What Online Teaching Taught Me About Online Business

Everything I’ve learned from remote teaching applies beautifully to small business and digital community building:

🎯 Connection comes before content
Never jump straight into the “work.”
Relationships matter.

🎯 People engage when they feel seen
1:1s with students…
= DM conversations with customers, readers, and clients.

🎯 Identity builds belonging
Mascots for students…
= branding for educators, creators, and small businesses.

🎯 Design learning that moves them
Slime experiments for kids…
= interactive blogs, freebies, and posts for your audience.

🎯 Environment impacts engagement
Just like students can’t thrive in a noisy photocopier room, your customers can’t thrive on a chaotic website.

The classroom taught me how to teach.
The remote classroom taught me how to build community — anywhere.

And now? I use those lessons every day in helping teacher entrepreneurs build websites, blogs, and digital spaces where people feel at home.

Looking Ahead

We’re only partway through the year, but I already know:

✨ This journey will shape the rest of my teaching career
✨ My students are learning in ways they never did before
✨ Community can be built anywhere — even online
✨ And I can’t wait to see where the rest of the year takes us