We Can Still Teach

Brittany Daniels

Remember what life was like when school started last year? When our only cares were decorating classrooms, labeling table caddies and cubbies, and printing and laminating all the cuteness Google had to offer? Preparation is different this year. In fact, it’s on another level. For some of us, our first-day outfit really has to impress only from the waist up. So different.

The pandemic has profoundly shaken our norms, routines, and procedures in ways that we could never have imagined. Nearly everything has changed, and some changes haven’t been so great. I never wear lip gloss anymore, for example, because it rubs off on my masks, and I miss it.

Many changes in education, however, have been for the better. Last spring, we did what teachers have been doing for years, but we did it in a global crisis—and our kids still learned! How did we do it? We focused on teaching them to read and write, and we’ll do it again this fall.

But this time we’ll do it with ample time for preparation. We’ll use what we know about best practices in literacy, Daily 5, and voice and choice, and we’ll teach. Covid-19 may have disrupted our Pinterest-y classrooms, but it can never stop us from teaching well.

We can be more intentional with our time in mini-lessons, prioritizing the things that help kids take ownership of their literacy lives. We can continue to connect in conferences and small groups to coach into the meaning that kids are making from text. We can still teach, and yes, our kids will learn.