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Kleyn-Kennedy: With necessity comes innovation

We’re there now! We have officially rolled out our entire educational system online within a short period of time.

As Superintendent Renee Russ mentioned in her recent local radio interview; something like: give a problem to educators, and they’ll jump on board and come up with great solutions in no time.

Granted, there have been bumps along the way, but it’s truly remarkable that such a thing can be done within such a time frame. It’s reassuring, somehow, to realize how amazingly flexible and adaptable we are, not only as educators, but simply as humans with some common goals.

The move to our Continuous Learning Plan, based upon guidelines and criteria provided by New Mexico’s Public Education Department, has not been without challenges.

Some teachers and students, especially secondary, were already accustomed to working in online learning environments, incorporating student Chromebooks and Google Classroom to enhance face-to-face learning in the conventional classroom.

For other teachers, the online shift with intensive use of technology is completely new. Younger students are much more dependent upon their teacher, and those important bonds of trust are difficult to convey in an online setting. Needless to say, it has all been a bit of a jolt.

It’s important to pause, however, and consider the kudos that should be awarded, and not only for our educators, who’ve taken a deep breath and plunged in, determined to make it all work. There are plenty of parents, still trying to work, with kids suddenly home all day trying to connect online and perhaps needing help from parents unfamiliar with the technologies. Plus, having to deal with the challenging new household dynamics.

There are single-parent homes with the parent working in the medical field, now trying to deal with that new normal; extended and stressful work hours, with children at home trying to get plugged into the online learning world.

There are grandparents raising their grandchildren who have to embrace new technologies to help the students get logged in, figure out learning-at-home schedules.

It’ll be difficult and challenging for a while yet, so let’s remember to offer grace to each other, parents, students, colleagues as we navigate this new normal. Already, great resourcefulness has emerged, as new and creative strategies are developing.

I’ve seen excited second-grade faces eagerly connecting in an online video conferencing app with their teacher. Yes, there was a bit of chaos, but there was a great deal more joy in reconnecting with their teacher.

The old cliché of “necessity is the mother of invention” has, perhaps, never been truer.

Cindy Kleyn-Kennedy is the instructional technology coordinator for Clovis Municipal Schools. She can be reached at:[email protected]

 
 
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