For some, going back to school is an exciting time, one full of hope for a little bit of normal that had not been seen since the beginning of the pandemic. For others, it is an anxious time knowing about the battles that are ahead and the uncertainty about how long the little piece of normal we have will last before chaos will strike once again..or did chaos ever actually leave? Let’s face it, the world has turned upside down since 2020 and now we are sitting in the dark ages again looking at small glimpses of a new period of renaissance with hope that out of all the darkness, there will be a brighter future.
Education itself has gone through huge changes to deal with the current events going on in the world. Everything shut down and teachers and staff were forced to find creative ways to reach students. Districts who had never had a huge amount of technology resources were forced to start curating a library of subscriptions and hastily pulling together a 1:1 device loaner program. Teachers who were use to teaching in person were forced to learn online methods of instruction and recreate years of analog resources into a digital format while trying to figure out how to connect with their students who were not physically with them.
Now schools are heading back in some way shape or form, what happens to all the hard work everyone put in? Will we continue to need it going forward? With everything going on. The honest answer should be yes. Education has changed and the models we have learned and the resources we have created should help push forward standard traditional practices that have needed evolution in order to meet the current digital native audience of students. It is always good to have a plan too just incase you need a substitute, still have hybrid students, or if digital becomes a necessity again.
So how can you move forward with what you have created?
Content and Course Delivery Platforms – Spaces like Google Classroom and SeeSaw are great ways to continue to deliver content to your students. You can still use these platforms to deliver assignments you have already created, or create new assignments to send to students so they can work on projects and smaller activities from their individual devices. You can also use platforms like this as a way to differentiate learning for your students who might be a little ahead or a little behind so they can continue to get high quality instruction from you anywhere. Take what you already have created, do some editing, and continue to use it as a new resource.
Interactive Presentations – If you’re in person, you have a projection system…what are you waiting for? Just because you used them during distance teaching doesn’t mean you have to get rid of them and go back. Integrate them as fun visuals during your instruction to help those visual learners. Have students take turns interacting with the resources, or assign them the presentation and have them on their individual devices as you have yours on the board so you can all do it together. They will have just as much fun together as they would doing it apart.
Videos – SOOOO many teachers started to create videos and post them online for students. Even my Mom did it! From full lessons, short and fun activities, how-tos, and more. Videos were a great way for any educator ok with being in front of the camera to connect with students and provide instruction. What’s stopping you from continuing to share them? Try a flipped classroom model with your students assigning them the videos to watch for homework and then come in to discuss and practice with you, provide some extra content to students who might need some extra attention, or just continue to share your creative videos with students by projecting them on the board for all to see as a way to break up your instruction into smaller chunks. There are so many possibilities.
External sites – You’ve already built up a library of all kinds of tools and resources. Continue to integrate the ones that really stuck with your students. Find ones that they are engaged with and are learning and demonstrating learned skills and knowledge with. Find that balance to reach all the students in your classroom.
If you are in need of some more virtual resources to assist with virtual or distance teaching, here are some articles with great suggestions!
Common Sense Learning Best Tools for Virtual and Distance Teaching
We are Teachers 350+ Online Learning Resources for Teachers and Parents
Digital Promise Online Resources
How are you using your resources as you head back into school?
The Celtic Novelist 