California: The Year of Teaching Dangerously, Part 1
Capital & Main published a five-part series on teaching during the pandemic. The series is called “The Year of Teaching Dangerously.”
Sasha Abramsky launched the series with an article about how schools in California were adapting to the pandemic.
Abramsky writes about the uncertainty, confusion, and conflict that accompanied the shutdown, as teachers were required to address new realities and to confront stark inequities.
In March, when Northern California counties issued stay-at-home orders, followed shortly afterwards by a statewide shutdown, schools scrambled to improvise a pivot to online “distance learning.” Some were able to make the change within days; others took many weeks. Grading and assessment systems were largely put to one side, at least in the public school system. And school districts rushed – and in some cases struggled – to purchase and distribute Chromebooks or iPads to students who didn’t have them; to set up Wi-Fi hotspots for families lacking home Internet access; to work out how to keep distributing food to children from low-income families who relied on school breakfasts and lunches; and to set up methods of teaching online that wouldn’t CONTINUE READING: California: The Year of Teaching Dangerously, Part 1 | Diane Ravitch's blog