As schools across the country have shut down due to the global coronavirus pandemic, educators have been scrambling to build an online education system so that students can keep up with their studies while at home.
The process has been extremely stressful for teachers as they have to learn new systems to teach remotely while redesigning lessons that were meant for in-person instruction. It hasn't been easy on parents or their kids either, as they try to adapt to a new learning environment filled with distractions.
"With zero notice, educators across Fresno County created an online system to connect with their kids to curate and produce educational content on the web," Fresno Unified School District Superintendent Bob Nelson told KFSN.
To help make life easier for everybody, Nelson decided to create some videos on YouTube to help lift the spirits of the 74,000 students in his district, which sits in central California. Every day at 10:30 a.m., Nelson uploads a new video to his personal channel, which features him reading a children's book to his students from a rocking chair.
On the weekends, Nelson posts videos of himself playing the ukulele along with his two young daughters.
"It tells kids I don't have to take myself so seriously. The time of global pandemic, the last thing we need to do is be taking ourselves so seriously," Nelson told the news station.
He also uses the video to reinforce values such as working together and helping others, something that Nelson feels is important during these stressful times.
"What you need to do today is find some stuff to do. Exercise. Read. Do something to help and, better yet, find somebody to serve," Nelson says in one of his videos.
To keep up to date on the latest news about the coronavirus and to understand what you need to stay safe and healthy, check out the Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction podcast from CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.