A Strong and Welcoming Start to 2020-2021
By Vanessa de Guzman
As we embrace the height of summer in our daily walks, morning gardening or evening refreshments, we can seize the time and also reflect on the spring of 2020. Maybe after some false starts and missteps, students ultimately got behind a computer to join your staff in virtual space.
Lessons from the field flooded Edutopia, EdWeek, whatever your go-to source. And these lessons that frequently made the news cycle give poignant insight to what makes for a strong Fall 2020. So whether you begin fully virtual, in-class or blended, here are a few of those insights for a strong and welcoming start.
1. The first weeks of school should be devoted to community building and digital access and competency.
How are your students/staff feeling about their schooling, professional, and personal experiences during this time of virtual learning?
How have/can you collect this information?
What start-of-the-year activities can promote connection, healing and positive relationships for your community?
2. Communication with parents needs to be more thorough, streamlined, and consistent.
How are parents feeling about supporting their children’s learning in the virtual classroom?
How have/can you collect this information?
What modifications will you make to ensure parents are more confident in their role of “at-home-learning-assistant”?
3. Teacher collaboration is even more important as it impacts community and collective teacher efficacy.
How are teachers feeling about their professional experiences and job expectations in the coming year?
How have/can you collect this information?
What opportunities and support will they need to navigate and lead in these uncertain times?
4. Lost time necessitates prioritization of instructional content.
How will teachers balance the need for remediation with the urgency of continued progress toward grade level expectations?
How will teachers embed high quality instructional materials to support coherence and offer consistency as students move between on-line and in-class settings?
5. Synchronous opportunities should be used for active learning.
How will teachers and their grade level/content area teams plan for best synchronous and asynchronous opportunities for students?
What universal strategies will your staff use to focus on creating safe, supportive and equitable environments?
6. Assessment should align to priority instructional content and provide information that is instructionally relevant.
How will your assessment continuum support teaching and learning?
What are the potential challenges to assessments?
How can you begin to impact these outcomes within the stages of planning, launching and sustaining?
For more details, go to:
https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/
Photo by Deleece Cook on Unsplash