The virtual chalkboard, that is.
Today is the last day of Spring Break. Tomorrow teachers in my district go back to work. Some will go in to get any materials they need to work from home. Me, I brought all of my necessary stuff with me. So we’re preparing to work remotely for the immediate future.
I’ve purposely avoided work throughout Spring Break. I tried to enjoy my staycation as much as I could, knowing that I need to maintain my mental health as this crisis continues. COVID-19 has been a lot to process.
And I did enjoy it! Bike rides, journaling, Netflix. I created a lot of new art, which has been fun and fulfilling. Art is something that gets pushed to the back-burner when I get busy. I’m laying the groundwork for rebooting my meditation practice with more purpose than I have before (I recommend checking out the book Stay Woke if you are wanting to do a similar reboot, or if you are new to meditation.)
I’ve also cut my social media interactions way back. I have been popping in, but I’ve been limiting my time and only checking in a couple of times a day (instead of dozens). Cutting back Facebook interactions has definitely been helping with my feelings of anxiousness about COVID-19.
So I’m feeling pretty rested going back into teaching. While I haven’t been working, I can’t say it hasn’t crossed my mind. So I have a loose plan for how I want to run with my online learning experience. In general, my students will be exploring chemistry and biology ideas through research projects. Considering testing is out the window, I want them to explore something that truly interests them. Of course, there will be guidelines and a rubric. And, of course, I will be available to help guide them and offer ideas as they prepare these projects. But I’m hoping to make this a project that gets them excited about learning, in ways I haven’t been as successful doing in the classroom.
Though you’d be wrong if I don’t take some of these strategies back into the classroom with me after COVID-19 is gone! My ultimate goal as a teacher is to encourage life-long learning. And perhaps a little discipline. Obviously I hope they take some science with them too, but if they are curious about the world so many doors of knowledge and understanding will open for them!
One of the things I love about being a teacher is interacting with my students. I love trying to get them to think. I love seeing them struggle through challenging problems and ultimately gaining understanding. I love seeing them help each other. With that, I’m not sure how I feel about teaching remotely. I’ll be missing that face-to-face interaction with students.
But with that, there are some things I’m looking forward to with the online format:
- Waking up later than 5:30 a.m.
- Coffee as often as I want it.
- Being able to go to the bathroom whenever I want.
- Never forgetting my lunch.
- Playing with kitties while working.
- Being able to research and send resources specific to a student’s needs right on the spot.
There is a body of research that shows that in-person learning is more impactful overall. (I’ll leave you to the Google and/or GoogleScholar.) So it is my hope that we can partially get back to business-as-usual in the near future so we (educators) can best serve students. But I also hope we (educators and community members) can push the narrative about flexibility in learning.
This isn’t a well-educated idea, but it’s one I’ve had for a while. What if high school schedules looked more like colleges? In college, you have a couple of classes a day with gaps in between. During these gaps, students have time to get study groups going, work on homework, meet with professors to get help, visit School Counselors without missing class, etc… Overall the gaps allow students to be able to slow down and process information. They have time to thoughtfully complete their work. Professors have time to plan, with only teaching a few classes a day.
My hope is that we could create a school day that helps students learn more effectively. And that doesn’t have to look like pedal-to-the-metal, back-to-back classes for 7.5 hours a day. One that takes into consideration mental health. One that offers opportunities for student empowerment.
COVID-19 is changing a lot. I hope for the better. I believe in public education, but there is a lot of room for improvement. As we move forward from this crisis, my hope is we can make our elected representatives make public education a priority so we can make it something that empowers students, parents, and community members.
This generation of high school students has experienced so much. They were born in the time of 09/11. They’ve lived through hundreds of school shootings. They are graduating in the time of COVID-19. Our youth need to go into the world as lifelong learners. They live in a world with big problems to solve. They need to be empowered to come together and solve them. We need to change our education system to support that endeavor. And since things are so unsettled, now seems like a good time!