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In-class or online learning? Ottawa parents must decide this week whether kids return to class | CTV News

OTTAWA -- Less than four weeks before the start of the 2020-21 school year, Ottawa parents must decide this week whether to send their kids back to school or enrol in online learning.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board and the Ottawa Catholic School Board will send surveys to parents on Monday asking whether their child will attend school in person or by remote learning in September. Both school boards will also unveil plans for the new school year on Monday.

Parents must indicate whether their child will enrol in online learning by Friday, Aug. 14.

The Ontario Government announced last month that students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 will attend class five days a week, while secondary schools in Ottawa will operate on a hybrid model featuring 50 per cent in-class and 50 per cent online.

Both the Ottawa Carleton District School Board and Ottawa Catholic School Board say parents will be able to switch from online to in-person classes.

In a letter to parents, the Ottawa Catholic School Board says if parents are opting-in for online learning for Kindergarten to Grade 8 students in September, students will be required to participate at home until the first reporting period in November. At that time, options to return to in-class instruction will be reviewed based on available staff and class sizes.

The Catholic school board says Grade 9 to 12 students that choose online learning will commit to distance learning for the first semester.

The Ottawa Carleton District School Board says there may be designated points during the school year when a requested change in learning can be implemented.

Ottawa's French Catholic school board

Ottawa's French Catholic school board says parents have until Thursday to decide whether to send their child to class full-time or opt for online learning.

The Conseil des ecoles catholiques du Centre-Est says parents of 1,700 students have expressed an interest in online learning.

The board is following up with those parents to confirm their interest in the "Online Learning Academy" for September.

Ottawa's French public school board

The Conseil des ecoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario says parents will receive a communication in the coming days asking whether they will send their children for in-person classes or online learning.

If parents choose the Virtual School Learning Program, details of the program will be announced soon.

The board says if parents decide to switch from online to in-person learning for elementary school students, they will need to allow a few weeks for the change to take place to allow for the integration of a new student into a cohort.

Secondary school students will have to complete half a semester before switching from online to in-class learning.

This content was originally published here.

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Dispute between LAUSD and teachers over online learning keeps parents in limbo

With the Aug. 18 start of the school year fast approaching, parents and students face uncertainty over how online instruction will be conducted as the Los Angeles teachers union and district officials haggle over the rules and schedules for distance learning.

The union, United Teachers Los Angeles, opposes a proposal under which teachers would have to instruct students remotely while working an 8:30 a.m.-to-3 p.m. schedule that would closely mirror a traditional school day. The union has countered with a shorter work day structured somewhat differently.

The union also had objected to proposal that would have required teachers to work online from their empty classrooms, but the district dropped that demand on Wednesday, according to the union.

The secrecy around the negotiations spurred an advocacy group on Wednesday to threaten litigation against nation’s second-largest school system if it doesn’t fix instructional problems — shortcomings that many parents have complained about since campuses closed March 13.

In posted statements, union leaders had argued that forcing teachers to return to campus — even without students — would pose unnecessary health risks. Still under discussion is the option of teachers working voluntarily from their classrooms, where they would have their full instructional materials and reliable internet access.

District officials declined to discuss their proposal. In recent interviews, schools Supt. Austin Beutner has said that he and union leaders shared common cause in wanting instruction to be effective and to be carried out safely.

Apart from the lawsuit threat from a group called Parent Revolution, similar concerns are being raised by another advocacy group called Speak Up.

“Our parents should not be kept in the dark on these negotiations,” said Katie Braude, chief executive officer of Speak Up. “They should be part of this conversation. ... In the spring, LAUSD allowed live, online instruction to be optional for teachers. The result was catastrophic for our most vulnerable students.”

Both Speak Up and Parent Revolution have frequently been at odds with the teachers union over political and policy matters.

Under orders by Gov. Gavin Newsom, public and private schools located in counties on the state’s “watch list” cannot reopen for the start of school because the risks would be too great amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Campuses could potentially reopen once virus transmission recedes and stabilizes for 14 days. Elementary schools can apply for a waiver to reopen sooner.

The district and the union weathered criticism when they agreed in April to require only 20 hours of work per week from teachers. The format of instruction was essentially unspecified to give teachers and students maximum flexibility, emphasizing compassion over rigor. Many teachers said that the flexibility allowed them to work more effectively.

Some parents, however, complained of limited contact with teachers, and student engagement was disappointing and especially low among Black and Latino students and those from low-income families. Some teachers reported a decline in student effort after the district did away with failing grades and stipulated that no student would receive a final grade lower than what it was when campuses shut down.

“It is clear that the district’s distance-learning program in the spring violated students’ constitutional right to an education,” said Seth Litt, executive director of the advocacy group Parent Revolution, one of the groups that threatened litigation. “This wasn’t a natural result of COVID-19.”

“They have deprived our students of the opportunity to learn through the decisions they have made,” said Alma Solano, a parent who signed the demand letter.

Concerns over academic progress spurred state lawmakers to insert instructional requirements into the budget bill, requiring teachers to take online attendance and document student learning. The rules reimpose the state’s minimum daily instructional minutes of 180 for kindergarten, 230 minutes for grades 1 through 3, and 240 minutes for grades 4 through 12.

However, distance learning can be documented with student work as well as time spent online — which creates ambiguity and wiggle room in labor negotiations.

Nonetheless, a departure from state requirements is supposed to involve mandatory input from parents — and parent leaders and groups representing them have not been involved in the L.A. negotiations to date.

Vicky Martinez, a parent of four students at different schools, was more supportive of union priorities. She said that although the spring was “chaotic,” she saw progress in online classes during summer school.

“It’s so much better,” Martinez said.

The teachers union priorities include: an intensive focus on social and emotional needs, an instruction plan that does not rely solely on live instruction; suspending evaluations of tenured teachers for a year; more training for substitute teachers, and a maximum daily screen time of 45 minutes for children younger than 5.

One elementary principal said he was proud of what his teachers accomplished, but that more academic rigor is needed for the fall.

“From March to June it was, ‘Let’s do the best we can,’” said the principal, who works in northeast Los Angeles and requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak. “Now there needs to be more expectations.”

A principal from the west San Fernando Valley, also speaking anonymously, acknowledged the thorniness of the issues. A set schedule would benefit many students — and teachers could work more easily from campus, both online and with their colleagues. All the same, he said, teachers had legitimate personal challenges that stood in the way of working a standard schedule on campus.

Teachers are classified as essential workers and allowed to work on campus even when children are not permitted, according to the L.A. County Office of Education.

The district also has outstanding issues with another union, Local 99 of Service Employees International, which represents most non-teaching employees. That union is seeking an expansion of custodial services at campuses in response to the pandemic, for example.

Negotiations are expected to continue throughout the week.

This content was originally published here.

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Public Safety Win: Pennsylvania Will Open Schools For One Day In September So Everyone Can See Which Students Got Hot Over The Summer Before Returning To Online Learning

With the start of the school year quickly approaching, many states are still struggling to find a smart and safe way to reopen schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but one state just unveiled a new reopening plan that seems like a pretty great solution: Pennsylvania has announced that public schools will open for one day in September so everyone can see which students got hot over the summer and then after that return to online learning.

Take note, other states, because THIS is the way to do it!

PA Governor Tom Wolf announced his proposal for the state’s schools in a press conference earlier today, citing the need for a plan that both limits potential respiratory transmission of the coronavirus as much as possible and allows students see for themselves which of their peers went through a major growth spurt during the summer months and look like a totally new, super-hot person.

“Although remote learning lets us safely continue classes despite the ongoing pandemic, a virtual classroom makes it virtually impossible to accurately identify which students have morphed from total loser to bangable hottie,” said Wolf, adding that while video technology lets you see people’s faces, you can’t take in the whole package. “You really need to see someone in person to take in how attractive they got since you saw them last, so by allowing students to go to school for just one day, we will be giving them the opportunity to check out whose skin cleared up, who developed a jawline, or who started filling out their bra.”

“The physical changes a student might experience from June to August can drastically affect their popularity and social ranking, so it’s essential that our students have the chance to get a good look at how the summer treated everybody before they return to Zoom classes,” he continued.

Wolf also announced that as an additional safety measure, students will be required to wear masks for the entire in-person school day with the exception of the lunch period, where they’ll be permitted to dramatically pull their masks off as they walk down the center of the cafeteria so that everyone can stare in awe at their transformation.

This plan is being praised by epidemiologists who’ve cited how important it is to limit exposure between students while noting how the impressions made on the first day of school can majorly influence who’ll sit at the cool lunch tables and get invited to parties, as well as who you crush on for the entire year—if not longer.

Just awesome! Here’s hoping other states follow in Pennsylvania’s footsteps, because this sounds like an incredibly sensible plan for how schools should operate during the pandemic.

This content was originally published here.

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Parents of 1,700 students at Ottawa's French Catholic school board express interest in online learning | CTV News

OTTAWA -- Ottawa's French Catholic school board says it "underestimated" the number of families that would be interested in enrolling in online learning in September.

In a letter to parents, the Conseil des ecoles catholiques du Centre-Est says parents of 1,700 students have indicated they are interested in the Virtual Learning Academy offered by the board during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June, the CECCE launched the "Virtual Learning Academy" to serve students in Kindergarten to Grade 12 whose parents want full-time online learning at the start of the 2020-21 school year. The board asked parents to fill out a form to opt for the online learning before July 17.

In a letter to parents, CECCE director of education Rejean Sirois said the board expected about 400 to 500 students to sign up for the Virtual Learning Academy.

"Unfortunately, the administration underestimated the interest families would have in the way that online education was delivered," writes Sirois.

"To this end, more than 1,300 families representing 1,700 students have indicated their interest in enrolling their children in the Virtual Learning Academy program."

The CECCE is now following up with families to confirm their interest in online learning for September.

The French Catholic school board says it will release its "Return to Class Guide" no later than Monday, August 10. It will include plans for elementary and secondary schools in September.

Parents have until Thursday, August 13 to decide whether to enrol their kids in the Virtual Learning Academy in September.

This content was originally published here.

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Teachers at Andrew, Carl Sandburg and Stagg high schools push for online learning when school begins - Chicago Tribune

Christin Mozden, a teacher at Andrew High School, took part in a car caravan Tuesday demanding that High School District 230 use online learning when the new school year begins. (John Smierciak / Daily Southtown)

Emma Schmidt, a teacher at Stagg High School, decorates her car as about 50 educators from High School District 230 took their concerns about the start of the new school year to the public Tuesday. (John Smierciak / Daily Southtown)

Mike Kealy a teacher at Stagg High School, waits with his boys Quinn Kealy 9, and Caiden Kealy 11, for instructions as about 50 educators from District 230 prepared for a caravan from the administration center in Orland Park to various high schools. (John Smierciak / Daily Southtown)

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Inspired by COVID-19 restrictions, two 15-year-olds create free online learning platform for kids - CNA

SINGAPORE: As part of a volunteer programme to help underprivileged children, 15-year-old Mihika Mishra used to go to a two-room HDB flat every week to do fun activities with a three-year-old girl and teach her how to read.

“Because of the pandemic, obviously that programme had to shut down. I couldn’t help but wonder what she must be going through,” Mihika said, stating that the girl lived with six others in the flat.

“I wanted to create a platform that allowed children like her to have an escape, just to have some fun or explore activities.”

Mihika talked about it with Arsh Sheikh, her good friend and classmate from the Overseas Family School. They had both struggled to discover their passion growing up. So in June, the pair brainstormed how they could help children engage in new activities during the pandemic.

“I wanted to provide children a way to do this for free, considering the unfortunate conditions some children face right now,” said Arsh, 15. “I also knew that there would be other kids who wanted to pursue a passion while staying remote and safe.”

The solution they came up with was Explorexa, a platform that uses Zoom to host fun and free 45-minute lessons for children aged three to 18. The thrice-weekly sessions, ranging from art and baking to singing and dancing, are taught by fellow students who have some talent or experience in these fields.

Arsh said the instructors are aged 13 to 18 to make lessons more child-friendly and encourage questions. The co-founders will ask potential instructors to demonstrate their expertise and also tell them the dos and don’ts.

For instance, students are not required to switch on their cameras during lessons to protect their privacy. Instructors should also pause every 15 minutes to ask if there are questions. It is about getting the students excited about something, Arsh said.

“It's not a formal classroom setting, it's more of just an interactive environment where the kids feel safe and comfortable to ask questions and be passionate about the activity,” Mihika added.

A session on graffit art includes an introduction to shading. (Screengrab: Explorexa)

The lessons can involve basic explanations, pre-recorded videos and live demonstrations. For example, a lesson on graffiti art included an introduction to sketches and pencils, as well as a how-to on drawing popular cartoon character Spongebob Squarepants.

Interested parties can visit their website for a list of upcoming activities, before filling up a registration form that asks for details like name, age and grade. They will receive a Zoom link a day before the activity. Instructors can also sign up through a separate form.

Since its July launch, Explorexa has had about 120 sign-ups across 18 lessons, including sports like football and basketball and more serious topics like programming and business. Some of those who signed up come from countries like Norway, Oman and Australia.

“Most of our audience is from international schools, but we would really like to expand to local schools, or even children who don't have the opportunity to go to school,” Mihika said. “That’s one of our main causes.”

BUILDING FROM SCRATCH

But creating Explorexa did not come without challenges. Mihika and Arsh took quite a bit of time to decide how the lessons would be conducted, and considered starting a YouTube channel.

While some organisations like the National Heritage Board and Wildlife Reserves Singapore digitised their content and launched online activities for children during the “circuit breaker”, Mihika wanted something with a more human touch.

“We thought that live sessions would work best for kids since they require interactivity, and it would just be the most suitable environment for them,” she said. “Instead of just watching videos, they can ask questions and learn better.”

At the start, the pair spent hours watching online tutorials on designing websites using the online platform Wix, delving into details like picking the most suitable interface and colours for children.

“It was really time intensive because we needed to go through so many tutorials to even understand one feature. Wix is a really broad website with a lot of features,” Arsh said,

“Because of quarantine we actually don't have anything else to do so, we just put all our effort into this one website.”

The pair used their own savings to pay for a domain name and premium Wix plan. Arsh said it was free to use Zoom to host lessons as the platform usually upgrades its time limit on meetings from 40 minutes to an hour.

Once that was done, they had to find instructors, something they acknowledged was difficult because everything would be done for free.

“We asked a couple of our friends but a lot of them were like, ‘We would like to do it for money,’” Mihika said.

“But I think the fact that we had a ‘be a leader’ page (for instructors) and we made it clear that that was free, caused us to get people who are genuinely interested in teaching. So from that we generated a lot of leaders.”

A bunch of schoolmates soon agreed to become instructors. More recently, a student from a local secondary school signed up to teach a lesson on baking chocolate chip cookies. Explorexa eventually had enough activities to last several weeks.

“We had already planned for the next three or four weeks, just to put that off our mind because we need to focus on the marketing, making a social media account and everything,” Arsh said.

SLOW START

However, Explorexa failed to attract much interest for the first round of lessons starting Jul 18. The website was only getting a maximum of 200 views. Mihika and Arash felt discouraged after putting so much into it.

“We weren't sure whether to continue, but we had already put so much effort into it, we just decided to give it a go,” Mihika said.

The two of them ramped up publicity efforts on social media, including getting their parents and friends to share it with others from across the globe. In the second week, Explorexa saw a spike in sign-ups.

“That actually filled us with a lot of confidence,” Arsh said, adding that they thought it would be at least a month before interest picked up. “It just inspired us to do more work, putting in as much effort as we can during this (COVID-19) season.”

An instructor explaining musical notes in a session on classical singing. (Screengrab: Explorexa)

A few weeks in, Mihika said she is “pretty proud” of the feedback so far, although she encouraged more parents and students to give reviews. Students can also suggest what lessons they would like to see.

Still, Arsh expects to see a dip in sign-ups when COVID-19 restrictions are eventually lifted, but insisted that they will continue to run Explorexa. The platform, like learning through YouTube videos, will remain relevant, he predicted.

Nevertheless, Mihika and Arsh admitted that it is a lot of work. They have to search for new instructors and activities, sit in for lessons to ensure everything runs smoothly, respond to feedback and manage the social media accounts.

Mihika is optimistic as the lessons are usually conducted after school or on weekends. If things start to get really hectic, she plans to get more volunteers on board. Some of her friends have already expressed interest.

“We can launch clubs in our school where people can actually volunteer to help us maintain the website,” Arsh said.

GRAND PLANS

Nevertheless, the pair have lofty ambitions for Explorexa. They are currently working on issuing certificates to instructors, and finding more variations of popular activities like arts and sports.

This includes introducing lesser-known sports like rounders, which is similar to baseball.

A session on basketball showing a pre-recorded video. (Screengrab: Explorexa)

Down the road, they hope to launch an Explorexa app and a one-to-one tutoring function for subjects taught in school. They also discussed adding in-depth “masterclasses” taught by older and more seasoned instructors.

But one thing will remain constant: That the platform is free to use.

“For starters, we definitely hope to grow in Singapore and neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, as I know they've been hugely affected (by COVID-19),” Mihika said, adding that the aim is to get as many students as possible.

“I think the main goal of what we believe is that we need to keep it free, because the main goal is just to help out kids, it's never to make a profit.”

This content was originally published here.

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How to make online learning a success.

This article is part of Open Book, a Slate series about the new school year.

When I began my teaching career in 1999, I never imagined I would spend my 21st year in the classroom outside of the classroom, teaching my fifth grade students from the quarantined comfort of my own home. I’ve shepherded students through national tragedies like 9/11, a space shuttle disaster, and the Sandy Hook shooting just down the road in my own state, but this past spring demanded more from me than ever before. I have never worked so hard as a teacher, nor have I ever felt so ineffective.

But as March turned to April and May, I became more adept at distance learning. By June, my students and I had settled into a routine—one that included both mundane and imaginative ways of connecting with one another, as well as weekly individual meetings, small group sessions, whole class lessons, and even lunchtime gatherings. I have no doubt I’ll have occasion to put the strategies my students and I developed together into further use next year. And as my colleagues around the country scramble to wrap their heads around a fall teaching landscape vastly different from the norm, I thought it would be helpful to share some of the videoconferencing teaching tricks of the trade I’ve developed.

Teachers are used to setting up classroom expectations at the start of the school year—a sort of student-teacher contract. These will be even more important this year. I established these ground rules last spring with my fifth graders, and they served us well:

Be fully present. It’s perfectly fine for a student to work on the couch, the patio, or even the bed. Comfort is important, and sometimes, the only quiet place in the house might be inside a closet (which was one student’s preferred workspace). But wherever a student worked, the expectation remained the same: Sit up straight and engage the camera with your eyes, the same way you would any person speaking to you.

No pajamas allowed. The mindset of students should be that it’s a school day, even if they are not physically present in school. This means getting dressed and ready for the day.

Cameras on. I expected all students to leave their cameras on whenever possible. Unless an older brother was walking through the living room in his underwear, or a student needed to blow her nose, there was no need to hide behind a deactivated camera.

Treat online class like classroom class. Students were not permitted to eat while engaged in videoconferencing, nor should they be using their phones or any other software or video game on their computer. The latter was more difficult to monitor, but setting the expectations is important.

Attend individual meetings. Every week, I set aside time for one-on-one meetings with students, which I encouraged parents to attend as well. These meetings were critical to student success. In these meetings, we reviewed the previous week’s performance, discussed changes in the home—like the arrival of a new puppy or Mom’s new work schedule—addressed any new challenges that had arisen since we last met, and set expectations for the coming week. If a parent could not attend the meeting, I recorded the meeting and sent it directly to the parent for review at a later time. As a parent myself, I knew full well that not every parent was available to monitor their child during the school day. But the communication with parents helped, and I was thankful for every little bit of help they could offer.

The Practical Stuff

It can be tough to get through to students via videoconferencing. A supportive or disappointed look through the camera pales in comparison to a private in-person nod of encouragement or a stern warning. But the following practical guidelines really helped with my communication:

Light yourself well. Students should be able to see you clearly, and if you’re recording videos, they should also be well-lit. Simple lights that can be affixed to a laptop screen help, but opting for a room with strong overhead lights also does the trick.

Get eye level. Camera placement is important. Prop your laptop or phone up on something eye level. Don’t look down at your screen. The kids don’t want to look up your nose. Well, they might enjoy that—for a laugh. But they don’t want to regularly look up your nose.

Look into the camera on your laptop or phone. This will give your students the feeling that you are making eye contact with them.

Stand up! At least some of the time. Your energy will translate so much better than if you’re sitting. And if you’re energetic, your students are more likely to listen.

Avoid using digital backgrounds. Authenticity and vulnerability are much better than an unrealistic or falsified background. For the first time in human history, students have the opportunity to glimpse into the home of their teachers. We all remember thinking as kids that teachers had no life outside the classroom. Make the most of this. Allow your students into your life. When the physical distance between us makes it difficult to connect, these little windows into our home life can bridge a bit of that distance and allow us to forge connections in new and interesting ways.

YouTube is your friend. My students have always told me, “You can learn anything on YouTube.” They are right. As you record videos for your students, YouTube has a wealth of information for how to make them better. When I wanted to make a video of me positioned in the corner of a Word document so that I could explain and demonstrate simultaneously, YouTube taught me. When I needed to purchase an external microphone to improve my audio, YouTube told me what to buy and how to integrate it into each platform. When I needed to find a way to use a game-based learning program like Kahoot in conjunction with Google Meet, a YouTube video showed me everything I needed to know. Turn to it often, and share your findings with your colleagues.

How to Connect

The following larger guiding principles had an impact on my ability to connect with my students. As we head into a new school year, I know these guidelines will be even more imperative. Finishing off the last three months of the school year online was hard, but my students and I already had foundations for our relationships. If we begin our school year online, it’s critical for all of us to get to know one another well.

Move. Try to include some physical activity into your lessons. Once per week, my students and I would have a virtual scavenger hunt using a random object generator to determine what we would bring to the screen. Not only did this get my students moving, but they often brought objects back to the screen accompanied by stories that helped bridge the distance between us. Other movement activities we engaged in included yoga, calisthenics, plank competitions, and Simon Says. An increased level of physical activity can translate into increased engagement.

Vary where you teach every day. Give the kids a reason to join you by surprising them with new locations throughout your home and the outdoors. Throughout distance learning, I taught from seven different rooms in my home (eight if we include the staircase), as well as places outside like my deck, front stoop, and garage. One day I even took a bike ride to a park and taught from a bench using my phone. I parked myself outside our classroom, accessed the school’s Wi-Fi, and taught a lesson with our classroom as a backdrop. I also changed my position in each of these rooms, allowing my kids a new and potentially interesting peek into their teacher’s life. As we all know too well by now, quarantine days bleed into days, and any variety is appreciated. By turning each session into an almost “Where in the World Is Mr. Dicks?,” it helped make students excited to sign in, increased their interest, and made each session as memorable as possible.

Welcome guests. Acknowledge and even encourage the appearance of cats, kids, spouses, and any other living creature onto the screen. This type of variety can keep students curious about what might happen next. A curious student is an engaged student.

Be a role model. As teachers, we constantly set examples for our students. I took full advantage of this by strategically showing off aspects of my home that would serve me well in this regard. I showed my students the pile of books that I was reading, and the bookshelves of books that I’ve read in the past. When teaching from my bedroom, I made sure that they saw my bed was made, my room was clean, and there were books on my bedside table. One day I joined a session immediately after a bike ride and kept my helmet on to emphasize the importance of fresh air and exercise.

Have fun! Give students a reason to join you each day by creating opportunities to be creative, silly, or personal. I encouraged students to send me photos and videos throughout the day of anything they wanted, and what I received was extraordinary. Some students began seriously studying photography, taking photos of flowers and clouds. Others staged hilarious photos of pets and siblings. Some took embarrassing photos of their parents dancing or struggling with a lawn mower. We opened many sessions with these photos as a means of connecting and laughing together.

Other times I might ask kids to arrive to a lesson wearing their ugliest shirt, a homemade hat, or accompanied by their favorite stuffed animal. Show and tell became a part of our day, as did the sharing of poetry, stories, and angry screeds about the coronavirus.

Storytelling should play a crucial role in teachers’ “classrooms” this year. Telling stories is one of the best ways to foster connection between human beings, and thankfully, it can be done via Zoom. When we tell stories and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and authentic, people get to know us, trust us, believe in us, and feel connected to us. Students work hard for teachers who they understand, respect, and love. I know that opening my heart to my students and encouraging them to do the same will be the best way to forge a relationship that will allow learning to take place.

Get to know the parents. It’s going to be critical for teachers to make the same kinds of connections with parents. While the teacher-parent partnership has always been important, it’s more important than ever in distance learning. As a teacher, we can only see and do so much through a computer screen. We will need parents to assist as best they can in support, compliance, practice, reteaching, and so much more. They’ll also be key to letting us know how their kids are faring emotionally. In lieu of a summertime letter to my parents and students, I will be sending videos instead, hoping that a voice and a face will connect more than ink on a page. I’ll introduce myself, my wife, my kids, my cats. I’ll let them into my home and my life. I’ll also be sure to spend the first weeks of school speaking to parents as much as kids, in order to gain a better understanding of the specific needs of each child and the particulars of their home life, like schedules, siblings, technology needs, and more.

I recognize that some of this advice may seem unconventional. For many teachers, the blurring of professional and private life can be unsettling and seem unprofessional. As unsettling as these suggestions may seem to those teachers, these are radical times that demand radical teaching methods. Our students need us to do everything possible to bring stability, connection, and engagement to their academic days. “Unsettling” cannot be a barrier to teaching our students.

For those who find this advice unprofessional and worry that parents will not respect them, or that students may take advantage of them, or that they may be less effective teachers if they employ these methods, I can assure you that—pandemic or not—I have taught this way for 21 years, and I have only found the opposite to be true. While of course there are lines of professionalism teachers must always respect, the more I let students in, the more they let me in. The more they trust me, the more effective teacher I can be. The more I share with parents, the more they support and respect me. And when we have a screen between us, we need these connections more than ever.

Distance learning will never be an adequate substitute for the learning that students do alongside teachers and peers. But as educators, we must ensure that it is as effective as possible. Committing yourself to this remote learning craft will be an important part of every teacher’s development until this pandemic is in our rearview mirror. I hope that when you find yourself staring into a computer screen at a class of students—some enthusiastic, some disinterested, and some playing Fortnite but trying like hell to hide it—these tips will be of service to you.

For advice on how to get a raise—even during the economic downturn—listen to the latest episode of How To! With Charles Duhigg.

This content was originally published here.

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