[Music]
You know none of us plan for this. We
didn't expect this. There was no way we
could have predicted that we would be in
this situation that we're in right now.
You can call it online teaching or
virtual teaching or long-distance
teaching or simply "teaching amid a giant
pandemic that you simply didn't
anticipate" teaching. So the reality is
many of us are teaching in a way that
is different than what we thought we
would do at the end of the school year.
And this new way of teaching can feel
really, really, difficult. But teachers are
proving over and over again that they
are the heart of innovation. Teachers
have proven that social distancing is
about physical distance but not
relational distance. They're showing
yet again how they can build
community even in a distance environment.
Even though they don't prefer
video conferences, they're making those
happen. Even though they're not used
to teaching in an online format they're
making that happen as well. Even
though the context is changing almost
every single day, teachers are proving to
be adaptable and innovative as they
experiment and move forward. I
mention this because I work with
pre-service teachers and many of them
are concerned about the quality of
instruction that they're delivering.
They're worried about things like: Is it
okay to give handouts? Is it okay
that I had a packet online? What
happens if a kid doesn't have internet
at home? Or what happens if they don't
have one-to-one computers? These are
big, hard, questions that cut to the core
of equity and fairness and justice.
Yet I used to rail against
worksheets
and packets. Then I realized
something.
Some kids love those. Some kids love to
go through the progression of a handout
or a worksheet and to work on those
discrete skills and to see the progress
and to know that they're getting better.
They've legitimately loved packets. Some
families love packets because of the
structure that it provides. Meanwhile,
some kids just need a ton of freedom and
a ton of choice. Give them a Genius Hour
for a full day and they will run with it.
Give them a couple of project ideas and
they will make it happen.
Give them a choice menu and see them
take flight. Let them have a Wonder Day
and watch where their curiosity takes
them. But other kids need handouts and
structure. And that's okay right now. Some
families need packets. Some families need
ideas.
Some families simply need time to be
away in the process and to think and to
go through trauma together and to grieve.
Some of them have lost their jobs and
they are worried about where that next
paycheck will come from. Some are essential
workers and they are scrambling to try
to get childcare for their kids.
Meanwhile others have turned the kitchen
table or the counter into their office
because they now have to telecommute. Do
people who still use that term?
telecommute? But anyway, they are working
from home and they are struggling to
make it happen. And that's okay. Some
parents are eager to communicate and
they want a ton of information they want
phone calls and emails and they want to
know what's going on. Other parents
are overwhelmed. They are trying to keep
it together while they care after an
elderly parent in a vulnerable
population. They are worried about
what's going to happen. Some parents
are just lucky that they got up in the
morning because they're feeling so the
crushed by what's going on in the world.
Some parents are going to want to
communicate more. Some parents are
going to want to communicate less. And
that's okay. Every child is different.
Every family is different. Every teacher
is different. And that's okay. But there
are some universals that I think we can
all agree on. I think we can agree that
it's okay in this moment to make
mistakes. It's okay to experiment and try
again and iterate as a teacher and know
that not every lesson will be perfect.
And it's okay to give students some
flexibility with deadlines and missing
work and to assume the best out of them
when they struggle; when they can't find
an assignment on Google classroom; or
when they don't know how to upload an
assignment in Google classroom. We
can show parents some grace when they
don't communicate with us or they don't
answer an email. We can show some
teachers some grace when they make a
mistake in that email that they send out.
We are all doing our best. We are all
trying our hardest. We are all
collectively going through a really hard
time. I think it's important to remember
that parents are not the enemy. Students
are not the enemy. Teachers are not the
enemy. Worksheets are not the enemy.
Distance learning is not the enemy. The
enemy is a global pandemic and we're all
fighting this thing together. So it's
okay to recognize that there is no one
right way to make distance-learning
happen. We're all trying and
experimenting and doing our best. So my
thought is just show each other and
ourselves some grace along the way.