Building Resiliency into Our School Systems
When a major storm hits unexpectedly, we have to react quickly and as best as we can with the resources we have at hand. It is chaotic and exhausting, and inevitably there is loss. Schools in New York and New Jersey learned this lesson well when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012.
Managing through a crisis is a test of leadership. But the real test is what leaders decide to do when the storm surge recedes. The temptation is to return to pre-storm normality. But good leaders learn from the experience, know that it might occur again, and invest in resiliency, so that that that when the next storm comes, plans are in place to mitigate damage.
The same is true for COVID-19. Superintendents, principals, and teachers across the country responded with extraordinary energy and determination when schools closed for what as at first an indefinite and ultimately an extended time period—most of an academic semester. Epidemic modeling suggests that many schools may have to be prepared to do it again during the 2020-21 school year as the virus resurges for a second or third wave.
The question now is: when we are allowed, will we resume school exactly as it was, or will we take what we’ve learned and modify our practices for communication, instruction, and assessment so that we’ll be ready when the next closure comes? What practices can teachers, schools, and districts put into place so that when a closure comes, learning can continue with minimal interruption?
Before COVID-19, some schools had already figured out how to continue instruction on days when schools were closed for snow or storms. Can all schools take what they learned this semester and adopt similar policies? What would it take for your school to shift smoothly and without interruption from in-person instruction to remote instruction and back again, whether for a day or for a month? Could such preparation make the school better, even on days when instruction is in person?
Keeping School Communities Connected
The first area where we need to build resiliency is in communication between the school and students, families, and staff members. Before the next disaster strikes, schools should ask themselves:
Could families and staff find the information they need on the school website during a closure or other emergency?
Is my website accessible to all users, including users with disabilities and users who can only access the internet via a cell phone?
Do I have a method for pushing out urgent information to community members who don’t visit the website?
Does this method reach EVERYONE in my community, including those who don’t have a landline and those who don’t have an email address? How many people am I currently missing?
If my alert system requires prior signup, how do I make sure everyone in my community has access before the next emergency strikes?
A resilient home-school communication plan includes both passive communication (your website, where people can come to find information when they want it) and active communication (a system for pushing alerts to people, which may include a mobile app, robocalling, or SMS text alert system). Some tips for building resiliency into your home-school communication plan:
If you don’t have a website, make sure you get one up before fall semester. The school website is the first place people will look when they are wondering what is happening at your school.
Keep your website updated as new information is available. Make sure your website CMS has an emergency alert system to highlight critical alerts such as a school closure.
Give multiple people access to the website CMS, and make sure they are trained, so you have a backup if your primary webmaster is unavailable. The keys to the website should never be left in the hands of a single person, especially when your community is experiencing significant disruptions from a natural disaster or epidemic.
Make sure your website ready for mobile; a large percentage of website visitors access the school sites using a smartphone. This is an important equity issue in communities where many families do not have laptops or internet access at home. All information should be accessible from a mobile device.
Make sure your website is accessible for people with disabilities, including visual, auditory, cognitive, or dexterity challenges. Your website should be easy to navigate using a screen reader or via keyboard navigation. How to create a more accessible school website.
During extended closures, create a page for Remote Learning that is prominently visible from your home page. The remote learning landing page should have answers to FAQs from students and families and links to important resources. Teachers can also use their class pages to post daily updates and assignments. Tips for using your teacher class page during an extended closure.
Develop an active communication plan to push out critical and time-sensitive information and create a policy for how it will be used. Determine the best emergency alert platform for your community. A mobile alert system that pushes information to everyone’s mobile devices is a simple and effective communication solution. Learn about eChalk Notify.
Start planning now to ensure broad participation in your emergency alert system, whether that means gathering updated contact information or asking families to download an app or sign up for mobile alerts. Send information out to families before school ends for the summer and again when welcoming families back for the fall.
Consider implementing a two-way live chat function on your website. Live chat can fill an important communication hole when school buildings are closed and people cannot get ahold of staff by phone. Add live chat to your website.
Teaching and Learning – At School or At Home
Schools have done an amazing job of transitioning to at-home learning with virtually no notice this semester. While the process has not been without significant pain points, school administrators, teachers and families have all been working hard to maintain home-school connections and support students so learning can continue from home. Over the last several weeks, several lessons have emerged from the schools who have been most successful with the transition.
Have a learning management system selected and make sure everyone knows how to access and use it. Whether you are using Google Classroom or a paid commercial LMS, it will help the transition to go smoother if everyone is already familiar with it before a closure occurs. (Kudos to the teachers, students, and parents learning how to navigate a new system for the first time from home this spring.) Did you know that eChalk has an LMS built right into our website platform? Learn about the eChalk LMS.
Choose a video conference/screen sharing platform for remote teaching and meetings. Even if students are primarily engaged in asynchronous learning activities, having an option for live lectures, whole-class or small-group meetings and study sessions, one-on-one intervention, parent-teacher conferences, and staff meetings is essential. Set clear policies for use of the platform with students, including the use of recording, and expectations for attendance in virtual live classroom activities.
Select your learning resources. Many teachers are already master curators of online content and digital learning resources. Having a broad selection of digital learning resources aligned with different grades and learning standards will help teachers move more easily between in-person and remote learning. These may include free (appropriately vetted) videos, third-party learning platforms such as Kahn Academy, and digital apps that personalize learning for each student. Of course, you will have to consider access and equity in selecting your learning resources. If access to devices and internet is an issue in your district, you will need to have a backup plan for students who cannot easily use digital resources.
Consider the pacing and format of virtual learning. “Sit and get” type lessons are less effective in a virtual format (and are probably not very effective in person, either.) Design virtual lessons around the student’s capacity to sit and absorb. Many districts find that short, targeted lessons (live or recorded) followed by a series of short activities that students can complete at their own pace work best. Some districts are using a “flipped classroom” model, with instruction delivered via video and live class sessions reserved for answering questions and providing support. Many students may want to work on a block schedule, focusing on just two or three subjects each day of the week.
Consider moving to mastery-based learning. The move to mastery-based learning (and grading) was already underway at many districts. This extended stretch of distance learning may be accelerating the trend. During remote learning, it may work better to allow students to work at their own pace towards mastery of specific standards rather than demand that assignments be turned in on a specific date.
Need help in designing a resilient communication and learning plan for your school? Contact us to learn how eChalk can help you keep your community together while you have to be apart.