Of Note: Do Less

COVID-19 from Global Online Academy by Michael Nachbar
Global Online Academy, March 2, 2020
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"Panic-gogy": Teaching Online Classes During The Coronavirus Pandemic by Anya Kamenetz
National Public Radio via NPR.org, March 19, 2020

In these unprecedented and uncertain times, schools do well to simplify teaching and learning and to focus on their students’ and communities’ wellbeing. Thankfully, partners in education like Global Online Academy (GOA) have been honing instructional strategies and assessment practices online for years. From learning habits to design strategies for video calls and faculty meetings, GOA’s COVID-19 resource page, with an overview from Executive Director Michael Nachbar, compiles pertinent and quickly digestible materials for teachers, students, and administrators. Elsewhere, in a recent piece for National Public Radio about colleges moving to online learning, Anya Kamenetz offers a synthesis of sane, wise, and humanizing advice for educators. Her thoughts are easily applicable to K-12 schools, and the short version of her advice is: “Do less.” Institutions moving curricula quickly online tend to overreach and overestimate what is reasonable to ask of students and teachers in the current climate of anxiety and disruption. Kamenetz advocates for compassion above all else, more than emphasizing particular tools or logistics. Hers – and Nachbar’s – is a sage message for all of us right now, allowing room for the instinct to keep learning and innovating while acknowledging our humanity in this colossal and historic moment.