Teachers The Sun Will Come out Tomorrow

I imagine every teacher who had to move from teaching in their classrooms to online in less than a week in the nation is stressed out. I am one of them.


THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW:
Yesterday, I was stressed with the amount of work it takes to make my online teaching work. I was worried that I might be expecting too much from the teachers in my Literacy Center.

TEACHERS TO The RESCUE:
What a difference a day makes, my rescue became my online meeting with my teachers last night in class. I love hearing everyone is safe and well.
I was impressed hearing my teachers describe the difference ways they are responding to my request that they make sincere efforts to reach out to our Literacy Center students. I insisted that any online tutoring require an adult family member in the room as well. I am always supervising our teachers as they work with children. This pandemic does not allow this. I am working on some ways that I might still supervise our sessions if this continues into the fall. They also need my feedback as well, luckily during the first 8 weeks, I have since completed all our informal and formal observations. I have since completed our post conferences as well. This is an essential component of the work we do in our Literacy Center. Teaching and learning are supervised by an expert in the field at CCSU. That's my role as our Literacy Center Director.

TEACHERS ARE AMAZINGLY CREATIVE:
My teachers collaborated with each other, and parents to find the best ways to help their children with online learning. Some have made Zoom works some FaceTime, some indicated physical packets parents wanted packets, my teachers even delivered them rather than rely on the mail. Of course, they kept their distance, used gloves, sanitized their at home leaning packets, and told parents to do the same. Two parents are hospital workers and indicated they have too much on their plate at the moment going on, and one parent of a child on the spectrum said they would opt-out, (very understandable). So, 90% of our children are continuing to work in some learning format with our teachers. This is far better than I ever dreamed.

I AM GUIDED BY MY PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS: We shared where we are in our assignments, how Dr. Turner can help. We are currently meeting twice a week online. They voted to attend once as a whole group and save the other day for individual consultations. Consultations are important to me, this is a supervised practicum, and meeting individually to consult allows me to maintain a critical International Literacy Association professional standard for Supervised Reading Professional Practicums.

My BOTTOM LINE
Teaching online is not the same; it takes a great deal of effort to make it work, but with dedicated, committed, and talented graduate teachers, it can be done.
I preferably rather be in our literacy Center teaching. I can't wait to return, but my teachers have rescued their captain. We are in this together, and together we shall sail our teaching and learning ship to port safely and well.

"You just call on me brother, when you need a hand

We all need somebody to lean on

I just might have a problem that you'll understand

We all need somebody to lean on

Lean on me, when you're not strong

And I'll be your friend

I'll help you carry on

For it won't be long

'Til I'm gonna need

Somebody to lean on" ~ Bill Withers 

Respectfully,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner

CCSU Literacy Center Director If you want to listen to the tune I listened to on my walk this morning? Its Bill Withers "Lean On ME" cover by Play For Change >  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiouJsnYytI  <

Some day we will be together again.