What is the Yule Blog Challenge? Over Winter Break, I'm going to attempt to blog 12 times, sharing reflections of 2020 and what I'm looking forward to in 2021. I would love for you to join in the blogging fun - read more about the challenge by clicking here!
My Top 3 Challenges of 2020
I'm pretty sure that 2020 will go down in the history books as one of the most challenging years of the century. But while it was a tough year, it was also a year of growth, of meeting and overcoming those challenges, and a year that brings me back to last January and my word of the year...COURAGE
2020 was a year of firsts... my first international travel... my first foray into online teaching... my first time to truly explore being 1:1... my first time to truly be terrified of losing someone I love
But it was also a year where I learned to persevere. I learned that I could navigate in countries by myself. I learned that I could still teach a quality curriculum online. I learned that I could still build relationships with my students. I learned who I could truly rely on. I learned that things that were easy in the good times posed unique challenges in the tough times. I learned that Maslow's hierarchy is really important for both students and teachers - we have to feel safe and cared for before we can do anything else.
Challenge #1 - Keeping myself and others safe
This has (and continues) to be my biggest challenge of 2020. When this started in March, we were given a 3 week extended Spring Break and none of us could have guessed that March 13 would be our last day in the classroom for the 2019-2020 school year. I couldn't have guessed that weekend would be the last time I would eat in a restaurant or go to the store. At that point, my state had just a few cases of COVID and we were all about "flattening the curve". I have seen my parents only twice since March because I'm terrified of exposing them to the germs that I know I pick up at school. I can't "socially distance" my classroom when I have 32 adult bodies in a 700 sq foot space. Thankfully my school does have a mask mandate and I clean my room several times a day, plus I added an air filter near my desk. When I come home, I go straight into the laundry room to strip out of the clothes I wore to school, trying to keep my spouse safe (he's worked from home since March). Given the number of students I am exposed to each day, I have faith that masks truly do work as there's no other reason to explain why I haven't gotten sick yet.
Challenge #2 - Quality Curriculum
Once the physical challenges were addressed, thoughts definitely turned to how to teach in a pandemic. I spent this summer reading about the flipped classroom model and how to best utilize distance learning. The College Board has said multiple times that the 2021 AP exams will cover the complete course and in a traditional MC/FR exam format. As a result, I really needed to think through a way to build quality content for my students. I know I will touch on this in some other posts during the break, but I ended up using Desmos for almost every lesson. There have been some really surprising results of this structure, especially with regard to my English Language learners. But my favorite part of developing the curriculum has been my collaboration with Julie K, a friend and fellow stat teacher in Michigan - I can't imagine doing this without her!
Challenge #3 - Building Relationships
I've worked really hard over the years to build relationships with my students, to show them that I care about them as people. This year posed unique challenges for that - no more High Five Fridays - no more walking around the classroom - no more fun group games or activities. Facial expressions bring on a new challenge in a mask, plus the added difficulty of having students both in person and at home in quarantine. Trying to build relationships with students that I haven't seen in weeks or even months is tough. But I've tried. Thankfully with Desmos, I can have one-on-one conversations with the feedback feature and I always build in little "getting to know you" starter screens to help with those little things.
As a result, I know that E. loves to crochet... I know that J. loves to make jewelry... I know that I can rely on S. to give me good binge-worthy Netflix shows.... I know that N. has never felt comfortable asking teachers questions before now...
Honestly, I didn't know of these starter screens were just annoying my students or not, but one day, right after Thanksgiving, I asked the following question and I've cut out a few responses that truly touched my heart...
There is a commercial that often plays when I'm getting ready in the mornings. It's for the CBS News and it talks about this 3 letter word that motivates all we do... Those responses above? Those are an example of my WHY - these kids make it all the challenges worth it.
2 comments:
After reading your post, I can definitely see how teaching any AP class now would be a challenge, given the uncertainty of what that test will look like in May. It's good that you're able to use Desmos activities for even your subject, Stats, and that you're able to ask the students questions.
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