Apart or Together;
Students Will Need the Best from Teachers this Fall
I’m a teacher. It’s not just my job, but my passion. In the past months, weeks and days, I’ve read blog posts, articles, and government and scientists recommendations for how school this fall should be handled.
Each item I read, regardless of its position on the matter, I agree with in some way or another.
Yes, students have been negatively impacted academically and socially by the long period of isolation. Schools need to reopen so that students thrive academically and socially. On the other hand, physical isolation is necessary right now to fight an enemy that sickens, debilitates, and kills when people are together. Schools most definitely cannot reopen until everyone’s physical health can be ensured.
Yes, we are living in the 21st century and have the benefit of technology to accomplish learning from afar. Schools, parents and students should be able to make distance learning work. However, although we are living in the most technology-rich time in history, access is inequitable. Our most vulnerable students; those who have disabilities, live in poverty, and face domestic issues are struggling to access what they need to learn and thrive outside of the school building. Schools need to reopen so that everyone has a fair shot at learning.
Yes, it is a parent’s responsibility to ensure the health and safety of their children. For now, they are going to have to figure out how to manage their own work schedules and how to help their children keep up with distance learning; that is what we have to do right now. Reality check: even in middle and upper-class families with two parents in the home, balancing working at home and “homeschooling,” is a challenge. Consider, single parents, parents with many children, parents who have to work outside of the home because of the type of work they do, parents with their own disabilities or mental illnesses and you realize that although these parents are doing the best they can; most of them are not equipped to adequately school their children on top of their other responsibilities. Schools must reopen because they do more than educate children; they provide valuable community resources for families and they care for students so that parents can work outside of the home during the day in order to pay their bills and put food on the table.
My point is, there are no easy answers to how to approach schooling this fall. I’m not even sure what my opinion is. If I had to take a stand, I’d say that I believe the element of choice will be important so that families and teachers who have significant health concerns can protect themselves and those that they love, while those who feel comfortable can benefit from the resources and social-emotional support schools offer. No matter what happens, what I do know, is that, apart or together, students will need the best from teachers this fall.
- Positivity
No matter what happens, school in the fall of 2020 is going to be different. We may be in the classroom full time, wearing masks for 7 hours, divided by plexiglass, eating lunch in the classroom, and worrying about our health and that of our family members. We may be continuing to teach from our living rooms while we manage our own children, and technology issues. We may be faced with a hybrid situation and have to double plan for online and in-person learning.
Teachers are going to need to be positive, regardless of how they feel about the situation. It will be fine, to be honest with students and families and share our fears, as long as that honesty is coupled with an upbeat attitude.
While we are standing in front of students, sweating under our masks, we don’t have to pretend to be comfortable! We can talk to students about how tough it is to wear a mask all day, as long as we point out that the masks help keep us safe and healthy.
If we are teaching online, we can be honest with families about our struggles with balancing work and home. In fact, this honesty will probably help us be more relatable and approachable to parents. We just have to make sure that honesty comes with positivity, for example, “boy this is tough, but I promise to do my best to provide your child with a great education.”
It will be human to feel overwhelmed by planning for online and in-person learning at the same. Being positive will help us figure out how to tweak the plans and activities we’ve done in the past. If we look at it as an opportunity rather than “twice the work,” who knows what good things may be created.
2. Structure, yet flexibility
At such an uncertain time, structure is more important than ever. Consistent routines and schedules will help teachers, students, and families know what to expect.
If distance-learning ends up being full-time, then a dependable schedule of online lessons, clear expectations for assignment completion will help everyone involved plan accordingly.
If we end up in the classroom wearing masks and trying desperately to space ourselves out, a structured schedule and classroom expectations will be important so that students know that even though the world has changed dramatically, schools are still a place of consistency.
In a hybrid situation, we will have double the structures to set up. Structure, will be extremely important so that teachers and families can keep track of what needs to be done and when. In this case, I’m picturing lots of color-coded charts and other organizational tools being the key to success!
Now, imagine, that structures have been set up for in-person learning or hybrid learning and another spike of cases causes us to go back to full distance learning. Flexibility! Teachers are going to need to keep their cool and change their plans. If this happens, students and families are going to be stressed. We can be honest with them and acknowledge that change is difficult, but we are going to need to call on our powers of flexibility to make changes quickly and in ways that reassure students and families. We’ve done it before and we can do it again.
Conversely, perhaps our year will begin with distance learning, hybrid, or a choice model where some students have chosen online instruction, and it is then determined that in-person is safe for all. Flexibility! Again, don’t be afraid to acknowledge that change is difficult, but then move on and make it happen. If anyone can, it’s teachers. We spend our days managing situations that people outside of the profession couldn't even imagine. We can do it, and we must, for the sake of the children.
3. Engaging activities and lessons that cover the curriculum
As a veteran teacher, I have a style. I tend to lean towards the project approach; incorporating hands-on experiences and authentic projects with the necessary skill and content learning. This is definitely easier when instruction is in-person!
With the students gathered around me, I can lead whatever science project, math inquiry, or book/movie discussion we are having that day and pull all kinds of tricks of the trade to engage students if necessary. Everything changes when instruction happens through the wires and space between our houses.
I can no longer dance around, or use my dramatic voice as effectively. A science project has to happen over video and most likely students can’t participate in the same way, since they don’t have the materials at home. A rich book or movie discussion might be interrupted by glitchy internet coverage.
Things have changed. A lot! But, no matter what happens this fall, students deserve engaging activities and lessons that cover the curriculum. Just because things are different and difficult, doesn’t give us or students a pass on teaching and learning.
Yes, we need to be understanding of everyone’s situation, but that has always been true! Teachers have always needed to acknowledge where students are in their lives and what they need when facing various issues. Right now, more than ever, students need to know that we will be there to help them keep learning and growing through this difficult time.
It’s true that technology is frustrating and none of us took a class in college about how to teach online. Teaching from afar has many challenges, but so does teaching in the classroom. Teachers, we can do this! We already have!
We can use this opportunity to learn new ways to use technology to deliver engaging activities and lessons to our students. I know that from March through June of last school year, the quality and creativity of what I was able to present to kids improved as I kept learning new things.
Apart or together this year, students need to stay engaged in learning. One day, this crisis will be over and it will have been a great disservice to students if they lost a lot of ground because this situation was hard. There will likely be topics and skills that they will need to catch up on when things return to “normal.” We don’t need to beat ourselves up if instruction, lessons, and activities are not perfect or if a few topics are missed, but we need to do the best we can with the situation at hand.
4. To know that they matter and are cared for
Lastly, it is my opinion that the most important thing a student can learn from a teacher is that they matter. That is more important than ever right now. Initial surveys, studies, and common sense indicate that the Covid-19 crisis is having an adverse effect on the mental health of children and adults.
No matter what the circumstance is this fall, students will need to know that teachers understand and care about how they are feeling and coping with the global pandemic. They need to know that even as we hold them to expectations for learning and behavior, our number one concern is always to help them be their very best selves.
To accomplish this, we may need to do things we normally wouldn’t do. Last year, during the school building closure, all of my high school students had my personal cell phone number. In a regular school year, I wouldn’t do that, but as we know, Covid-19 has changed almost everything.
Covid-19 has changed our world. We and our students are experiencing a unique time in history that is extremely stressful and has resulted in much grief worldwide. Apart or together, one thing is certain; students will need the best from their teachers this fall.
