Enabling Effective Lessons
Teachers are faced with challenges this year they never could have imagined back when they were in school. The classroom has transformed in myriad of ways, and .ORGs are providing tools and information to help teachers adapt:
- For information on how to return to the classroom healthfully, the American Pediatric Association’s www.healthychildren.org offers guidelines for in-person teachers on how to set up desks, manage lunchtime, encourage hand washing, and enforce social distancing.
- For those still on virtual platforms, organizations like Educators for Excellence, www.e4e.org is an asset. Founded by public school teachers, it brings together more than 30,000 educators to give all students access to a quality education. Their comprehensive list of COVID-19 resources is here.
- Learning online can pose added challenges for the nearly seven million U.S. children who have disabilities such as dyslexia or autism. Understood, www.understood.org, offers a wide range of information for educators to help all kids thrive, and the National Council of Learning Disabilities, www.ncld.org, offers this guide to improve the online learning experience for kids with disabilities.
Keeping Things On-Track Online
Creating a schedule, helping kids stay engaged, and parents stay sane top the list of “things to do” while learning during the pandemic.
- A great step is to help the whole family remember what to do and when by creating a weekly planner. You can use this activity from www.pbs.org to create one!
- Arts education is an important component to learning. In fact, students who study art are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, according to www.dosomething.org. But, how do you encourage your budding Georgia O’Keefe or Michelangelo from your own home? The Art and Creative Materials Institute, www.acmiseals.org, offers grade-level appropriate arts activities, along with the materials needed and instruction enabling children to express their feelings through art or showing them how to make a sketchbook to fill with drawings.
- For some kids, the pandemic is affecting their mental health, making learning difficult. The National Child Traumatic Stress Network, www.nctsn.org, offers this guide to helping families cope with their kids’ anxiety and trauma. And the National Association of School Psychologists offers this reference for families.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” In addition to reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic, today’s school children are getting life lessons that will not only influence their education but shape them as people. By supporting students, parents, and teachers, .ORGs are doing their part to keep those lessons positive. Going back to school—in whatever form it takes—is always a fresh start. We hope these resources make the transition easier, and that this academic year is a healthy, happy, and successful one for your family.