By Rhushanda Barnes (Metro Atlanta 2012), Assistant Principal of Scholar Support at KIPP STRIVE Academy
It’s been a full year since we were forced to make the overnight decision to completely shift from what we know as educators and create a new possibility through virtual schooling. As I participated in hour after hour of meticulous planning with my fellow leadership team members, I couldn’t help but wonder how this new change would impact the population of students I have been privileged to advocate for over the last 10 years. While I don’t have all the answers to the many questions that have surfaced over the last few months, what has become more important now more than ever is that we can never go back to what we used to do and must hold on to the lessons we have learned especially when it comes to the educating of scholars with disabilities.
As you can probably imagine, whole class Zoom meetings are not conducive to the learning of any scholar, but especially those who need personalized attention and specially designed instruction in order to master lesson objectives. It’s already difficult trying to engage middle school scholars in the traditional school building so it seemed like an almost impossible feat to get students who are home alone motivated to log into class on time, come on camera, and demonstrate a level of understanding by vocally contributing to class discussions or dropping their thoughts into a Zoom chat. After cycles and cycles of trial and error and identifying the must of providing academic and social emotional support, the following 3 principles have made a world of difference for our exceptional scholars.
1. Prioritize social emotional learning through the intentional building of community through daily small group advisories, weekly lunch bunches, and teacher/student office hours.
2. Decrease the teacher to student ratio through the virtual use of co-teaching models and break out rooms to ensure all scholars receive frequent touch points from their teachers throughout a given lesson.
3. Design all lessons with the principals of Universal Design for Learning in mind and get super creative with the implementation of accommodations and specially designed instruction to ensure all scholars are adequately prepared to demonstrate mastery.
The truth is that this is our new normal for now and without a clear plan of what’s to come, it’s important to take measures to adapt in the best way we can. Change is often scary but what I have learned is that it can force us out of our comfort zones which can result in better outcomes.
While this has been no easy feat and there still is so much more work left to be done, I am proud of the way our teachers have committed to trying something new in the name of our scholars. This dedication is the only way we can attempt to provide the best educational experiences in the midst of our new reality and get through this unprecedented season together.