March 25, 2020: Today the superintendent announced that six Bay Area school districts will extend the closure through May 1st and SFUSD being one of them. Like I mentioned in one of the previous logs— I am surprised and not surprised that they have extended the closure. I’m glad they did keeping in mind public safety, but now what are the next steps as we enter another month working from home?
I read an article this morning on this idea of ‘panic-gogy‘—panic + pedagogy, that’s addressing the issue of curriculum design in this pandemic setting.
“So if people think that in three to five days they’re going to rejigger their course and build some super amazing online platform, that’s probably unlikely to happen,” -Robin DeRosa, Open Learning and Teaching Collaborative at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire Director
This is exactly what I have been feeling over the past couple of weeks. How are we supposed to transform the classroom experience and activities into a conference call? I have been using Google Classroom since I started teaching last year and my online space isn’t near where I want it to be. Google Classroom is great as an online portal, but for actual instruction, I’m not so sure. I’m not really sure there is any application right now that can replicate direct instruction. Yes, you can hold a Zoom call or a form of a conference call, but space itself really does matter.
Right now, I think educators are overwhelmed with the number of tools they could use to help replicate direct instruction or the classroom environment. There are too many options and I think it’s just creating more confusion for the students. How do we choose the right tool but then also teach them how to use it?
Another thing that this article has reminded me is something rooted in my pedagogy—student voice. I need to turn back to my students and ask them what do they think is the best fit for them. Creating a culturally responsive pedagogy isn’t solely connecting to their identity, but also adjusting with the learning space that’s being shared. Since we do not have one, how can we create one? I believe it is important for students to have input in how they learn, especially in this challenging time.
Balasbas Says 