Page 35 - DistanceLearning

Community Involvement and Support: Research suggests that parental A Decline in Discipline Issues: With students working in isolation, there are
involvement is a leading factor in student success. However, changes in social little to no behavioral issues. It has been said jokingly that the best feature of
constructs and economics have changed the family unit. Busy work schedules, an online group meeting is that the presenter (the teacher) can mute the whole
far commutes and lack of extended family support within the household have group. Imagine the time saved by getting through a lesson without interruption.
made it difficult for families and communities to be connected to learning. With Imagine that without daily contact and outside gatherings there are no conflicts.
many parents/guardians working from home during the pandemic, they are The entire school community, including administrators, can focus on learning
directly involved in learning. Additionally, teachers that are typically responsible rather than discipline. Other than the looming virus outside our doors, there are
for being with a group of students all day (because they cannot leave students no other safety or security concerns. The entire school community can focus on
unsupervised), have new-found time to contact families more frequently. These learning, the sole purpose of education.
daily interactions are forging closer relationships between teachers and families. A New Appreciation for School: What could be more thrilling for most tween
These connections coupled with the tough times the country has been facing and teen students than to hear that school is closed for weeks, and it’s not
are increasing community and family support for learning. summer? The truth is that many of the students of today’s society find comfort
Relevant Professional Development Opportunities: It is hard to revolutionize in a daily routine and comfort in the safety of school. Even those that typically
professional development (PD) with the typical lack of time, lack of funding and enjoy a “day off” are struggling with this change. Come to find out, the majority
lack of interest. For PD to be interesting it needs to be relevant. What better of students miss school. Sure, they might not miss the work, but they are doing
way to make professional development personally meaningful than to seek the THAT anyway. What they miss are the teachers, their friends, the trips, the
things you want to learn and learn them? With so many PD opportunities avail- clubs, the sports, and the daily excitement that school brings. Imagine a student
able online, through books, blogs and tutorials, there is no better time to take population happy to return?
charge of personalized PD than now! With their new flexible schedules, that is A Frequent Focus on the Emotional Wellbeing: When the whole nation is
exactly what teachers are doing, capitalizing on these powerful tools. in crisis, everyone feels it. This has caused a hyper-sensitivity to the emotional
New Levels of Collaboration: Teaching is by nature a very lonely profession. state of our students due to lack of social contact, lack of supplies/ food, finan-
Every day, teachers grab quick ideas from each other in passing and then are cial hardships and sensitivity to changes in daily routines. This has created
left to their own devices teaching in isolation. In the initial struggles to make an overwhelming need for all staff to conduct frequent check-ins on students,
sense of something so new, teachers began chatting and taking on new roles families and each other. This is something that should be practiced daily but
within their teams. They began reaching out on social platforms and networking can too easily be overlooked in the daily hustle and bustle. Checking in allows
with other educators to gain new ideas and share resources. Collaboration with- a heightened level of emotional support and provides opportunities for teachers
in teams, schools and districts and across the state and nation have multiplied to adjust instruction based on student input. This promotes a student voice in
as teachers have started new venues to support each other and their students. learning and teacher support for student needs. Additionally, it creates a healthy
Equity Brought to the Forefront: One of the biggest struggles of remote culture, which is in fact the key to learning success.
learning has been the availability of internet connectivity and access to devices Not all teachers have made these changes. There are many that may have just
for all families. Some companies have tried to support these efforts but this still read this article and thought, “This is the way it’s always been for me?” And for
remains a challenge for most districts. Thankfully, many educational companies THAT, we thank you! Those Wayne Gretzski’s (the great ones) of teaching are
and businesses have opened their platforms allowing ALL educators and stu- the ones that are now being heard by their peers, mentoring colleagues and
dents access to programs they may have otherwise not been financially able to continuing to rise above the rest.
implement. Often districts in more affluent towns receive more local funding, but For decades educational institutions have struggled to reform and to to disrupt
now the field has been leveled, opening up learning opportunities for economi- the educational constraints on an archaic system. Now in a few short weeks
cally diverse districts, which has made programs more equitably accessible. But (that have seemed like a lifetime) our systems have been turned upside down,
even with the generous support from companies, districts are struggling to get people have been forced out of their comfort zones and communities have been
students to “show up” and/or meet with learning success. Supporting special forced to pay attention to education. If the system can be overturned so quickly,
needs students with necessary support services, reaching non-English speak- imagine what the future implications could be toward an even better educational
ing families and supporting students from families with financial hardships has system, tomorrow!
become increasingly difficult during remote learning, forcing districts to examine
equity practices and accessibility for all students.

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