Adjusting to this demanding situation has been difficult.  How to continue to educate the nation’s children is a specific challenge.  For many teachers this has been a crash course on distance learning; for many parents this has been a window into the daily work of teachers; and for many students it has been an experience of loss—of friends, of resources, of daily rituals.  We asked educators we work with to share both the challenges and the successes they are experiencing in this “anything but normal” time. Much of what they shared may be quite familiar and offers some comfort that we are all in this together.  Some of what they shared may give you new ideas and inspiration.  Here is what we learned.

The challenges have been enormous, including: 

• Working with a lack of technology in many homes (including access to the internet, adequate devices, or parental comfort level with technology). 

• Experiencing the amount of time it takes to create and execute remote learning activities.

• Handling the confusion in some districts around which online communication platform to use. Parents are confused by each teacher using his/her own preferred communication platform.  One teacher felt this was the number one barrier to getting families connected.   

• Managing equity concerns (inadequate technology, barriers to parental participation, i.e. language barriers, work and childcare constraints). 

• Managing unclear expectations about what this new “classroom experience” would require from teachers, students and parents.

• Finding ways to engage students who don’t show up for class or don’t activate their microphones or cameras.

• Supporting students with minimal home support—students who were disengaged while in school are now totally disconnected.

A few silver linings were also mentioned, such as:

• Teachers have more time to plan and prepare lessons.

• Teachers have more time to give individual feedback to their students.

• Teachers are able to get to know some of the quieter students better than when they were in school.

• Self-motivated/accelerated students like working in this way, they can set their own pace and be self directed.

• Students who were anxious about difficult social dynamics at school are doing better academically with social factors eliminated by being home.

While well-motivated students are able to thrive in this new environment, others are struggling.  One teacher talked about the complications for English Language Learners.  Students with parents who don’t speak English have been less engaged; younger students, not yet able to read, cannot rely on parental support to access the learning material. Several teachers expressed sadness about the lack of face-to-face communication and a concern that there was no time for fun.  High school educators conveyed great disappointment that they couldn’t celebrate their seniors.

Despite these daunting challenges, many teachers have been successful in creating community in these difficult times.  Here are some of the strategies they shared with us that have worked:

With staff

• Creating community among staff with “Happy Hour” or small group zoom gatherings—by lunch groups, by department, by friends

With helping students get organized

• Having an agenda that students have ahead of time so that they can be prepared for the class meet

• Having students submit a post BEFORE a small group discussion to encourage participation

• Designing management tools for students to use to support self direction

• Using the same format each week so students know what to expect

With creating opportunities for playfulness

• Sharing weekly videos by the Principal with humor and connections

• Creating some fun “check in” or “check out” with class community building circles—quirky questions or opportunities to share something from their home (stuffed animals, hobbies, best meal)

• Finding ways to encourage playfulness--one science teacher has a weekly recycling bin challenge having each student create and share a “quarantine” toy or tool

• Increasing attendance for class meets--one teacher changes his appearance in a subtle (or not so subtle) way and students show up to see what he’s done

With creating opportunities for continued connections

• Continuing student “clubs” and small group conversations around a shared interest

• Building on things students like—using Google Voice to text with students

• Encouraging student-organized events like a virtual game night or some other student assembly

• Making phone calls with families and creating Care Packages for struggling students

• Staying in the “meet” room after class to informally talk with the stragglers

• Sending weekly emails to parents with reports on their children’s progress

• Continuing “Student of the month” in this new environment

With class meets

• Sending out a survey to students to find out what they want to do in the class meets

• Encouraging students to search their homes or the outdoors for items/categories that can be shared 

• Giving students participation points for attending meets AND turning their camera on to participate (unless they let the teacher know ahead of time a reason they could not turn it on)

  • More kids began to join once they saw attendance was being taken and they were being held accountable for being there. 

• Creating clear expectations and formats for class meets

  • For example, Christina Rosenthal, a sixth grade science teacher in Malden, shared her format for a science & engineering meet she developed from scopesdf.org.

We also asked what would help and received a number of ideas.

• Improved technology access (as noted above)

• Time to chat with each student

• Fun activities that spark joy with students

• Meeting in smaller groupings so that students can talk with partners rather than the whole class

• Use of online communities to create a sense of belonging and community (especially beneficial at this time and moving forward)

Our survey revealed a number of resources that teachers have found helpful.

• Remote Engagement Ideas, provided by Auburn High School teacher Donna Heidemann, includes a wealth of resources for engaging students through remote learning.  

• Google Voice provides a way to text and call with parents and students while keeping your phone number private.  

• Meet Attendance is a Chrome extension that will record attendance with the click of a button. 

• Flipgrid, which has filters and fun features, can be used to invite students to share short video responses.  One teacher we spoke with asks a weekly question and the students use flipgrid to create a response to the question.  

• ScreenCastify and Screencast-o-matic can be used to create mini-lessons.  One fifth grade teacher likes that she is able to share her screen and face at the same time.  There are tutorials for how to use these on youtube.

• Class Dojo, an online communication platform, has a translation feature.  Each user can set their language and all messages will automatically be translated to that language!  

• 20 Questions to Ask Instead of ‘How Are You Doing Right Now?" by Elizabeth Weingarten is a great resource for “check in” questions.  

• Online Community Building/Circle plan adapted from various online meets and online resources.

• Harvard RIDES program provides resources around equity and inclusion in education.

• Scholastic provides engaging author interviews connected to assigned books.

• We also learned about these great online Teaching Resources:

  • Fablab

  • Gizmos

  • BrainPOP

  • Newsela

  • IXL

What can we do when we return?  Many spoke of the importance of using restorative practices when schools return to a face-to-face mode. We agree!  There will be a number of re-entry issues that will need to be addressed before everyone can get back to the business of learning.  Community building circles will be critical in allowing students, parents, and teachers the opportunity to share their stories, talk about their apprehensions about coming back together, and re-building relationships and community.