Decision-Making: Teaching During A Pandemic

@LisaBerghoff/@MrKimDHS

Once again, we find ourselves pivoting and trying to wrap our heads around what is "best practice" in the classroom.  I get asked this question quite often, What is the best way to teach in this environment? Since none of us have ever been in this situation before, there is not a ton of documentation that shows what is best practice right now.  We find ourselves reaching out to our networks of teachers at other schools who are maybe a few months ahead of us. We are clinging to any amount of knowledge we can hold onto in order to give us some sense that we are doing the right thing. I have been doing the same thing. I have been contacting my educator critical friends at other schools to find out what they have learned in the hopes that it will put me at an advantage with my students. 

Here's the thing, sometimes in our efforts to do the right thing, we lose sight of  what is most important and end up spinning our wheels. The reality is that the "best" way to teach in a synchronous hybrid mode during month 11 of a global pandemic is going to very greatly from teacher to teacher. The answer is: it depends.  

Unfortunately there are more questions than answers.

What are your goals for the lesson? 

How do you want students to engage with you and each other? 

What is your comfort level with moving around the room?

What is your comfort level with the technology?

How many students will be in your classroom?

The good news is that at its core, the most important thing is the wellbeing of both you and your students and we know how to show our students that we care about them.  Continue to communicate with them and check in on them. Our remote learning game is super tight and there is not a real need to make drastic changes just because you have some students in the room with you.

Whenever I get overwhelmed I revert back to the Eisenhower Matrix. This decision-making and time management tool is simple and can be easily applied to many circumstances. I find that looking at this matrix often helps me prioritize and put my effort and energy into what actually matters.

There are 4 quadrants. The continuum on the X axis goes from urgent to less urgent and the Y axis shows not important to important. This is key because it may feel like everything is urgent and important, but the matrix forces you to prioritize because while our jobs are valuable, not everything we do is actually urgent and important.  Then, after prioritizing your tasks, you can then use the matrix to help you decide how you will use your time.  Looking at this matrix always makes my stress levels go down and puts me in a headspace where I can focus and feel like I am spending my time and energy on what is most important. 

Here's a short video explaining how it works.

I realize that this does not change the fact that we are dealing with extremely difficult and unfavorable circumstances. This is a tool that helps me to prioritize which then makes me feel less likely to panic. I hope it can do the same for you. Do you have time management or decision making tools that you use? I would love to hear about them. 

Keep doing the best you can.

As Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better". 

Don't hesitate to reach out with questions. I am here to help!