It's Winter. When we started this journey last Spring, we all believed it would be two weeks. I actually doubted anyone had the political will to close schools and put everyone online. But, there it was, the governor's announcement and, schools were closed. I have been an educator for more than three decades. I felt unprepared, but after a few weeks, I realized, this is what we have been training for all along.
Lest you think I am going to pontificate on how easy this scenario is for teachers (I'm NOT), hear me out. The abrupt change of venue wasn't good for anyone. We have been made aware of more inequity (it was always there but now, we can't avoid seeing it) in every classroom and school. Teachers are spending at least twice the time they used to just in planning an online curriculum. Schools that are back in session are trying to figure out how to follow guidelines that are changing. Some parents won't send their children to school even if they have the opportunity, and some will fight the school on the reasonableness of wearing a mask (which, by the way, the school didn't make the rules, so, please don't harass the educators). Online teaching has been glitchy, not everyone can get on, internet failed, almost no one had the right tools and knew how to use them. All these realities are true and working against all of us-- simultaneously. In all of this new reality, we still find a way to breathe. There is an ever-present truth that will save us as we continue the struggle: The factors that make a good school, a good classroom, a good teacher didn't change. The delivery pattern DID, and WOW, did it change.
How can we take educational strengths and bring them with us to this new challenge? Before we tackle the questions of the classroom, let start with a quick reality check: teachers, you are human and need to take care of the human part of you before you take on this complex problem. Add some self-care and connection routines into your workday and figure out how to leave your work at home (or, if you are already working from home, in that little corner of your home that is set aside for the 'teacher you'). You walk into the classroom every year with your skills and your heart. You have both of those attributes ready to help you move through this wild ride today. So, strap on your skates, you've got skills.
6 Power Moves for COVID Teaching Success:
Teach the most important concepts:
Look carefully at the curriculum and create a plan that focuses on the most important standards. When we started in March, we didn't have an agreed-upon list of priorities by grade-level and subject-level. By November, almost every state and curriculum organization has developed a list that can be utilized as a guide. Map out a plan of guaranteed student learning for the month, semester, and year.
Adapt the instructional strategies: Before searching for the perfect online tool to utilize, decide what strategy is highly effective for teaching the concept. Perhaps the high-yield strategies that have worked for you in the past can be adapted to fit your new setting. This isn't your first year (unless it is...). Every year of your career you have grappled to find a better approach than last time. Your teacher-judgement and know-how is still a key driver.
Know what they know: up to 40% of the content traditionally taught is REVIEW. If that is the case, in this distance/hybrid/6ft apart/masked/quarantine educational world we live in, finding out what students already know becomes a key strategy for student success. We just simply can't take time on topics students have already mastered. Start with a quick assessment of what they already know. Then check along the way. Build formative assessment and feedback into every assignment so that you are in an ongoing "conversation" with your students about their learning.
Limit synchronous teaching: Students have spent A LOT of time on the computer and, for many students, it's difficult to watch instruction with little opportunity for interaction. Synchronous time should be highly interactive- play a game, say hello, set the stage for the day's work- When a topic needs to be taught, make an instructional (6-9 minute) video. Give students engaging tasks as they utilize the video instruction.
Utilize instructional videos: This is the part where it can all fall apart or change the world (not kidding). A short video (6-9 minutes) that students can watch again if needed, speed through if they've got it, is the key to success in the classroom. This is worth the time it takes to learn how to make videos that are effective for student learning. If you are lucky enough to have the same teaching assignment next year, you can use the video again (and again). A good video can be used in stations when you are in the classroom, at home during quarantine, when you have a substitute, on snow days, when the power goes out and school is delayed, if the pipes break and everyone has to be sent home, etc etc etc. This practice also buys teacher-time to focus on individual students and help students master material. Instructional videos are the key to Blended Learning and Blended Learning strategies are the key to student mastery of curriculum.
Be present: Teachers want to be in the classroom with students (unless there is a pandemic and the risk of catching/spreading the virus puts a damper on that enthusiasm). We are at our best when we are teaching what we love to who we love! When the curriculum is posted online, be in the middle of it. When instructions are posted, including a short video explanation of the task that needs to be done, or, simply recording your voice allows students to (asynchronously) interact with you. Build formative assessment and feedback into every assignment so that you are in an ongoing "conversation" with your students about their learning. Hold office hours, schedule appointments with each student or groups of students, hold class meetings, create instructional videos, be in the middle of it all. The greatest part of a child's educational experience is the teacher. In the words of Theodore Roosevelt: “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”.
So much is unstable, but, by drawing on the things we know and continuing to invest in student learning, we are prepared to grapple. I still feel unprepared, but, it's the same kind of unprepared I always feel at the beginning of a problem-set. Stop, think through it, find the center, start with what we do know, take courage, let it be messy, be brave, make a difference.
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