Fellow educators, what are your thoughts? photo credit: Maia Liebeskind March 18th, 2020 (week two, here in NYC)
A week ago (which of course feels like a month ago), I interviewed an American tech integrator at a K-12 international school in China, where they have been teaching virtually for more than six weeks. As I listened to her experiences and suggestions, I was struck by how her school’s experiment amplifies the most critical issues in education today: equity, teacher agency, student voice, parent involvement, social-emotional wellbeing, accountability and authentic assessment. I started writing up our conversation, one part how-to, one part editorial, a weird piece for a weird time. (Rough draft linked here, if you care to read it.) But a peculiar thing happened as I was writing. Passionate educator though I am, I started to feel that perhaps it isn't critical, in the larger scheme of things, to teach online for the next few months. I teach because I fully believe in the power of education to build community, grow thoughtful, active citizens, and promote solutions to the profound issues of our time. I love my work. But if we close our schools down entirely during these difficult months—offline and on—for the greater good, or because online options aren’t working for everyone, it will be alright. Students will learn, as will we, from Italians singing on their balconies. From a parent helping an elderly neighbor. From the ways, both positive and negative, that we respond to this crisis. Some of the learning will be heartbreaking. Some of it will be a light coming through a crack. And then again... maybe the connections we are facilitating, and the tiny semblance of normalcy are our contribution during this time. Maybe they're consequential. I keep vacillating. Are you teaching online? Please weigh in.
37 Comments
Eliza
3/18/2020 07:57:52 pm
As a learning support provider, I worry about my most vulnerable students and the progress I’ve seen them make this year, some just finally beginning to turn a corner... they are ones I’m most eager to keep engaging with after spring break.
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:28:11 am
Thank you for being the first to post here, Eliza. As I see teachers around the country working online, it's clear that the connection is *it.* Eager to hear how your work goes, after spring break, and how your students are faring. I hope this will be a space where teachers will continue to talk, over the next weeks and months. Please share this page with educators far and wide.
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Giunia
3/18/2020 11:00:51 pm
Thank you for the invitation, Eve. I have mixed feelings about this. When we were told on a Saturday, more than three weeks ago, that our universities would not reopen on the following Monday, and then on that very Monday that we would have to make plans to teach online "for the week" I was in denial. I managed to send out an invitation to my students for a synchronous class at our regular time on the following Wednesday. Machiavelli was on the menu and we talked about the virus as "fortuna" and of preparedness for it as "virtù". Against all of my expectations, it felt fantastic to reconvene as a class at such a difficult time, and the students were very grateful and happy.
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3/19/2020 05:39:53 am
Imparto asignaturas prácticas -Proyectos de Creación Audiovisual- y virtualizarlas es prácticamente imposible. Aunque hay contenidos teóricos que si se pueden compartir on-line, hay un componente práctico muy importante que se lleva a cabo con equipos de grabación, iluminación y edición no lineal profesionales que solo están disponibles en los equipos de la Universidad.
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:40:29 am
Me interesa mucho como van los classes de arte plastico (¿se dice asi?). ¿Que pasa sin materiales y máquinas? ¿Que esfuerzos creativos floreceran con estas restricciones? Por favor, dejanos informados. Y p f, comparte esta pagina con tus redes profesionales.
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Caitlin Atkins
3/19/2020 06:16:00 am
I am nearing the end of my first week teaching online. I am trying to remember that less is more. I do think that continuing to teach helps to preserve a sense of normalcy, and our (optional) office hours on Zoom provide students with critical personal connection and interaction.
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3/19/2020 09:54:03 am
Caitlin, thank you for these thoughts. I am a lower school teacher in spring break and have yet to begin to online learning. I especially like your last paragraph as it is captures exactly what I’ve been thinking. Would you mind if I post a snapshot of it on my Instagram acct: artmeta_with_msmastrocola? I will credit you in any way you prefer of course.
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Caitlin R Atkins
3/19/2020 03:06:51 pm
Please feel free to post! You may include my name and high school teacher in MD if you wish, or can simply post my words without credit. Either is fine!
Caitlin R Atkins
3/19/2020 06:18:23 am
With regards to equity, though, I think that my school is in a unique position. We already give all of our students iPads (for better or for worse) and have ensured that all students without reliable internet access will be given a hotspot. Certainly many other aspects of home life come into play, but it is perhaps those students with the most challenges at home that most need to structure and connection online learning at its best can provide.
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Lisa Schalk
3/19/2020 06:39:03 am
Hi Eve, As you might remember, I teach nursery school, specifically three- and four-year olds. Before we went on Spring Break (two days earlier than anticipated), our Director asked us to prepare some information packets for families “in case” (how naive and hopeful we were we then) we did not return to school after Spring break ended. She asked us to think of “materials” and “activities” to suggest parents consider to fill the hours and days ahead with their young children. She also asked us to suggest ideas for daily “scheduling,” which initially many of my colleagues and I thought a bit ridiculous. Families know their young children, already have their routines, vary greatly in terms of circumstance, etc. But now that we are into the reality of “isolation,” I realize how important some semblance of routine is for children - for all of us. And if parents who might not be familiar with what this looks Iike might need some help, then let’s help them as educators is what I say. I tend to agree with those who have already responded above. Yes, life experience through this unprecedented time will surely yield its most important lessons about humanity, compassion, solidarity, solitude, and more. But I think to offer children of all ages a chance to hold on to connection through education, and some sense of routine, is important. I hope this is helpful. Lisa
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:50:19 am
Thank you for your thoughts, Lisa. This situation holds particular challenges for early childhood educators. Please continue to keep us apprised.
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3/19/2020 06:42:31 am
Bill Liebeskind Here's hoping it fails. Let's find out that teaching must be done live, with people together interacting. IN REAL TIME. Learning in isolation is not a world I want to be a part of
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:52:20 am
Curious to hear if you still feel this way after your first days teaching online. Working with you to create your art sharing/art crit site, I can already see how important the connection to and among your students is. Please share this page with your educator networks far and wide.
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John Foster
3/19/2020 06:57:58 am
Hi, Eve--We're on Day Two of online learning; as someone noted in a comment above, keeping to routine is good for our students (and for us). I do think I have fewer challenges than some of my colleagues: I teach English, not a lab science, and I teach high school, not lower school, so I feel that have less pressure on me to reinvent things.
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:53:48 am
Thank you for posting and for the links, John. I imagine the home schooling community has a lot to teach us, during this time. Please come back to this page and let us know how it's going, moving forward.
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Kate
3/19/2020 07:03:57 am
Check out on youtube !!! : “ If Coronavirus doesn’t kill you than Distance Learning Will “
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:55:08 am
Love this, Kate. The humor and creativity on social media is a light.
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3/19/2020 07:59:30 am
I keep vacillating too. For some students, who would be harmed by missing school, missing exams, not being able to graduate, sure. My sister teaches the kids who have failed Regents exams in the past and this year they get to try again. Odds are (statistically speaking) that if they don’t pass this, they will give up and drop out. No way is she gonna let them down. So she scrambled to get kids the tech they needed, let them take books home, and converted her google classroom to full online. I am so proud. *** but it is worth noting that she is able to do this, and the kids are on board, because of the in-person relationships they have built this year, AND her reputation at her school as the slightly wacky fun teacher who WILL NOT let you down. ❤️
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Eve
3/26/2020 07:54:44 pm
Deanna, have the Regents been cancelled, since you posted this? What's the fallout for your sister's students?
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Dean Spencer
3/19/2020 09:23:04 am
Actually the largest learnings I am hoping from from this crisis is that there is such a thing as the public good, that we don't need all the things we've been led to believe that we need, and that it actually is important to select competent leaders (both elected and appointed) who are capable of seeing beyond short term greed. If anyone missed it, an increase in outbreaks of communicable diseases was only one of the predicted impacts of climate change ... so in some ways we are looking at the beginning of a new normal, as scary as that sounds.
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:58:04 am
Absolutely, Dean. It's teacher agency and student voice against the neoliberal education industrial complex, right now. Here's hoping we win. Please come back to this page and post again, as you go forward with your virtual teaching. And pls. share this page with educators far and wide.
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Rasha
3/19/2020 11:03:26 am
Benefits and drawbacks. We have successfully connected with about 80% of our families online. It’s been wonderful to have these tools available. That said, I really want to figure out how to support that other 20% and help them stay connected to the school community. In some cases, online learning is forcing adults to connect more that they otherwise would.
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daniela
3/20/2020 05:29:55 am
eve! as always, thank you for encouraging dialogue, 'big picture' thinking, and bringing ppl together.
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Royce Howes
3/20/2020 06:59:45 am
My first thought is that a primary value of on-line teaching is to provide a structure a schedule. It is important to make contact with students who are known to me, all those individuals.
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Giunia
3/20/2020 07:24:26 am
Thanks Royce. Just jumping in with a small piece of advice for all along these lines. I just realized that I made a big mistake in trying to assuage concerns by students about all their grade hinging on the final exam. I gave them optional OpEds to write for a few points each without realizing that there is a potential added amount of grading for me of about 900 pages. Make your calculations carefully :(
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Eve
3/25/2020 05:09:14 am
Thank you for posting, Royce. I am actually supporting a public high school art teacher, right now, in his virtual teaching. We're doing some exciting stuff. I look forward to comparing notes. Please keep commenting!
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Ann
3/24/2020 09:34:05 pm
Maybe I'm too late to enter this very interesting conversation, but I have just found the page and hope later comments like mine will still be viewed. I find the challenge of teaching what kids want to know about COVID-19 is as important as how and where it is taught. Whether online or not, the ability to provide answers and information in an ever-changing environment is a huge challenge. I think students want to know why, how, and where this health crisis is unfolding despite the different or unusual places they are learning. The settings may not be typical, but the desire to know as much as possible is.
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Eve
3/25/2020 04:24:32 am
Not too late at all, Ann. Thank you so much for posting. I hope this will be a space where educators will continue to talk, over the next weeks and months. Please share this page with educators far and wide.
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Amy Curtis
3/26/2020 11:48:50 am
As a second grade teacher in a Quaker school, my curriculum puts equal emphasis on the social/emotional learning as on the academic; our teaching is largely experiential, project-based, and interactive; the importance of community is key. Verrrryyyy hard to translate into this new, virtual world. Here are my early reactions, one-week in:
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Eve
3/26/2020 12:32:44 pm
Thank you for sharing your experience so generously, Amy. You will undoubtedly keep a beautiful community going during this time.
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3/27/2020 05:24:47 am
It/s Friday, one week into all of this. I've never felt more like saying TGIF than I do right now.
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Emma Tsai
3/27/2020 07:14:11 am
Hi there. We started this week on Monday, and it's been pretty hard for me. An overwhelming number of questions and messages all day long and I lose sense of time and I don't get that one on one I love so much about teaching teenagers. Every day is a little better, but...And then I am also managing my first grader's home schooling.
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Debbie
3/27/2020 10:17:32 am
I teach 7th grade reading and Language arts in S.W. Florida. We've finished our first week of preparation, organizing, and learning new on line platforms. Our students start virtual learning on Monday.
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Cheryl Hajjar
3/27/2020 12:32:07 pm
I teach Studio Practice in visual art and I return to teaching for the first time since our March 7th shut down on March 31. I also happen to be a student in a silk screen studio class that has gone on-line as if March 12.
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mia corvino
4/3/2020 05:56:54 pm
Hi Eve and thanks for giving us a place to share! I am an ELA high school teacher of 11th and 12th graders- I have two upper level classes and two lower level classes. I also have two teenagers, a sophomore and a senior, and a college sophomore, who was instructed to get out of her dorm as abruptly as we were asked to abandon our classrooms. In our department group chat before we went "live", there was a solid week of panic, resistance, and apprehension; the learning curve has been steep for all of us, but I am so happy to see their beautiful faces again. While it isn't the same and it isn't working perfectly, I see the need to maintain our connection with these young people, to support them, to listen to them, to keep them thinking, and to give them a break from this crisis they are living through.
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Catherine Klein
4/10/2020 08:30:28 am
As the weeks go on, and we adjust to a new normal as adults, I wonder what this means for some of my students.
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Wayne-Daniel Berard
4/11/2020 11:54:12 am
I’m a career educator, 46 years — elementary, middle, high school, and for the last 33 years, college. These years have shown me this: that on-line education proceeds from the (perhaps unconscious) presumption that we are essentially computers, ongoing pieces of software and hardware. And so of course the best way for computers to “learn” is via computer technology — we need to be programmed rather than educated.
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Eve's BlogI've been blogging since 2010. When I've got writer's block in every other way (frequent), this low stakes riffing to think has been a constant. Over the digital years, I've had a half dozen or so blogs including a travel blog and a reading blog, both on Blogger, and an all-purpose blog on tumblr where I wrote about education, social equity and anything else that sparked me. I also posted some of my published print work on my website. My shit is all over the internet. I'll be using this space for the occasional blog post, now. Archives
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