Welcome to Digital Dialogues! 

With the Online Quarantine Queens

We hope that this newsletter has been a support for you through this difficult semester.  We have loved hearing responses and knowing that you care about your teaching and your students.

Teaching Tip

Celebrating Our Successes

As I look towards the end of the semester in this last week of classes, I find myself reflecting on what I have accomplished, or in many cases, what I have left undone in the wake of a pandemic.  Many of our students may be feeling this same way- proud to have made it through a difficult semester, but also mourning their losses through sacrifices they’ve made at this time.  Ann reminded us last week that we should be “recognizing all that [students] have overcome and accomplished, reminding them of their strengths.”

And yet, as teachers, we have made great sacrifices as well, and today’s article is about celebrating YOU and your successes during this unprecedented semester!  Arne Duncan said:  “Teaching is hard, hard work–and even the best teachers have heartbreaking frustrations and disappointments.”  I know that for many, this was a semester of frustrations and disappointments, but I also know that you were strong, and worked hard to overcome those challenges in your online teaching in order to support your students in the midst of your own personal struggles.  Let’s celebrate those successes together!

Try this:

• This week, spend a few minutes writing down your successes this semester.  This might be trying a new tech tool that you hadn’t used before, or connecting and supporting your students in novel ways through a different course modality.  Any success, large or small, should make it onto your list!
• Share one (or more) of your successes with someone in your life: your students, a partner, a colleague or a friend.
• Email a colleague and share something that you admire or want to celebrate about their teaching.
• Reply to this email to share your success in online teaching with me by Thursday at midnight- I will compile them to share with our group for next week’s newsletter.  Feel free to share an image, or just a short written message: whatever is easiest.

Resources

Secretary Arne Duncan gave this amazing commencement address in the wake of hurricane Katrina to graduates of Xavier University who were graduating into the 2010 recession. It honors student success, and the value of teachers, in the midst of disaster, and felt particularly relevant for us today.

Parker Palmer wrote the beautiful book, Courage to Teach, that lists one of its goals as helping teachers “reconnect to one’s identity and integrity—identifying and honoring gifts and strengths, and acknowledging limits.”  You can read the first chapter of that book here.