It's been a surreal few weeks, and I am just amazed seeing so many colleagues and friends, as well as myself, persevering through steep learning curves to make emergency remote learning happen. I have heard so many hopeful stories of incredible educators showing up for their students: on front lawns, in their cars, learning how to make videos, or finding a way to the child, especially if the child can’t find a way into their learning.
We must celebrate victories, however big or small, especially now. Some of the things I have witnessed include teacher self-directed learning, in ways and numbers larger than I’ve ever seen before. When we were first told about school closures, people flipped. You could feel the tension, even without sharing space. Many boards, groups and communities were solution oriented. Our team at The Mentoree pulled together the first Conversations to Build Capacity to try to help. In two days, 60 people registered for a day of learning, and they weren’t all digital tools. The attendance at this past weekend’s DigCitTo also showed just how many educators knew that they could benefit from conversations on digital citizenship as well as learn other ways to connect and grow. There have been skill offerings from many places trying to meet the needs of teachers by checking in with them using different ways to gauge need.
That kind of responsiveness is also happening in virtual classrooms everywhere. Teachers and students seem to understand that this is new territory, so students are responding to teacher efforts, even when they are less than ideal, and teachers are responding to what is and isn’t working. They are pivoting, as needed, because they are collaborating with students to make learning scenarios that work for them. Even the ways that teachers are providing asynchronous avenues to learning is a kind of hyper-responsiveness to individual circumstance, social emotional and learning needs. Not every learner is engaged, and work is going on behind the scenes to address that. I wonder how this time will teach us how to continue being responsive to learners' needs and addressing inequities.
While choice and voice for learners has been a goal in education for a long time, the prevalence and number of options being provided seem to have increased. Teachers are offering choice boards and giving students avenues to tasks and tools to capture their unique voices in their learning. Even as I was constructing my Living History M.E.M.E., a project that I tweeted out yesterday, I had started with a time capsule. As I was marinating on the idea, I wanted to focus on my goal which nothing to do with the product, so there's now a list of what could be endless possibilities for students monumentalizing this unique time in their lives. Providing different ways for students to engage in meaningful learning experiences deserves some fanfare. Here is a link to Tina Zita's Choice Board Video.
Many teachers (including me) put too much pressure on themselves to absorb new ideas quickly and improve their skills. Luckily, there is so much support for each other in ways that bridge distances. There is so much comfort being shared everywhere I look. Every day, I remember to take time to breathe because of something someone says or shares (I’m working on remembering to do that on my own, but it's a process). As I struggle through my own challenges, expectations of myself as a mother and wife, and ideals of myself as an educator, I am deeply comforted by the support from my professional learning network (PLN) and I am truly amazed by how much we can do when we feel like we are in it together.
Instead of focusing on what has not yet happened or what must still happen, it’s good to pause ruminate on what has already and encourage others to consider doing the same. Over a few short weeks, teachers have stepped up, tooled up, and put up with the ever-changing reality they are living through, not for any degrees, badges, or because their administrators told them to. They have done all of this to be there for their students. This is a process, and we are all starting from different places, but we are in this together. The sheer volume of teachers learning in community with other educators is synergistically inspiring.
I have always loved learning from other educators and getting snapshots into their skillsets. I marvel at those teachers who are tech wizards, and I am often floored by talented musicians, expert makers, and education change agents. Everyone's talents, like in the classroom, make us better and contribute to building a network of global educators who can support and learn from each other. This is not a time of classrooms, walls and closed doors. Instead, it’s a time of open minds, board-less and borderless conversations, and building skills and community outside the blocks. Way to go us!!