We couldn’t do disaster distance learning without the relationships we’ve established with our students and school communities. It’s not just a function of the “teacher,” but the dynamic that existed prior to this flip. We taught ourselves how to use online tools and curricula, then taught ourselves how to teach others to use them. Preparing plans over a week mid-year isn’t just building a plane while flying it. It’s also changing the course of the plane and the materials with the plane still mid-flight. — José Vilson

Below is a growing list of D.C. metro area teaching stories from during this time of emergency online learning due to COVID-19.

Shifting the Curriculum to What Matters Most to Students During COVID-19

By Cierra Kaler-Jones

When the pandemic closed the doors of global studies teacher Gregory Landrigan’s middle school classroom at Sacred Heart School in D.C., he decided to shelve the lessons he’d planned for the rest of the year. “What do you want to learn?” he asked the students. “What matters to you most?” With the answers to these questions, he invited students to explore a topic of interest to them through an independent study.  

Continue reading.

Reflecting on Government Response to Hurricane Katrina and COVID-19: A Distance Learning Assignment

U.S. history high school teacher Jessica Rucker at E.L. Haynes PCS shares a lesson she has used with her students during the pandemic for their asynchronous learning. The lesson is designed to help students look at other times when racism and classism have impacted U.S. government responses to disaster relief. 

Rucker engages students in a deep analysis of the United States government’s response to the human devastation (massive flooding, days without adequate food, running water, or proper sanitation) of Hurricane Katrina. As a paired text, Rucker incorporates music lyrics, hip-hop, and the history of resistance for modern day connections.

Continue reading.

Science in the Kitchen

Howard University School of Education Alum and DCPS chemistry teacher Jonte Lee at Calvin Coolidge High School found a creative way to engage his students using social media. Lee transformed his kitchen into a science classroom and taught live from home! Read more.

McKinley High School

McKinley Tech Staff share a heartwarming message with their students during Washington, D.C.’s move to emergency online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Montgomery County’s Remote Learning

At John F. Kennedy High School (MCPS), Neha Singhal, a social studies teacher, said her IB anthropology class is discussing a mini ethnographic project that would examine aspects of the coronavirus crisis — how people are coping, what the ripple effects are, whom it’s hurting most, what it says about how our society works. Read more in Montgomery County Schools Launch Remote Learning article in the Washington Post.

Capital City Public Charter School Read Alouds

Capital City Public Charter School educator and media specialists, Cynthia Dorsey and Carlos Duque continue to engage young readers with daily read-alouds via Instagram Live. Enthusiastically narrating each text, these educators display and describe illustrations while responding to student and teacher comments sent through the application.

Join their live literature readings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 2:00 PM and Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 AM at @capitalcitypcsdc.

Social Distancing and Distance Learning for Toddlers, Preschool and Pre-K Kids

D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice anti-bias early childhood leadership team member, Shayna Tivona has created Social Distancing and Distance Learning for Toddlers, Preschool and Pre-K Kids: A Few Thoughts from a Pre-K Teacher and Mom of a Toddler. It is a google document compiled of a plethora of resources for educators and families during this time of distance learning. Sections include information on structure, routines, schedules, movement, daily living skills, fine-motor, sensory skills, dramatic play, social-emotional support, and much more!

If you have questions or ideas to add to the document, contact Shayna Tivona.

Virtual Preschool

From Georgina Ardalan, Kirsten Gnau and Elizabeth Wyrsch-Ba (J. O. Wilson Elementary School, DCPS) via Dispatches from the Distance Learning Trenches 

“Virtual preschool” seemed like an oxymoron three weeks ago, but has since become a reality. At the start, we had a lot of questions. Honestly, we still do. How do we instill the most important lesson of preschool ― socialization ― without actually being physically present with a group of students? How do we best support our families in providing authentic, open-ended learning opportunities for their children? Through trial and error, we’re beginning to identify strategies that address these questions. 

On Mondays, we’ve hosted live morning meetings to ensure that children are maintaining close relationships with their friends and teachers and to introduce our weekly provocation. Last week, we invited children to write thank-you notes to all of the helpers in our city — like health care professionals, grocery store clerks, and mail carriers — and post them in their windows.

We’ve sent frequent check-in emails to families, linking them to exciting resources, sending YouTube videos to pre-recorded read alouds, or just seeing how everyone is doing. We’ve also video-chatted with individual children who are missing their teachers and facilitated Marco Polo playdates for children missing their friends. Throughout the week, we’ve invited families to send us updates, pictures, or provocations of their own. And, on Fridays, we’ve sent out a newsletter recapping the week.

Since beginning “virtual preschool,” we are constantly adjusting, collaborating with our colleagues, asking for feedback from families, and adjusting again. Having received massive support from our preschool families, we know that maintaining a successful virtual model will rely heavily on our partnership with them. 

We miss the children and their families. We miss school. But, we understand the importance of why we are staying home. For now, we’ll continue to try out ideas that support relationship-building and authentic learning and that work well for our children and families.

Wellness Wednesdays with DCPS 

Carter G Woodson Academy of Black Studies’ Black Card

This online card from the Carter G Woodson (DCPS) Black Studies department at Dunbar HS includes activities for virtual learning and engagement that center community, history, knowledge, pride, and activism. Download the card.

Arts Education

Julia Major is a graduate of American University and a DCPS art teacher at Horace Mann Elementary School. Her videos focus on fostering creativity and the studio habits of the mind.

 Thank you, Teachers and Librarians

Thank you for your brilliant work and loving engagement with DC students and families during this time.