Thoughts on schooling in the era of COVID-19
Well, a whole lot has changed since I returned to blogging a month and half ago. In case you didn't notice, and I'm sure everyone reading this did, there's a global pandemic. I also am going to suspend my new "brief post" practice for this one, so hang with me.
First, I will share some twitter threads I wrote at different stages of this.
1. This came before and during Virginia Governor Northam ordered all Virginia public schools closed for minimum two weeks, dated March 13th, and presented some rudimentary thoughts on Virginia school divisions' response to/navigation of COVID-19:
FWIW, I have some rudimentary thoughts on Virginia school divisions' response to/navigation of #Covid_19 that might be informative and helpful. (Or they might not be at all. . .)
Thread.
2. This one was written for anyone trying to navigate learning at home who has children in Virginia public schools, dated March 17th:
So, as we are at the end of Week 1 of pandemic-based public K-12 school closures in Virginia, I have some thoughts.
Thread.#Covid_19
Of course, by now, Governor Northam has ordered all Virginia public schools closed through the end of the academic school year. This has not been easy news for schools and families to process and it will have devastating consequences for Virginia's families and children, but as I explained in this thread, this is a measure of last resort focused on saving lives, meaning more people will die if the schools aren't closed:
Many/some (how many I don't know) Virginia public schools stakeholders, including local schools' and school district leadership, think of this 2-week closure as a mere precaution, a measure take out of an "abundance of caution." I have heard it described by some as a "break."
As I explained in this thread, school districts were given guidance by the Virginia Department of Education to come up with food services and continuation of instruction plans during extended school closures. In terms of the continuation of instruction plans, we have been told and are being told to put together sets of activities that will last 10 days each through some point in April. As far as I understand, these activities cannot be graded, they cannot present new material, and they cannot require the internet, and they should be project-based and not worksheets. I teach US & Virginia Government to seniors so it's not so hard to put such a set of activities together. I am also pretty creative so it's not hard for me to think of projects (and in fact, I am looking forward to using some of these whenever I teach face-to-face again). But it is tough assuming no access to the internet. At some point, starting some time in April, as far as I understand, we will be able to present new content and to use internet resources and forums to do so.
Second, there's a great deal of discussion of out there about COVID-19 related school closures and the lack of equity CONTINUE READING: All Things Education: Thoughts on schooling in the era of COVID-19