Community and Social Distance

"Social—This refers to the connections instructors make with the students and those that students make with each other to build a learning community."


Reading this article, which is aimed at teachers of older students, really has me thinking.   The need for instructor presence isn't just about Teacher-Student relationships, but also about Student-Student relationships.  


How can I encourage 9 year olds, including 9 year olds with learning needs, to build community with each other in this strange time?

Reading this article (from which the graphic above is taken), playfulness seems like a key to student engagement in the elementary grades, while the others are required for learning.  But engagement is needed for them to participate, which is of course a prerequisite.  I think about the classroom - students need clear expectations, and they also need to be comfortable in the community of learners.  That means the teacher is active and steady and reliable - which are more or less given in a physical space.  Resilience looks different online.  In person, I might continue to check in with a student.  We might have a team approach to reaching out to parents.  We might offer extra help in different ways, or send home different materials.  Online, it might be more Zoom calls 1:1, texting a parent, sending daily emails or videos.

But playfulness.  I think finding interesting topics for writing will be key in this.  Students (and teachers) are naturally more playful when they are interested in a topic.  I think about a topic like personal narrative, and how those types of writing will build playfulness and community.  Or reading groups and sharing what books make us (not just students, but me!) come alive.

One tip was to use synchronous time for community and asynchronous for new teaching.  That is going on my bulletin board by my home desk, as soon as I get it!  Obviously, with my student support context, I'll be doing 1:1 teaching of new material for learners with exceptional needs, but group time will be all about relationships!

I hope we will be in person, but even if we are, I know many activities I have used to bring playfulness to the classroom won't be realistic in the Covid era.  All of the Responsive Classroom activities that come to mind quickly involve close contact - Rock Paper Scissors games, greetings with handshakes and fist bumps, etc.  But the framework will still work, with a lot more creativity!