Dear Reader,
Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this blog post, I know that with the current pandemic and political division - "Back To School" isn't the exciting time of the year that it usually is. Teachers are waiting for guidance from their superiors on reopening plans and I know personally, many are still setting up their classrooms in hopes of in-classroom education. Students are wondering whether they will be able to see their peers and participate in extracurricular activities; while understandably worrying about the quality of a Remote Education. Parents are struggling to know what the future will hold, how to best provide the educational environment and supports for their children, as well as balancing their other responsibilities. For many others, including those either in risk categories or those with loved ones who are, the decision for back to school is not an easy one, everyone needs to listen to the experts, but also individually and critically make the best decisions to keep themselves and those around them safe.
My name is Nick Cobb and I have worked in various educational capacities for the last decade; starting as a College Teaching Assistant for Statistics, continuing with experience with Special Education as a Paraprofessional, a various content Substitute and Tutor; including for the Air Force Junior Reserve Office Training Corps or AFJROTC, and finally a Certified Social Studies Educator. It was as a Social Studies teacher for US History 1, US History 2 and Economics that I taught remotely in the Spring.
The purpose of this article is to give several practical tips that you; as an educator, student, or parent, can use to make the Return To School less stressful and more successful! During the Remote Teaching I was fortunate to only see a relatively small drop in overall pass rate, especially considering that the population of students I worked with had a lot of socio-economic challenges; as well as difficulties and obstacles out of the school.
The following tips I have come up with as I have developed my wholistic approach (or holistic approach depending how you weigh in on that wholistic v holistic debate!) and were battle tested during a lot - and I mean A LOT! - of trial and error during Remote Learning; I am forever grateful to the patience and understanding of my students and their parents, and the flexibility that I was afforded by my district to try out ideas as we navigated a really difficult situation to try to give our kids the best education we could - because at the end of the day, teacher, parent, student, administrator or community member, we all want the same thing.
Tips For Educators
Be Flexible
Utilize Online Tools
Focus On The Big Concepts
Find The "Fun"
Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
1: Be Flexible
So we've all heard it before "Be Flexible" with our approaches and expectations; many of us already are and do provide our students with numerous opportunities and supports. We know that many of the more subtle things that we do 1-on-1 with students will go unnoticed, and we know that there is always a possibility of being accused that we could have done more. It is really easy, especially remotely, to disconnect from some of that 1-on-1 flexibility; especially students who you are just meeting. Don't.
This situation calls for doubling down, and remembering that many of our students struggle with things and circumstances that they don't verbalize with us in person, much less through a screen. I remember video conferencing with a student in a shell of a home he was working on to bring home money. At the start of the course he was convinced he would fail; he passed with an A - Be Flexible.
2: Utilize Online Tools
Which brings me to my next tip; to utilize online tools to not only be flexible with students, but also to make your life easier. There are so many online tools available that make both grading, instruction & communication easier, many are available for free and you can save yourself literally hours each week if you use them correctly. For example, using Google Forms, I created a form to both collect attendance, and to log when I contacted students or parents, afterwards all of my data was collected and organized in a spreadsheet for my physical records.
I used Google Classroom for my instruction already for students who were absent or suspended, it became crucial as the main hub for students to go to for materials, to turn in work and to communicate with me. The app Remind allowed me to "text" with students and since I logged into all my apps and extensions with my official school account - all interactions were logged and recorded. There are so many things out there, it'd be a crime to not add them to your curriculum both now and after.
3: Focus On The Big Concepts
We all know that we need to design our curriculum by examining the goals and then building the structure and materials to achieve those goals. The plain truth is that a good chunk of students are going to struggle remotely, either by not being able work through the curriculum online, or through a lack of academic skills/habit.
This is a really good opportunity to take a step back from our traditional curriculum and really identify the reasons behind what we are doing. What concepts and skills are the most important for students to learn, and what are the new best practices to teach effectively and efficiently in this alien environment. This is a good time to "trim the fat" per-say and to update our curriculum to the new 21st century needs of students.
4: Find The "Fun"
Have fun. No I'm serious, this really made the list. And honestly, for many, I would make this your top takeaway. Why did you become a teacher? I bet it was because you had that passion, to work with others, to teach and prepare the next generation to be successful in our changing world. Well the world has changed, but we need to make sure that passion doesn't change. As we look to the Fall, as we either prepare our physical classrooms or our digital ones, nothing feels normal and there's a hard to describe feeling of melancholy in a normally exciting time (even if we don't like to admit we get excited).
First off, that's completely normal and ok to feel that way right now, the world has changed and that can be really scary and destabilizing - but in every obstacle there is an opportunity. Keep that passion going, find goofy or engaging ways to interact with your kids and think out of the box. Your students spend large portions of their days watching content creators - you are one now in their world - so have fun with it and inspire your kids to still love learning. It's all about Mindset.
5: Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
Listen, whether you are going back in the Fall or not, hoping to go back in a month or expecting to go back in 2021; the point is literally no one knows. This advice is the same for everyone - the experts don't know, our authority figures don't know, and importantly we don't know. So be prepared. This saying has always stuck with me; always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. We hope we can go back to something that looks like normal soon, and you should 100% hope that.
But we live in an uncertain world where we don't have control over nature. However, if you make a plan for long-term, if you feel prepared in case that becomes the reality, you will FEEL prepared and that feeling will provide you with some security and control over the uncontrollable. Always keep hope close to your heart, but remember that life is a marathon not a sprint and you need to not burnout.
Tips For Students
Take Ownership Over Your Learning
Contact Your Teacher - Ask Questions
Focus On Time Spent - Not Tasks Completed
Build A Routine & Stick To It
Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
1: Take Ownership Over Your Learning
I'm sorry but I'm about to drop a hard truth - remote or not, your education is always your responsibility. Now don't get me wrong, it is 100% our jobs as educators to educate you, but that's a pretty narrow way of looking at it. What is the point, why are we educating you? Well, for things like this, when normal life changes and we have to adapt. Human knowledge is a grand compilation of all experiences, both bad and good - we figured out not to eat poisonous foods when Ralph, who lived in the cave next door, ate them and dropped dead (Ralph is my houseplant's name... what are you expecting? You're reading a teacher's blog, we're crazy!).
We learn things so that we have the mental tools to adapt and plan through tough situations, to not do the things that others have tried, or to use their knowledge to find new solutions to old, or new, problems. I always tell my students that they will get out my courses as much as they put in, and I don't mean that by a grade, but by the life knowledge they will have to try to make their lives successful and happy - that is more true now than ever. Get something good out of this experience.
2: Contact Your Teacher - Ask Questions
We do not read minds, thank God as I always tell the teenagers in my classroom. That being said, your body language has always and will always speak volumes. Someone tuned into the study of Kinesthetics can know who has a question, who doesn't understand and who isn't tuned in. This is much harder to do over technology, and we may legitimately not know if you are struggling with something. Reaching out and emailing teachers, or the use of messenger apps if your teachers are adapting to the new times, is important to your success - but is crucial now.
Do not feel guilty emailing us, we need to work on our own boundaries and work/life flow; but it is our jobs to help you through this experience and to hopefully thrive. If you have emailed a teacher 2 or 3 times without response, it might not hurt to forward the email to either your parent or guidance counselor - you are important and you deserve our time and attention - make sure you ask for it.
3: Focus On Time Spent - Not Tasks Completed
This is a lot, but remember, students all across the world made it through it successfully, and you can too! This is a strategy that can help with time management, especially if you have a tendency to procrastinate or to be a perfectionist - both equally dangerous in this less structured and organized learning environment.
Try to schedule your day into time blocks, and commit to doing specific things during those time blocks - you'll be surprised how much more you accomplish when you focus on the process and not the end result. Focus on what is in front of you and do it well, then repeat. You can do this, you just have to get into a routine.
4: Build A Routine & Stick To It!
Which brings me to arguably the most important tip, to build a routine and to then stick to it. In terms of your brain's psychology & energy use, new tasks take more "out of you" and are mentally harder to get yourself to do. However I am sure you have 0 problem checking your social media regularly - because with notifications and algorithms, the app has trained you into a routine of coming back for more!
Now if an app on your phone can hack your brain, you sure as heck can too! It is also true that the more often you do a repeated action, the more ingrained the task becomes in your neural network, and the easier it is for you to do, both literally and in terms of energy expenditure. The best feeling is two or so weeks into a habit, when you realize you are easily completing something that seemed impossible to you before. Push through that impossible feeling, pick a routine and just start and it will get easier - you got this, I believe in you!
5: Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
Listen, whether you are going back in the Fall or not, hoping to go back in a month or expecting to go back in 2021; the point is literally no one knows. This advice is the same for everyone - the experts don't know, our authority figures don't know, and importantly we don't know. So be prepared. This saying has always stuck with me; always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. We hope we can go back to something that looks like normal soon, and you should 100% hope that.
But we live in an uncertain world where we don't have control over nature. However, if you make a plan for long-term, if you feel prepared in case that becomes the reality, you will FEEL prepared and that feeling will provide you with some security and control over the uncontrollable. Always keep hope close to your heart, but remember that life is a marathon not a sprint and you need to not burnout.
Tips For Parents
Provide Structure & Support
But Promote Student Independence
Be Supportive Of Educators & Schools
Have Open Communication
Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
1: Provide Structure & Support
Monkey See, Monkey Do. It is our job as educators to provide you and your family the tools, routines & knowledge to be able to successfully navigate this changing situation. But part of being human means that our environments play a large role in what we do and who we become - the old argument of Nature v Nurture if you will.
It is important that the supports and structure provided are utilized, and if needed supplemented to. Regardless of how the Spring looked, everyone has had an opportunity to reflect and hopefully adapt for the Fall. We are all in this together to make your children succeed - it takes a village to raise a child, so cooperation on both ends is key.
2: Promote Student Independence
We want our kids to succeed, no matter who we are, where we are, what we do, or what we believe; we all have that common goal. However, sometimes it's possible to do to much in our quest to guide and prepare them to lead their lives. As my Kindergarten teaching Fiance reminded me, this applies more to the older grades that I have experience with, but I think the general principle is important.
The goal of raising a child is for that child to be able to lead a successful life after we are gone and unable to protect them, we need to promote and equip our kids with those skills and mindsets early and often. Pay attention to how your child is reacting to these circumstances, you may be surprised by how well some of them are.
3: Be Supportive Of Educators & Schools
We teachers have a job to do, to educate your children. But too often when decisions are made about schools, budgets and grades; the fact that we are human just like you can be easily forgotten. We of course understand that in situations like this, you are just doing what you think is best for your children. And we, as educators, have a job to do, and we should 100% be accountable to make sure we are doing that job.
Although we completely understand the stress and frustration about back to school; please be mindful of how you deal with those emotions, and who you take them out on - especially online. We are all stressed and it can be easy to forget that your child's teachers are also potentially dealing with all the same concerns you have; raising and supporting their families while trying to do the best they can at their jobs. We are all in this together and we have to come together.
4: Have Open Communication
Consistency is key. This is true both to building habits, but also to building pretty much anything in life. You have to show up and you have to be present when you are there. Teachers need to provide forms of communication to students and their families, and they need to be available through them, but students and parents also need to utilize and be available through those tools.
If there is confusion on how to use an application or assignment, we are happy to explain - it is our job! But please make sure that you are making and giving the time to fostering that communication with the teacher as well. Managing all our students' needs can take a lot of time, and receiving a message from you or your child is a good way to get to the front of our to-do lists.
5: Be Balanced & Look Long-Term
Listen, whether your children are going back in the Fall or not, hoping to go back in a month or expecting to go back in 2021; the point is literally no one knows. This advice is the same for everyone - the experts don't know, our authority figures don't know, and importantly we don't know. So be prepared. This saying has always stuck with me; always hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. We hope we can go back to something that looks like normal soon, and you should 100% hope that.
But we live in an uncertain world where we don't have control over nature. However, if you make a plan for long-term for not just the health and wellness of not only your children but also yourself. If you feel prepared in case that becomes the reality, you will FEEL prepared and that feeling will provide you with some security and control over the uncontrollable. Always keep hope close to your heart, but remember that life is a marathon not a sprint and you need to not burnout. You are doing the best you can for your children and your families, and we are all in this together.
Final Thoughts
Please always explore the topics and ideas shared with an open and a critical mind, think for yourself but always challenge beliefs, both the beliefs of others - and importantly your own. If you want to know more about me, remote learning, my education philosophies or consultation services, please sign up for the newsletter or book a free consultation - I also have an announcement about my PODS learning services next Wednesday.
I hope that some of the tips; either practically or conceptually, help your back to school transition, if so, please click that little heart button to show support! Feel free to share or leave questions, I will respond, thank you for your time and your attention. Have a great rest of your day!