Strategies for Connecting Language and Community Strategies for Creating Community Through Extracurricular

has transformed access to health care, online and blended pedagogies have the potential to transform access to education (American Hospital Association, 2019).

The Structure of This Book

We (Kathryn and Stephanie) believe that all learning happens through connection. We’ve divided this book into two parts, and each one explores a key question regarding creating connection in the classroom. Part I explores the question, In what ways can educators reimagine online and blended classrooms as sites for greater connection? Part II answers the question, How can educators ensure equity and inclusion in online and blended classrooms? The following sections detail how we have organized part I and part II of this book.

Part I: Reimagining the Online Classroom

In the increasing move to online and blended teaching, some educators have very quickly gone from one teaching model to the next, and others have had a little more time to consider the implications of teaching in online spaces. The following chapters will give you the tools to consider what effective teaching can look like based on your unique situation and community.

Chapter 1, “Reimagining School as a Community Project,” addresses the question, What shifts when educators think of school as a community project? This chapter explores a primary guidepost of people-centered approaches to online teaching, namely that school is a community project. Other key concepts explored in this chapter include culturally responsive curriculum, culturally competent teaching, and global community.

Chapter 2, “Cultivating Strengths-Based Approaches for Inclusion, Support, and Counseling,” focuses on the question, How can strengths-based approaches transform student support? This chapter draws on asset-based approaches to counseling and research in positive psychology and neuroplasticity. Pulling from counselors’ experiences with struggling students, including neurodiverse learners, the narratives in this chapter highlight support approaches for the online and blended classroom. This chapter explores holistic support practices that affirm strength, inclusion, and well-being.

Chapter 3, “Fostering Relationships Through Connection-Based Feedback,” focuses on the question, How can educators foster great relationships through everyday teaching practices? This curriculum- and instruction-based chapter offers specifics on giving feedback, honoring voice, practicing wellness, and supporting social-emotional learning. It also includes practitioner strategies on translating in-person teaching practices to online and vice versa.

Part II: Ensuring Equity and Inclusion in the

Online Classroom

The three chapters in part II build toward intercultural sensitivity, global competencies, and culturally sustaining pedagogies in online, blended, and in-person classes (Bennett, 2017; Olson & Kroeger, 2001; Paris, 2012). Like everything good and important in education, this work begins in relationship and story. The strategies and narratives shared across these chapters challenge educators to consider how to cultivate inclusive and equitable classroom communities.

Chapter 4, “Centering Student Stories,” explores the question, How can educators cultivate connection through story sharing? This chapter delves into what it means to make space for teachers and students to share stories together, and how this practice blends empathy and connection to create a positive classroom culture.

Chapter 5, “Honoring Multilingual and Multicultural Learners,” explores the question, How can educators honor the multilingual strengths and perspectives students bring to the classroom? Across the globe, “business, employment and scholarship are increasingly global and multilingual, and citizens of the 21st century need a new range of skills and strategies” (Saville, 2018, p. 4). These include “code-switching and translanguaging” (Saville, 2018, p. 4), or the ability to transfer and translate quickly between one language and another. How is school cultural and linguistic diversity transforming classroom practice, and what might this mean for honoring voice, culture, and possibility? This chapter explores language learning for teachers and students, people-centered approaches to multilingualism, and strategies for the online classroom.

Chapter 6, “Leveraging Opportunities for Gifted and Talented Students,” poses the question, How can educators rethink space, place, and pace to help students soar in the classroom? Honoring students’ strengths, genius, and talent domains facilitates new learning possibilities. This chapter focuses on the potential online and blended classrooms have to support gifted and advanced students. Rethinking space, place, and pacing in education means the online classroom opens up the capacity for talent-based, passion-specific education that celebrates students’ talent domains.

The book’s conclusion addresses the question, What are the most important lessons to learn next in education? Educators must be flexible and prepared to meet students where they are in a variety of learning contexts, including face-to-face, blended, and online classrooms. The book closes with a forward-facing perspective on what strengths-based, community-focused, and global education could mean for the 21st century.

Key Terms

asynchronous learning. Asynchronous refers to components happening at different times.

In the case of online learning, this refers to approaches that allow for students to work on their own time and at their own pace. For

this reason, courses utilizing all asynchronous methods are sometimes referred to as selfpaced courses.

blended learning. Used to refer to learning solutions in which educators use a combination of online and in-person methods for instruction. This digital approach

is expanding globally (Hilliard, 2015). This

method is also known as hybrid learning. flipped classrooms. A blended approach where students learn content at home via online methods and then practice these concepts during in-person classes.

online learning. Used to refer to learning solutions in which all or nearly all the instruction and learning happen online in an either synchronous or asynchronous manner. Definitions of online learning are

varied and have evolved over time alongside the expansion of technology and teaching approaches (Singh & Thurman, 2019). Online

learning is also sometimes referred to as e-learning. synchronous learning. Synchronous refers to things happening at the same time. In the case

of online learning, this refers to approaches that require students to work at the same time as their peers. For this reason, courses utilizing

mostly synchronous methods are therefore sometimes referred to as scheduled courses.

technology-mediated instruction. An umbrella term for a wide variety of methods that use digital technology for teaching and learning.

Finally, we include an appendix featuring an edited transcript from a focus group we held with five midcareer professionals who span the continuum of preschool through graduate school. This appendix provides a sample of the anecdotal data we gathered for this book and includes several more strategies for the classroom.

Key Terms for

Online and Blended

Learning Approaches

While the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic accelerated online methods, the global technological boom had long been building, and practitioners in online and blended settings were already influencing the way educators talk about classroom practices and possibilities. A 2018 article in the Journal of Global Information Technology Management predicted that “online education is on track to become mainstream by 2025” (Palvia et al., 2018, p. 233). Thus, educators must become familiar with terminology that reaches outside the boundaries of the traditional classroom. Each chapter highlights key terms integral to understanding the main points and narratives. The following are a few key terms related to digital approaches for curriculum and instruction.

Connected Teaching Commitments for Any

Instructional Space

Whether educators are teaching in online, blended, or in-person contexts, certain commitments help support connected classroom communities. Compassion, patience, and a deep desire to connect with young people and their communities are strong themes that support our framework of connected classrooms. These values came up throughout our research with K–12 educators across content areas, cultures, and geographic borders. In the sections marked Connected Teaching Commitment in the following chapters, you’ll hear from educators who share how they uphold these commitments in their classrooms. One English learner specialist we work with often shares that language learning takes time, compassion, and patience. Our research on connected classrooms reaffirmed our commitment to honor the humanity in our classes as we safeguard and celebrate the possibility and potential of the young people who bring those learning spaces to life. Each chapter presents teaching commitments that transcend instructional space and serve as helpful tenets for any classroom.

Space for Reflective Practice

Exercise coaches tell their teams to stretch their muscles after a workout. In the long run, it helps people exercise better and longer. Athletic trainers remind people it’s essential for health. Yet many people forget, or simply skip, the postexercise stretch. You’ve done the exercise already. What difference could a few toe touches or cat-cows make? Educators tend to treat reflective practice in a similar way; they know it’s good for them, but they do not (or cannot) make the time.

Educators can find it hard to make space for a reflective practice. After teachers design a lesson, work with their students, and create and grade assignments, they have run out of energy. Doing those things daily is hard work. Educators’ brains are full, and their bodies are weary. Still, we strive to create the space necessary to think about what went well (in a specific lesson plan, practice, or rhythm of the day) and what we might try differently next time. What difference can this type of metacognition or breathing room possibly make? For educators, the reflection step is essential before, during, and after doing the work. When teachers succumb to the whirlwind without reflection, the whirlwind takes over the narrative. Reflection is the power of the pause. In this space, take a deep breath, and think through what you are accomplishing and how it aligns with your set intentions and goals. That, in turn, allows educators to move forward thoughtfully, confidently, fully stretched, and ready for the next workout. As the paradox

goes, making time for this practice will free up more time as you become more productive in the long run.

We hope you’ll join us in committing to a reflective practice. Developing a reflective practice gives us a chance to ask what went well, what we need to improve, what we are learning, and what we appreciate. It also is restful in its own way, giving us a chance to pause and note the hard and good work we’re doing. At the end of each chapter, we invite you to pause and commit to a reflective practice. You’ll find a list of prompts tailored to the content of each chapter complete with writing space. These are all reproducibles you can find and print online for easier sharing. You can work through the following exercises independently or with your teaching teams. • React to the chapter: What are your key takeaways from this chapter? What surprised you? What resonated with you? What ideas are you hoping to build on in your professional journey? • Define your purpose: What is your why? Why do you teach? Why do you show up for students each day? Why do you pursue new information and strategies? (And what other whys are you curious about?) How does your why continue to inform your work in the classroom? • Set your starting point: In the preface (page xiii), Kathryn shared how her journey into online education began by articulating how she would make a meaningful impact in this model. Where will you begin? What action steps will you commit to in order to make your teaching practice stronger and more effective, particularly in your classes that utilize online and blended approaches? • Share your origins: Share your teaching origin story with your students; explain what led you to the class you share right now. Ask students to think of something they have committed to (like a sport, musical interest, job, or hobby) and discuss what steps led them to where they are now. • Question yourself: Develop your own reflection questions suited to a particular focus of online or blended teaching, like student success, differentiation, or engagement; collaboration with teachers; family communication and relationships; or digital tools for teaching. Share your questions with your colleagues, and discuss ideas together.