Teaching Together while Apart: The 2020 Virtual NCEA Convention

A month ago, Maryland teachers were abruptly removed from the comfort of our classrooms. Rather than being our retreat at the end of the day, our homes have become our battlegrounds. We are fighting for our students and our families. We want them to feel safe. We want them to learn. We want them to have a voice. That takes intense planning, which can mean using unfamiliar tools and changing the way we communicate. Sometimes it feels like speaking a new language. It’s hard not to be able to walk twenty-two steps across the hall to ask your friend for help. It’s hard not to know what the future of virtual education looks like.This week, 8,000 Catholic school educators and administrators from across the country were supposed to gather at the 2020 National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Convention to discuss the trends and truths of parochial education. This year was going to be very special because the conference was to be held in Baltimore during the week of April 14-17. As an Archdiocese of Baltimore teacher, I was excited to be able to attend, but unfortunately, due to Covid-19, conferences were cancelled and I was unable to partake in seminars and visit vendors at the Baltimore Convention Center this week.

Fortunately, the conference wasn’t entirely cancelled. The NCEA organizers were able to host the event online. The seminars became webinars, which were available live on Zoom or on demand on YouTube. The live sessions enabled the opportunity for the audience to ask questions, while the on-demand sessions were great for parents like myself who need to work around our kids’ schedules.

A majority of the classes focused on the dramatic shift to online learning that has left many of us shell shocked. There were classes for teachers who are unfamiliar with some of the tech tools available to them, some for working online with students with special needs, and a few to help administrators handle the challenges of digital marketing.

The class that impacted me the most  is “To the Fall of 2020 and Beyond: Planning for Long-Term Distance Learning,” presented by Chief Information Officer J.D. Ferries-Rowe and Assistant Principal Jen LaMaster of Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis.

The presentation addressed some of the things I have been worrying about. When I left my classroom, I had 3 weeks worth of plans, which were extensions of the projects we were already working on. What was next? Would I be able to squeeze in one more novel? How would I introduce new content? Most importantly: when will I get back to my classroom?

According to Ferries-Rowe and LaMaster, we are not at the “new normal” yet and that we need to be adaptable. Rather than being called “remote” or “distance” learning, we should provide a “delivery of continuous learning opportunities.”  Many software companies, like the grammar program Quill I am testing, are offering free trials so that we can experiment until we find what works for us. (Though Ferries-Rowe warned that eventual licensing fees are inevitable.) They suggest teaching less content with more depth and creative assessments, like their art teacher who had students take abstract photographs of things they found in their yards. Giving students time to work on assignments independently and offering “office hours,” which are public, open, and dedicated to listening and providing feedback, seems to be an effective practice for most high school students. This may be one teaching method that can carry us into late 2020, or even 2021.

Ferries-Rowe and LaMaster were warm and engaging. I felt like I was in the room with them. They emphasized the importance of focusing on the whole child, not just curriculum. We should be our students’ harbor, while also sending them out to explore intellectually. As Catholic school educators, we must also be available for spiritual needs.

At the beginning of the session, LaMaster shared a prayer from an Abbey in Australia. I think this line perfectly sums up where we are right now in Catholic education, “God help us to…undertake the journey without understanding the destination.” Amen.

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