There is an old saying that "crisis doesn't create character, it reveals it."
I am not sure if this is completely true, but I've been thinking a lot about this in light of how our emergency distance teaching adventure has unfolded over the past weeks and months.
This has been an educational crisis, for sure. And it hasn't all gone well, at least in my own teaching practice. There are plenty of things that I would have loved to do over, from the kinds of assignments I gave in some situations, to the way I communicated my expectations to students, to being a little more proactive in reaching out to a few students. It all ended up well enough in each of these situations, and we made it through. I feel like I'm still kind of catching my breath after the hectic pace and uncertainty of the end of the spring semester. I suspect many educators are feeling that way.
But the fall semester is out there on the horizon, and soon enough it will be here. And as much as I wish I could take more time to rest, to regroup...I think planning for fall has to begin now.
I know many schools already have those kinds of planning sessions underway, but I'm thinking here about teachers in particular. What can we do to be best prepared for teaching this fall? Here are six things that I think educators should think about. I don't mean this list to be a prescriptive "here's what you gotta do if you're going to be teaching this fall," but more of a "here's what I'm thinking about and I hope this might help spur your thinking too." I'd love to hear your thoughts in response.
