How Schools Can Continue Learning While Managing Covid-19

We are in the midst a school year unlike any we have ever faced.

If you are learning in person …

you are putting countless hours into making sure your students are getting to and from school safely, wearing masks and maintaining social distance once they get there, and cleaning your facilities once they leave.

If you are learning virtually …

you are navigating new terrain when it comes to maintaining relationships with students and parents, assessment, and more.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes …

Your students are missing in-person connections that come from spending time together as a community.

Your staff is overwhelmed trying to design and upload learning plans, manage their own families, and stay attentive to concerned parents … all while attempting to teach.

Your parents are scrambling to figure out how they will handle children reluctant to learn from home while they are working and taking care of the household.

You probably feel like you are moving backwards, and we haven’t even addressed the primary reason students are in school in the first place:

What are students learning once they get there?

That’s where I come in.

As an educational thought partner with more than 20 years of consulting experience in schools around the world, I will help your staff co-create challenging, compelling, and reflective learning experiences to keep students engaged and interested whether they are learning in a virtual, hybrid, or in-person model.

It is my mission to ensure you don’t lose learning as you rightfully work to keep your students, staff, & families safe.

We will work together to:

  • Amplify student voice and agency in learning. Students can experience learning that is relevant, connected, and impactful, both to them personally and to the world around them. This will result in them being eager to learn, whether they are coming into an in-person classroom or working within a virtual classroom.
  • Build educators’ capacity to seek out fresh ideas, tools, and resources to incorporate into instructional practices. Teachers are under massive amounts of pressure to not only teach their students, but also manage their own families. I can help them become more connected with the needs of their students and more agile in “just in time” coaching.
  • Continue to reimagine how families are included in the learning process. Most parents were not trained as teachers. Through our work together, we can help them develop skills to lighten that burden, such as listening to their child’s thinking to empower and engage them while viewing their progression of the work.

What our work together looks like:

I look at each district and school to create a personalized plan leveraging specific services.

To get started, book a free 30-minute consultation to identify area(s) of focus, design together, and evaluate learning impact.

Areas of Focus:

Consulting Services

Working together to create a more agile, relevant, and connected school experience for every learner.

Start with a free 30-minute virtual call.
Identify area(s) of focus.
Design together.
Evaluate learning impact.

School and District Mission, Vision, Values

  • Mission and values that illustrates your school commitment and investment to every student’s success.
  • Vision of a graduate (school/system) that defines broader skills, dispositions, and behaviors that directly influence curricular and instructional opportunities for your students.

Curriculum

  • Subject-specific curricular framework (JK-12 transfer goals, understandings, essential questions) that create coherence guide the development and coherence of curriculum storylines.
  • Revised curriculum that frames compelling storylines to hook and hold your students investigation, creation, and impact.

Assessments

  • Grade-level band rubrics or competencies that provide clear and concise descriptors for learning success so your students can more effectively self-navigate their learning process.
  • Authentic assessments that provide students to deeply engage in relevant and developmentally appropriate challenges, formats, and audiences.

Instructional Practices

  • Learning principles that are research informed, mission-driven, and developmentally appropriate to clarify how people best learn to guide instructional choices.
  • Feedback practices that grow your student’s capacity to self-navigate and benefit from engaging with peer and expert examinations.

Looking forward to learning more about your school,

Allison Zmuda, Educational Consultant, Author, and Thought Partner

Have a question? Email allison@learningpersonalized.com