{"id":142329,"date":"2020-08-02T12:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-08-02T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truthforteachers.com\/?post_type=podcasts&p=142329"},"modified":"2024-08-12T01:15:41","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T06:15:41","slug":"covid-19-how-to-plan-first-week-of-school","status":"publish","type":"podcasts","link":"https:\/\/truthforteachers.com\/truth-for-teachers-podcast\/covid-19-how-to-plan-first-week-of-school\/","title":{"rendered":"How to plan for the first weeks of school when everything feels uncertain"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week on the Truth for Teachers podcast<\/a>: In the time of the coronavirus pandemic, planning the first weeks of school has never been more difficult or confusing for teachers, especially for those that remote learning or teaching is not an option. And the lack of guidance for schools isn’t making things easier for anyone to return to school.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

So how can a teacher plan ahead of time when there’s so much uncertainty and still haven’t fully recovered from the stress of the school closures last spring? Classroom routines and classroom organization will surely change. You might be wondering what activities for students should you prepare when the kids have to maintain a physical distance of six feet apart from each other and cannot share classroom materials. And the most important question of all, how do you ensure a safe return to school for your students and yourself?<\/em><\/p>\n

Hopefully, this first episode of the season will help shed a light on how you can plan for a better first week of school despite everything that has been going on.<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll admit I did not think when I wrapped up Season 11 back in May, that we\u2019d be having this conversation that we\u2019re about to have. At the time, we had flattened the curve in most of the US and I think all of us were much more optimistic that the coming school year would be smoother than this past spring.<\/p>\n

Now, that\u2019s not looking so likely.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to admit something you might not hear officially from your district, but I believe it\u2019s the core truth that many folks are avoiding:<\/p>\n

You will probably have to set aside a lot of best teaching and learning practices this school year, particularly if you work with younger students.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Full-time remote learning is not ideal for many (if not most) students and families.<\/p>\n

In-person instruction in which kids may be confined to their seats more, interacting with each other less, not sharing manipulatives and books from the classroom library, or keeping six feet apart from one another and from you \u2026 also not ideal.<\/p>\n

There are no options for fall right now that provide optimal learning conditions, period.<\/b><\/p>\n

And intentionally going against what you know about pedagogy and the neuroscience of how humans learn best is going to create a lot of cognitive dissonance.<\/p>\n

There will be things you have to do that you would NEVER choose for your students outside of a global pandemic where students cannot safely be in contact with one another.<\/b><\/p>\n

It will be heartbreaking for many teachers to undertake the challenges ahead this fall. I know this has the potential to break teachers\u2019 spirits and drive many of them from the profession.<\/p>\n

And yet, the willingness to diverge from our known best practices is going to be necessary, because we have to move into a DIFFERENT set of best practices that are based on the current circumstances.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/p>\n

Listen to episode 200 below,
\n<\/strong>or subscribe in your podcast app<\/strong><\/h3>\n