If you fear children will not make adequate academic progress in the pandemic, teach less well. Cull the curricula. Teach essential content, skills and dispositions. Teach for mastery. Children will learn. Continue reading
Teach Less Well In the Time of COVID
Virtual Learning Is a Misnomer
Virtual learning by definition is not the same learning virtually. The first is almost learning and the second is learning through technology. Words matter. Maybe. Continue reading
Fear-driven Policy in the Time of COVID
Fear is natural. The Time of COVID raises fear levels. Good governance must recognize fears and do what is best. The future will evaluate what we do now. Continue reading
Starting A School Year Is One Thing; Teaching An Entire School Year Is Another
Opening a school year usually is a single, forthright plan for teaching and learning. In the Time of COVID, one plan is not enough. Schools need multiple plans and the ability to move quickly among plans. Continue reading
Teaching in the Time of COVID – One Of Our Finest Hours
Students of the Time of COVID are our Apollo 13 challenge. What some predict as an educational disaster can be one of our finest hours. Continue reading
Hypocrisy: Know Its Bounds
There was no game plan for schools and COVID. Making a valid plan for local schools requires listening to all and making a decision for all. Without attention to the work, hypocrisies can run wild. Board members must know their bounds. Continue reading
Lessons That Keep On Teaching
Recording lessons in the Time of COVID may be a wonderful resource for students and teachers. Students can see and hear the original lesson if they were absent or missed something or want a pre-test review. Recorded lessons are gold for teacher lesson studies. Continue reading
A Need for Principal Leadership and Supervision of Instruction in the Time of COVID
School principals in the Time of COVID are at the center of everything in a school. Beyond protocols, the principal is the key player in assuring a quality of teaching and learning to prevent the current generation of children from losing the education they need. Continue reading
Masters of Curriculum in the Time of COVID
We will not get a do over for the 2020-21 school year. All children must learn their annual curricula. A teacher’s mastery of her curriculum is a teacher’s tool for meeting our COVID education responsibility. Continue reading
Home Bound Teaching in the Time of COVID; Ichabod Crane Rides Again
The Internet is not as ubiquitous as we think. Too many homes have no or very poor connectivity. Add the closure of day care centers. The result leaves children at home, without Internet and without adult supervision. Enter the homebound teacher. With masking and social distancing, a homebound teacher can keep children engaged in continuous education. Continue reading