Whether you are going back to school in person or beginning the year virtually, we've been advised to go into the year with a virtual mindset.  Establishing routines that can pivot between in person learning and an online environment will reduce the stress on teachers, students, and families.  The fact is, we can't teach virtually the same way we teach in person.  It's just not going to be effective.  By shifting our mindsets to virtual now, we can better prepare for the possibility that we will have to shift to virtual instruction at some point.  So how do we do this?  Whether in person or online, we should:

• Build community
• Develop routines
• Encourage student to student and student to teacher communication 
• Incorporate SEL 
• Communicate often 

Build Community
One of the best and easiest ways to building community is to incorporate Morning Meeting.  I'll admit, when I first learned about morning meeting, I thought it was just for younger grades.  I started hearing positive things from the teachers who were incorporating it and my curiosity was piqued.  I began to research and found that it can be incorporated at any grade level, K-12.  It certainly won't look the same in high school as it would in elementary school, but once I started thinking about it, it really made sense.  Think about when you talk to your friends or family on the phone.  You greet each other, update them on what is going on in your life, get their feedback, answer their questions, listen to what they share, plan activities to do with one another... each one of these components further builds your relationship and sense of belonging in your community.  Bringing that sense of community into the classroom could only lead to positive outcomes.  The fact that morning meetings can just as easily occur in person as they can online is just a bonus!

Morning Meetings, as developed by the Responsive Classroom (RC) model consist of four components:
Greeting: Students greet each other by name. 
Sharing: Students share what is going on in their lives.  Classmates listen to one another, offer feedback, ask questions, and relate to one another.
Group Activity: The whole class participates in an activity or game (preferably one that gets everyone moving) that builds social skills and/or academic skills and teamwork.  Think ice breakers with an academic twist thrown in once in a while.  
Morning Message: Students read a short message, focus, or goal that sets the tone for the day.

Read What is Morning Meeting? (Responsive Classroom)

Don't forget to share and participate yourself!  Students want to know who their teachers are.  When I taught third grade, I used my own childhood stories to model writing strategies in my writer's notebook.  The students learned so much about me and my family through these lessons that when I lost a close family member, they cried with me.  They knew that life could be pretty awesome, but it wasn't always perfect.  Having a community to go to when you have great news to share is just as important as having one when you have bad news to share or you need advice.   Don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and even look silly participating in group activities.  If you are asking your students to put themselves out there, you should be willing to as well.  Putting myself out there has led to some pretty memorable "teaching" moments... pie in the face, dunk tank, dancing in my kitchen in front of 300 students and their families for our end of the year virtual dance party... just to name a few!  

Stay tuned for Part 2: Develop Routines...

"This fall doesn’t have to be like the spring,"  writes Jenny Anderson for the New York Times.  Whether you are a teacher, admin, student, or parent, once August rolls around you begin to think about the new school year.  Some schools are going back with modifications, some are implementing a hybrid model, and some will start the year virtually.  Regardless of how the school year begins, it will be different.  There are adjustments we can make for a smooth transition and a successful school year.  

Read: How to Proactively Prepare for Distance Learning by Jenny Anderson (The New York Times)

I recall parents discussing "homeschooling" their children this past spring.  They started with such positive energy, creating colorful charts and schedules, proudly posting them online.  Within a matter of days however, parents began posting their appreciation to teachers everywhere.  It turned out that teaching was not exactly as simple as cute charts and ambitious schedules.  I know exactly one family who had a positive school experience this past spring- and they were already an established homeschooled family.  Everyone else seemed to be part of the scramble to adjust and do the best they could.  The dynamic in households all over changed as parents took on the dual role of parenting and teaching their children.  It does not have to be that way this fall.  Unless a family makes the decision to withdraw from the school system and become full time homeschoolers, parents should take a step back so the teachers can teach and they can go back to being the parents.  Once that happens, parents can once again be their child's biggest advocate and open lines of communication with the teachers.  This year is going to take a lot of patience, flexibility, and understanding.  Together, we can navigate the upcoming school year and set ourselves, our families, and our schools up for success.  

Yes!  Is it ideal for everyone?  No.  I have successfully completed two online graduate degrees and have withdrawn from a third.  My experiences have ranged from extremely positive to nervous breakdown inducing (I'll let you deduce which caused that)!  While my personal pursuits of online education do not make me an expert by any means, I did lead my school's effort to transition our K-5 learning environment to virtual learning in the middle of the pandemic.  I threw my heart into helping the students, parents, teachers , and admins navigate brand new territory and I was quite proud of how well we did.  Could we have done it better?  I honestly don't think so.  We did the best we could with what we had to work with.  But can we do it better this fall?  Absolutely. 

The upcoming school year will again bring uncertainty as it tests us all.  The fear from the spring is still palpable, but with it comes the fear that we will do our students a disservice if we don't get it right.  Online learning can be successful if we stop using the same methods we use in the classroom and start teaching for the environment.  

"There are many things we should be doing right now that are certain to improve the state of education for our nation's nearly 57 million pre-K through 12th grade students during this time of crisis. What’s more, these moves can also transform the future of education for all of our children and their families."

Read: Coronavirus: Remote learning turns kids into zombies because we're doing it all wrong by Lindsay Portnoy (USA Today)

Online learning can be successful, but teachers and families need support and training to get it right.  We can't just substitute in-school experiences with screencasts, youtube videos, and google apps.  Real learning is possible if we adjust our expectations to go beyond that with which we are comfortable.  We can cultivate learning on a deeper level and increase student to teacher and student to student communication if we utilize existing technologies and adapt to new norms.  Will it be easy?  No.  But is it possible?  Yes.