Teaching During COVID-19

Teaching During COVID-19 ADVICE FROM HEATHER WHITAKER, MAINE 2020 TEACHER OF THE YEAR

2020 Maine Teacher of the Year, Heather Whitaker from Gorham Middle School, is working to help close the digital divide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whitaker was a key panelist during a recent MEA webinar on this topic and offered the following guidance to MEA members.

ACADEMIC STRATEGIES

Basic needs and relationships over everything else: “Maslow before Bloom” AND “Grace over Grades are #1” Safety and well-being check-ins are more important than academic demands Differentiation is key Zoom, Google Meet, texting, phone calls… all excellent tools, but we need to monitor frequency, access, and mandating presence

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING

Students are CURRENTLY experiencing multiple ACEs- access and use your school social workers and school counselors Many families are overwhelmed; we do not truly know what is going on at home Brain development does not match the high demand of executive functioning skills for online learning- let alone emergency learning during a global emergency Supports received at school are no longer available to the same extent as given in school; social work, school counselors, special education, Title I, supported study halls, hands-on learning, extensive individualized support, etc. 2x10 strategy (spend two minutes a day-from a distance-for ten days with a student you need to reach) and other “oldies” ARE STILL “goodies”

FINDING BALANCE

Maintain office hours and set your own schedule. Hold yourself accountable! Self-care and family-care is #1 (put on your oxygen mask first,) Create a Self-Care Plan You too are experiencing stress- we need to give ourselves grace. MDOE Office Hours-The Maine Department of Education is offering content specific meetings to help support educators. Article: A Trauma-Informed Approach to Teaching Through Coronavirus Follow uplifting and positive people on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

(mine is Michael McKnight right now)