Crises can be catalysts for innovation - so it is important that we take the time to reflect on our instructional experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and consider what long-term changes they may suggest for K-12 education.

The teacher stories we shared in this video are evidence of how the pandemic indeed spurred some valuable instructional innovations that should not end when we go “back to normal.”  Yet this is not a given, given the strong inertia that characterizes most education systems…

We are eager to hear what you think about the examples we shared, but even more importantly we hope they will invite you to share YOUR OWN experiences with instructional innovations caused by the pandemic – so we can all learn from them. 

We are especially interested in your thoughts about the following questions:     

• What were some new practices that you (or other teachers) experimented with during the pandemic, and worked surprisingly well? What did you learn from those experiences?
• Which of the new practices developed during the pandemic would you like to keep moving forward? Why?
• What obstacles do you envision for doing so, and what ideas do you have to overcome those obstacles?
• What surprises/new questions did our video raise for you?

Student engagement is at the core of all great teaching and this very well articulated in this video. I like the range of student engagement strategies utilized by the teachers. I can see how these strategies could increase participation, attention, curiosity and interest. Increased engagement means increased student motivation and, in turn increased student learning.

Student 'voice' is a new practice that I have experimented with my math classes during the pandemic. Students need to be heard and involved with their learning. I have learned it is important that students are questioned, listened to and that their ideas are acted upon. Student ‘voice’ can be gathered at key points in a lesson so they feel they have some involvement in their learning or a ‘say’ in how they feel about particular things. This can be administered through questionnaires, online question polls, gathering of responses to a question posed in class.

How do you think the skills and technologies developed/learned will be leveraged by your teachers as we move out of the pandemic and the unique schooling circumstances that it created?

We think that leveraging the tech innovation will persist with these teachers and the colleagues that they influence as leaders (formal and informal).  They start with reform-minded STEM teaching practices, in particular, fostering student discourse and then layer on the appropriate tool (digital or not) for that practice. As reflective practitioners we also know that they are in spaces where that question is being asked in their local context. Many are in PLCs or departments where the question -- what methods, strategies and practices should persist post-pandemic -- is being posed now. We (our leadership team and our fellows) imagine this being an opportunity to take the best tools for engagement and think creatively and innovatively as to how and why they could be used in face-to-face settings.

Very nice project. Student engagement has been one of the greatest challenges of online learning during the pandemic and all have struggled to find innovative ways to do so. The ideas presented are great examples! Are the applications mentioned freely available? Also, how were the project based learning modules disseminated to other teachers and do you have information on the extent to which they were used by other teachers?

Thank you for highlighting the resilience and innovation of teachers during this time!  Many of us found tools that worked well this year and will continue to serve us and our students well in the future.  Finding a few silver-linings during this incredibly difficult time is an important step toward everyone healing and moving forward.  Congrats to your team and the amazing teachers with whom you worked!

Thank you for the great examples of teacher innovation. Are there plans to follow up and see how/what is moved forward to the next year and how successful they are?

As a teacher and co-presenter, I know that Jamboard is awesome. I have used this to increase student engagement. The kids love it!

I agree, it can be a great tool to foster collaboration and bring out student voice in a lower risk space.

Thank you so much for sharing this work!  Now that this school year is almost over, your video serves as a continued reminder of the importance of reflection in the growth process.  I'm looking forward to reviewing some of the shared links.  Are you using any specific strategies/protocols to help teachers reflect on the innovative strategies used this year from the perspective of carrying specific strategies forward so that we don't return to "normal" from a professional learning perspective?  Although this past school year provided many challenges that we want to move on from, there are many "new learnings" that we can improve upon for an even better experience in the coming years.  Looking forward to hearing any reflective strategies you may be considering.

Amazing examples of teachers adapting to a pandemic! I hope that some of the strategies and technologies used during this period of online teaching can be incorporated into in-person teaching as well!

Thank you for your comment, Lindsay.  Several of the master teacher fellows in our program indeed explicitly stated that what they learned from using technology when forced into remote teaching during the pandemic will stay with them, and inspire different uses of technology even when back teaching in person.  I encourage you to read the more extensive reflections on this regard that the three teachers featured in our video posted on the previously mentioned webpage at http://k12digital.org/resources/covid-19-k-12-r... .

Great video, thank you. I really like the way these leaders integrated formative assessment into the student engagement - that kind of embedded assessment is so powerful. I also appreciated the way jamboard was used not just to collect student thinking but to support them commenting on each other's thinking. And all of this can be done if they have their cameras off!