I wanted to name this post: Hybrid Happened to Me- Now What? I started writing it in my mind the second our board declared this model. I don’t want to call it that anymore.
Reflecting on the first episode of #OnEdMentors this year, I am reminded of the power of time to process and evolve, and that we can all be diamonds, persevering through intense conditions and long processes in order to find our sparkle and shine. I have no magic answer. What I do know is that I really appreciate listening to and learning from others, and the two episodes of OnEdMentors reflected in this post helped me remember that I care about my sparkle and all the things that feed it, so I am going to give myself the time I need to find my flow, manage my expectations, and keep my priorities in view, however dim my light feels. I’ve done it before, and I don’t see why I can’t do it again. These episodes gave me the faith I needed. It's a when and not an if.
I was still recovering from an intense year of work and family, like so many others, when I received the news about hybrid for this year. I had been redeployed last year to teach in the Elementary Virtual School (EVS) in my board. After a tumultuous beginning and a sense that I would never it right, I ended up having a wonderful experience, and I was holding on to hope until my first day of school this September. The reality of hybrid was even more complicated than I could have fathomed. My light dwindled as I fumbled through my first day, forgetting to mute and unmute for my remote learners and trying to make sure they didn’t feel like second tiers to those in face-to-face. I was becoming ever more aware that this type of learning model requires a double consciousness. I could not imagine doing this with a split grade. Because I have the platform, I knew that I could help others while helping myself. I needed to gather a panel for an episode of OnEdMentors on hybrid teaching and learning.
That first night of school, I looked forward to reconnecting with former colleagues from the EVS who would be on the show to share what they were bringing back to the classroom from their year teaching virtually. We had been part of a team of teachers and administrators who developed and helped lead a culminating series of activities and an event for the 36, 000 students in the EVS. Our lead principal, the principal of principals, offered teachers interested in a leadership opportunity to help our students and staff highlight the positive from a difficult and yet accomplishing year. Her leadership was incredible, and I am honoured that she is my principal in my new school. This team became something really special, and hearing reflections from these educators was icing on a really unexpected outcome from a strange year. You can read more about it in this post, but I appreciated hearing from the panel of Radhika Bhatt, Vanessa Bianchi, Alexis Wilson and Jonathan Carr. Their insights really crystalized so many of the things that made the challenges of last year feel triumphant. Here is the link to the episode full of great reminders that we can do hard things for our students, ourselves, and each other.
After the episode, Radhika Bhatt wrote:
To encapsulate our conversation on OnEdMentors from last Thursday, my takeaways were that in EVS, there is just too much to learn. Online teaching is a very different world that any of us has ever explored in the past. Building a rapport with students online was a mountain to climb. It was a challenge because the cameras were never on. The backbone of teaching is based on reading students emotions, picking up the non-verbal cues and making a connection that helps ride through the year. Not all students had equitable learning environments behind the camera. Some students had responsibilities while others had a busy/noisy background and others just didn’t have the equitable internet connections. The exhaustion from staring at the screen for long hours was a huge hindrance in some students' & staff ability to focus. It was very important for us teachers to make a human connection with these students in the virtual classrooms. We in EVS had to reimagine education by centering on love and emotionally responsive teaching & learning versus keeping it academically focused. I have to say, building connections with parents was the easiest as they are there all the time!
Jonathan Carr wrote:
As I reflect upon all that I have learned through the virtual classroom experience, and how I can bring this knowledge back to the classroom environment, I think of Jim Collins' words where he encourages leaders to “preserve the core and stimulate progress”. I desire to preserve a core of care, and stimulate progress by supporting students in a quest to collaboratively care for each other.
A core of any classroom is to connect to students and serve them in personally relevant ways. One of the best ways of doing this is to establish connection through their experiences of being cared for consistently. All people can connect within a caring culture for two reasons - we all desire to be cared for, and as humans, we always benefit from caring for others. Research shows that one of the best strategies for promoting well-being in stressful situations is to turn around and serve someone. As leader of my classroom, I desire to intentionally model genuine care through each interaction (preserving the core), while at the same time celebrating when students care for each other (stimulating progress). When a student encourages a peer, they not only receive the personal benefits which accompany doing something that is healthy on a neurological level, they also demonstrate responsibility for promoting a classroom environment that values courage. When students enCOURAGE each other, they figuratively place classmates “in courage”, by making them feel increasingly comfortable to take chances, make mistakes and learn new things in the process. When the core of our classroom is care, the by-product we can expect is courage and resilience - ingredients necessary for healthy learning experiences. It is in these ways that I am seeking to “preserve the core, and stimulate progress”.
Their reflections were great reminders that you can change your perspective when you face the seemingly insurmountable and keep moving forward. I did not think I could be the teacher that I am as a remote teacher, but I am proud of the work I did with my students in the EVS, and I was becoming more hopeful that I could figure out hybrid.
One of my favourite parts about hosting the weekly OnEdMentors show is that I can be responsive to the needs of teachers, so as soon as I heard we were going hybrid, I knew I needed a mentorship panel to help myself and my colleagues who were going through the same change. I wasn’t sure who to ask, so I put out an all call on Twitter to find some experience and expertise with hybrid teaching and learning. I was so lucky to have Jennier Casa Todd, David Henell, Vince Bustamant and Nate Ridge on last week’s episode. They share a lot of great resources that I tweeted out during the episode; follow #OnEdMentors to find them. I also highly recommend listening to them on the episode to help you find comfort and solutions in their innovative ideas.
Graphic by David Hennel
I told some colleagues about the episode, and there were mixed reactions. Some were angry that I was trying to find the sunshine in a dark time. Others had already decided not to do a good job in hybrid because they are afraid our board will think that this was an acceptable thing to do to teachers and students when there were better alternatives. Still others feel that they will do what they can to make this year good for our students, but not at all costs. Among the many great insights and next steps offered by the panel, here is some of the advice I continue to process from that learning experience:
Give myself grace.
Rethink the purpose of school and how to use my classroom time
Ask myself what I can let go of and leave behind in view of my learner’s needs and the challenges of this model.
Focus on a few new tech tools at a time.
Include my students in the design of our class experience
Remind myself that I have agency with deciding what works best for me in my classroom.
Choice and voice are essential, and I need to continue finding or building ways to invite students to engage meaningfully in their learning from wherever they are
I am feeling a bit more optimistic. I’m not totally at sparkle and shine, but when I look at this as a whole package, recalling how anxious and unsure at this time last year, I know that I had one of the most important years of my life in teaching, even with the challenges of work and life. I learned a lot and reflect fondly on my time in EVS. This is not in a pollyanna way because I am not glossing over the hard parts. In spite of how challenging it was or maybe because of it, I improved my pedagogy and practice. That was because of the support of the educators and administrators with whom I collaborated and the sheer luck of having an amazing Grade 8 class. I have not yet figured out where to put my feelings about this year, but maybe they don’t have to go anywhere yet. Even if it is a model that should only be employed as an emergency measure because it is not good pedagogy for elementary students and is especially tough for the primary and early years students and their teachers, these are weird times. I don’t yet know how I’ll get through these difficult times, but I know it’s a when and not an if.
