On March 11, 2020 we began understanding that a school closure due to the impending COVID-19 pandemic was possible. I began preparing training documents and videos for our staff on utilizing different digital tools that students and staff already had access to. On March 13, 2020 when the closure became a reality we provided as much support to our teachers helping them understand that we were going to get through the issues they were concerned about as a group.
The following documents were created by myself along with the help of the Millsap ISD Assistant Superintendent Edie Martin, and the Millsap ISD Superintendent Deann Lee.
We began by creating a comprehensive instructional plan that would answer to how updates were going to be communicated, how instruction would be delivered, and the hardware available to all in need.
I then provided a document showing many written tutorials with corresponding how-to videos that would help teachers learn to utilize tools they may have not been familiar with. Our goal was not to inundate teachers with a large variety of tools, but to minimize the list and provide them with the bare essentials that they needed. The last thing we needed was to overwhelm teachers with too many tools that they didn’t need to learn at the time.
ISDT Input on Real Learning Design
These designs helped our teachers and students tread water during the spring 2020 semester, however we knew we needed to improve on our systems when the fall semester began. I was lucky enough to be taking a class on distance learning where we created an emergency preparedness manual for students and staff who have to begin delivering and receiving instruction remotely. This class allowed me to focus on research and stay one step ahead of my responsibilities for my school district. Many of our policies and procedures were born in my Distance Learning class and perfected after receiving feedback from our leadership.
One of the most crucial elements in this venture was the Distance Learning Delivery Management Plan. This plan outlined everything needed to deliver remote instruction including the hardware needed, safety and security, making the learning equitable for all students, and more.
One of the most important pieces of work that I produced during the summer of 2020 was my Continuum Plan that showed how education would continue in the face of an emergency. This put my learning design ideas to the test, to help design a process that would help students learn in environments they were not comfortable learning in. The design captured a wide array of topics that were needed to cover in order to ensure all bases were covered for remote learning. This included lesson design, scheduling, hardware requirements, sustainability, and more. Looking back a full school year later there are definitely things that I would change. However, this plan worked and ultimately helped create a proper learning design for a school district looking to not just provide learning during a worldwide pandemic, but provide GREAT learning during a worldwide pandemic.