How do you move a school online in a matter of days? It's an intimidating question that schools across the world would begin to answer in January 2019 as COVID-19 started to spread. This is a behind-the-scenes look into Mark Day School's process.
Through whole-school surveys, homeroom-specific surveys, parent/guardian "coffees" hosted on Zoom, and email, we have heard from many parents and guardians about the joys and the challenges of being home around the clock with their children. Here are some parenting tips for sheltering in place, both some that we bring to you and some that we have crowdsourced from our community.
The most recent curricular reviews have focused on the arts, world languages, and assessment practices. Currently, we have chosen to turn our attention to reading instruction in kindergarten through third grade. Strong literacy skills are the foundation for all academic instruction.
From very early in my career I was inspired by the work of Mitch Resnick at the MIT Media Lab who wrote, "Computers will not live up to their full potential until we start to think of them more like finger paint and less like television." I believe students should use digital devices for more than the consumption of entertainment and social media.
The holidays are upon us, and it's nearly impossible to check your email, listen to the radio, or watch TV without being bombarded with ads for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or some other sale. If you are looking for a great gift, I have a couple of book suggestions!
