Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

 
     It's been a little while since my last post.  Since then it seems the world has been turned upside down.  We all have a new normal that we're trying to get used to.  I, myself, have been working from home since the middle of March.  Suddenly I went from a job where I was always on the go, driving to different campuses all over our region to work with teachers and visit classrooms to sitting at a desk staring at a computer for 8 hours every day.  I was doing several webinars per day over Zoom for the teachers of my region as well as others who joined us from all over the country.  This new way of teaching and learning was new for all of us.
     Even though I know this has been a super hard transition on everyone from teachers to students to parents, I think that we should take a moment to reflect on the good that has come out of this situation.  We should look at this as a learning experience and reflect on it so that we can continue to utilize effective teaching practices that have surfaced through all of this.
     First, this has forced so many to step out of their comfort zone to try new things.  It might be just trying to get on a Zoom meeting or trying to get started in a new LMS.  Although it seemed scary at first and maybe overwhelming, what I see is a whole new culture of learning and helping each other.  If you look on Twitter or Facebook, some teachers are creating help videos and posting them in order to help other teachers.  Other teachers are creating lessons, hyperdocs and fun templates in Google
Docs and freely sharing them with other teachers around the country through social media.  Through this pandemic, it has allowed the walls of our classrooms to come down and instead of millions of individual classrooms with their doors closed, we now have giant open spaces where we are all free to share ideas and resources while learning from each other.  This is the way it should be.  We are not competing against each other.  We all have the same goal - yes, every teacher at every school in America has the same goal - to educate our students.
     Although this situation has been hard on many students and families, other students have really been able to thrive in this environment.  Am I suggesting that we continue sheltering in place forever?  Of course not, but what we can take a look at is what was it about this situation that has allowed some students to thrive.  I have heard teachers say that their quiet/shy students are participating much more in their online discussion boards.  I've heard others say that students that were given choice boards were really excited and did their work without even being told to do it.  Still others have said that the flexible schedules have allowed their students to be more productive.  Let's think about these things.  The quiet/shy students are quiet in normal classrooms.  Why is that?  Maybe they are scared to speak in front of others or maybe they need more time to process before giving an answer.  Given the online learning space, these students can have the time they need to process their answers and post asynchronously whenever they want.  They also don't
have to speak up in front of 30 other kids.  That can be intimidating to anyone.  Can we continue to offer online discussion forums, Flipgrid and other ways to interact online when we return to face-to-face school?  Absolutely!  We've also seen a lot of choice boards or playlists being assigned to students.  Students are really enjoying the freedom to choose what they do instead of being told and having everyone do the exact same assignment.  I mean, who doesn't like choices?  This is another easy thing that we can take back to our traditional classrooms.  Finally, many students are now able to choose their schedules each day.  Am I a morning person?  I can get up early and start working.  Night owl?  I'll do my work after everyone else goes to sleep.  Maybe I can only sit still for 30 minutes at a time.  Now I can take as many breaks as I want.  I know what you are thinking.  No, I'm not crazy and I know that kids can't just go to school whenever they want when we return to the classroom, but we should take some of these things into consideration.  Think about offering more choices on when, where and how students get to learn while offering flexible times and spaces in which to do it.  Why do we all have to sit in desks in rows?  What if I work better laying on the floor?  What if I need more frequent breaks while my neighbor wants to just plow through and get everything done without stopping.  Why can't we have it both ways?
     During this time, I have heard from teachers and read several articles that talked about how blended learning classrooms are faring during this time of remote learning.  Although blended learning by definition must include at least some instruction in a face-to-face setting, (so they are no longer in a blended learning environment) blended learning teachers and students seem to be faring better through this situation that others.  Why is that?  I think one lesson we can take from them is that they already have the systems and procedures in place for digital learning.  Blended learning teachers already use an LMS such as Google Classroom or Canvas with their students.  They already use many digital tools such as Flipgrid, Quizizz, Kahoot and possibly even online learning software such as Imagine Learning, IXL or Lexia.  All of this translates into a much easier transition from the face-to-face world to the digital world.  Blended learning teachers are still using playlists and have small group meetings with their students only now they are doing it through Zoom.  Students are still moving forward in their learning because they know how to own their own data and how to track their learning goals.  So, do I think that remote learning will last forever? No.  But, I do think that it would be in a teacher's best interest to learn more about blended learning so that they can take advantage of these systems and processes, but also because it is an effective way to personalize learning for all students.  Just think about how many gaps your students will have in their learning when school starts again in the fall and unfortunately all of their gaps will be different.  The ONLY way to meet all of these needs in the fall is going to be through personalized learning.
     Once again, teachers are the heroes that they always have been.  We've become good at making lemons out of lemonade.  Just because things return to normal doesn't mean we have to throw out the lemonade!

If you are interested in learning more about Planning for the Win with Blended Learning, check out our website for live Zoom sessions, recorded sessions and resources.  Feel free to reach out to us and schedule a live training session or brainstorming session.