Growing up, it felt as though the most important part of school was just being there. Most of my strongest childhood memories take place at school, but few of them are about anything I learned. Instead, all I remember is the playground, the library, and some of my favorite classrooms. I remember writing "I Love Miss Decaro!" everyday in my journal in first grade. I remember looking forward to the day it was my turn to pick which CD we listened to while making our craft. I remember how excited I was in fifth grade to be able to go to a different classroom with a different teacher as we rotated for Science and Social Studies. My view of education has always centered around the classroom, so imagine how shaken I was to enter the field of education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic changed the way we do everything, and education was one of the most impacted areas. Kids whose view of school was the same as mine now had to adjust to doing school at home. People of all ages struggled with their work-life balance, and our children are no different. The quick and forced integration of new technologies into the classroom is one of the biggest ways our view of education changed. We have all agreed that technology is essential for the modern classroom, but COVID-19 forced us to prove that we know how to use it. This push despite being rushed and obligatory, was much needed. The ability to provide remote instruction is a valuable skill for all educators to have, and now we do. Virtual instruction has immense value as the pandemic proved, but its value stretches beyond those limitations. Now, students with chronic illness or frequent absenteeism have the possibility to still keep up with their classmates. It is also important to realize how society's view on this type of instruction has now changed. Many educators still maintain that in person instruction is more beneficial to students, and I agree. However, the pandemic has shifted these views a bit in favor of virtual instruction. It may not be the exactly the same, but it has proven itself to be of immense value regardless. Although most schools are back to in person instruction for the majority of their students, this was definitely a lasting change of COVID-19 as we now offer remote instruction when students are absent. It also influences a lasting change in the utilization of technology in the classroom, with chromebooks and other devices available for students to bring home with them as well as higher levels of technology literacy among parents.
While the changes in technology mark a lasting effect, there are other changes to education from the pandemic that aren't lasting. One of the main talking points around COVID-19 has always been masking. The mask mandates in schools were lifted this past year, and in my experience, the majority of students and staff are now unmasked at school. The decision to mask is entirely personal, but schools have always been a place with high rates of illness transmission due to such close contact with one another and so many high-contact surfaces. At my school, we noticed a large decrease in students spreading illnesses (aside from COVID-19) in the last two years when masked. As soon as masks came off, there was a big outbreak of illnesses among our students and staff. Masking did not stay forever, but I think there is an argument that it should. Another pandemic change that has recently been undone is the free food that was provided to every students for breakfast and lunch everyday. Unfortunately the funds for these programs were provided by the government for COVID relief, and they couldn't last forever, but it is disappointing that there weren't more efforts to sustain these programs on a smaller scale for those in need. The system of applications for free or reduced lunch has long been outdated and needed change. The pandemic provided the perfect opportunity for lasting changes to this and many other similar programs, but instead we are just seeing a general rollback.
Our students have seen a time of immense change and now have to adjust to another big change "back". Some effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed education forever, while others were just temporary. Regardless of tangible changes, the pandemic has shifted our societal values as well as caused a change in each and every person's own personal views, experiences, knowledge, and goals. These changes can never be rolled back and only time will tell how they effect education and life in general in the near future.
Assessments can be given in endless ways, from verbally, to a show of hands, to a drawing, to an online quiz, or just a traditional quiz or writing assignment. In the modern classroom digital assessment tools are an amazing resource especially when it comes to hybrid or fully virtual teaching. Two of my favorite digital assessment tools are Google forms and Socrative.
I’m a big fan of pretty much every tool in the Google Suite, and Google forms is no exception. I love Google forms both in and out of the classroom as a simple data collection tool since it is so easy to use and gives the creator the data collected in such an easy to understand but still thorough way. In the classroom, it is great for collecting information before, during, and after teaching something. Google forms is also great for both synchronous and asynchronous teaching. I love the different question types, the aesthetic customization, and the ability to add images and other media. These features make it great for incorporating digital media into a traditional classroom setting. Google forms are great for hybrid and virtual learning as students are already on their devices and it is easy to send them a link to follow. Google forms has many pros, but one of the biggest cons is that it is a web based application, and thus there is the potential for students to easily open other tabs and search information to use when completing their forms. This is a challenge with a lot of virtual learning. Google forms also do take time to make since you have to input all of the information yourself. This customization is part of what makes it so great, but depending on the situation this may not be the best option.
Socrative is like Google forms in many ways as you can make quizzes, it is an online tool, and as the teacher you get awesome data back. The best part of Socrative is how quick it is to start and how quickly you get results. Socrative is best for synchronous learning of any form. Socrative allows you to post live questions of many types and get immediate results from your students. This is great for keeping students attention during a lesson and for quick assessments in the middle of the lesson. One of the defining characteristics of Socrative is how when you open a live question students don’t see the question (or in the case of multiple choice, the options) so they have to be paying attention to your verbal directions or something posted in the Google Meet/Zoom/etc. It also makes it incredibly easy to use without planning ahead if you feel like you need to assess students but didn’t plan to. However, this can also be a bad thing as far as accommodating students who may have difficulty understanding the question without any sort of visual cue.
Socrative and Google Forms are two great tools for digital assessment in any classroom style. What’s your favorite digital assessment tool? Join the conversation with me (@RileyCares) over on Twitter with #EdTechRCNJ.
It’s important for us as educators to remember that our students come from all walks of life. Your classroom is always even more diverse than you think it is! This is both a benefit and a challenge. We are always striving to provide an education that is relevant and inspiring to our students. Keeping in mind a global perspective as we teach is an excellent way to help tap into every corner of diversity that our students represent and still keep things relevant to everyone. Global connections give students and teachers a new understanding of content as well as a new perspective on life in general.
It is incredibly important that students learn about areas of the world other than where they live. Firstly, as mentioned before, just because they don’t live there now, doesn’t mean they don’t have ancestry or other personal interests abroad. Further, students that don’t already have connections to places other than where they live deserve the opportunity to experience this! Our students have a future that goes well beyond their lives as we see it. Your student may study abroad, become friends or partners with someone from another country, or even just work for a company with global connections. Even if your student only ever works, lives, loves, and learns in your current area (which is unlikely), they will still benefit from having an understanding of life outside of their bubble. As educators, we intrinsically value knowledge. To only expose ourselves and our students to what is such a small segment of knowledge in the grand scheme of things would be an injustice.
Modern technology provides us a uniquely convenient way to create global connections. This can be as simple as utilizing the breadth of digital content to find global perspectives of topics you are already teaching such as YouTube videos, articles, and more. One could also go as far as to organize a video call between their own classroom and one abroad! There are many challenges like language barriers and time differences that may make it difficult to organize these sorts of experiences, but it is worth the effort as it will benefit the students both in your classroom and abroad. Even simply organizing internet penpals for your students and students abroad can be beneficial. Depending on the age group you work with, this can create lifelong relationships for your students with something as simple as an instagram or tiktok “challenge” that connects your students. The same amazing ways that we get creative with technology in our classrooms on the day to day can be applied to creating global connections if we just think outside the box!
Working in Special Education, I have first hand experience on the importance of social and emotional learning in school. If I were to ignore this aspect of life when attempting to work with my students, I would fail every time. Our social and emotional well-being is integral to our ability to learn, and as educators it is not just our job to throw knowledge at our students, but instead to provide them with the tools they need to learn how to learn both in our classroom and beyond. To ensure our students’ success, we need to create learners that understand the importance of working towards both academic and personal success as they reinforce each other endlessly.
The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, CASEL for short, is an organization that is at the front of the movement towards including SEL in the classroom including researching its impact. CASEL lists 5 main fundamental subjects/goals in SEL which are, in no order: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Responsible Decision-Making, Relationship Skills, and Social Awareness. It would be tough to argue that working on these qualities is not beneficial to an individual. Aside from the obvious benefit to individuals, teaching SEL in the classroom improves the classroom climate and the relationships between students. This further creates a more positive school climate and fosters the growth of shared values among the school community. Strong understanding of SEL values and skills will hopefully lead students to use this knowledge outside of the classroom as well, creating stronger communities and families.
We can support students’ SEL by dedicating time towards it in our instruction as well as incorporating it into everything we do. For example, reading a story in ELA is not just about ELA skills, but is also about extracting themes from the text and applying them to our own lives. Conflict in the classroom is also an excellent opportunity for SEL as we should strive not just for immediate resolution but for a better understanding between students involved and strategies to prevent said conflict from reoccurring. Another important way to incorporate SEL into our students’ lives is by school-wide community building initiatives. Collaborative crafts, volunteering, and peer buddies are great ways to create connections throughout the school. These help show students that they are a part of something bigger than themselves, which can help to encourage personal responsibility and self awareness as well as strengthening relationship skills along the way. One of my personal favorite SEL practices that I use on a daily basis with my students is simply talking about our emotions. It is simple enough, but sometimes we shy away from vulnerability with our students rather than using it as a learning opportunity. Sharing the way you feel at a certain time is a great way to open the conversation and make students more comfortable sharing and recognizing their own emotions!