A few days ago, we received a note from a Redding news “tip” from a reader with the subject line “Awesome Local Teacher”. Of course, we were right on it!
His name is Bryan Donnelly and he really is awesome. Currently teaching 5th-grade math and science at John Read Middle School, Donnelly has been with the District for 16 years and spent his first decade as a 4th-grade teacher.
Due to COVID-19, teachers, students and families across the globe have suddenly been thrust into Distant Learning. And, engaging students in lessons and discussions virtually in the classroom known universally as “Google” takes a good deal of creativity. Donnelly seems to have mastered that during his “Morning Show”.
A couple of weeks ago, Donnelly was chatting with his buddy Jeff Lovelace, a Ridgefield Public School psychologist, about his desire to do some “fun” announcements for his class. “He was my inspiration in creating a class Morning Show,” Donnelly humbly says.
After watching his friend’s Morning Show, Donnelly got to work weaving his own style into the show. “I designed my announcements to be in a show-type format,” he says. “I begin each episode with a funny fake sponsor advertisement, before moving on to sharing some advice, funny videos (usually involving singing and dancing), pictures of the students sent in by the parents, and a positive quote of the day,” Donnelly explains.
Donnelly says that the goal of the Morning Show is to help continue to bring the classroom community together while we are apart. “I want my students to start the day on a positive note,” he says.
Over the past couple of weeks, Donnelly says that the show has taken on a life of its own. “Students have been sending in ideas to include on the show, and now I'm starting to interview students who would like to share about their interests and talents,” he says.
Thank you to our reader who shared this awesome news "tip" with us! We love uplifting stories.