I am always looking for resources that bring real life data into my math classroom. I found this data sheet through my twitter account and was immediately engaged with it. I tried hard not to go too far down the rabbit hole and I stopped myself at creating some real word world problems that could be shared with my class. Because, the fact of the matter is that I am not in the classroom at the moment. I am not delivering content. The term delivery for me during Covid - 19 has a completely different meaning. I delivered a baby in this global pandemic mess and I am currently on maternity leave.
However, the fact is that I have a hard time staying away from my job, my students and education as a whole while on leave. And during this Covid-19 time period I find it nearly impossible. What fascinates me most about this time period is how society is working through the pandemic, yet, what I am most connected to is how we are dealing with education. In my 20+ years in the classroom I have seen a lot of changes in education. I have watched myself move from pedagogy that was extremely traditional into more inquiry and constructivist approaches. I have developed programs that offer amazing real world connections and focus on skills that will make my students better global citizens of the future. However, all of these changes occurred over time with a good amount of prep and reflection. The current shift is happening overnight.
As I read blogs, listen to podcasts and dare think about my own classroom I wonder how much I could stay true to my own philosophy of education while teaching in a distance format. I am hopeful and confident that I would continue to approach concepts through inquiry based learning and real world problems. I would connect topics to data that would get my students thinking and consuming too. And now more than ever us teachers need that trilogy of support for students, that I always refer to on back to school night, to be strong… parent, teacher, student.
So while I am hopeful that fall of 2020 will bring us back into our physical classrooms allowing us to feel the energy and joy of a school day (distance learning makes this pretty difficult), I am simultaneously thinking ahead and reflecting on the conversations I have had with my peers. I am considering initiatives, projects and apps that will allow me to fulfill my goals and live true to my philosophy of teaching in a synchronous, asynchronous, distance learning or brick and mortar classroom.
This whole thing can be scary but it can also be exciting (perspective)… am I talking about childbirth/maternity leave or education in the Covid-19 world? Both!