As I plan out three more weeks of instruction and online work, I am also reflecting on my relationship with remote learning. Do I like it? Do I hate it? It's complicated. I am fortunate to teach in a large suburban district slightly northwest of Syracuse, NY. The school leaders invested in one to one [...]
Teachers on social media are posting inspirational videos. School districts are compassionately giving students food, paper packets, Chrome Books, internet connectivity, and yard signs for seniors. Educators are doing the best they can to make a monumental shift--that may become the norm for the 2020-2021 school year. There is a critical component of school that [...]
"The Commission recommends that states help families return to work with access to K–12 education by making existing education funding student-centered and portable." "Hell, yes!" You can hear parents across the country yell upon reading the quote above, taken from The National Coronavirus Recovery Commission recommendation for k-12 education. For many American parents, this extended experiment [...]
The internet is full of teacher's video messages to students. Recently, the English department, at the large suburban high school where I am employed, sent out a beautiful, heartfelt, and funny greeting to our students. Despite the positive messaging, there is a deep sadness that permeates the frames, as if teachers are saying: "This has [...]
25,327 deaths. 579, 005 infections. 16.9 million unemployment claims. $1200 stimulus check. 124,000 schools closed. 55 million students impacted. Thirty-five million COVID-19 tests needed—every day. The numbers are staggering. The grief is real and relentless. Our collective losses, although significant, are dwarfed by a terrible state of limbo. When will the country re-open? How will the country re-open? Of course, [...]