We hope this finds you and your students as well as can be
during this strange time. As educators, the set of dynamics and concerns that
we are normally in the midst of, especially as we near the finish of a school
year, has shifted dramatically. As always we want to care for and support our
students while also challenging them to expand their knowledge and develop
their skills; however, this global pause brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic
has caused us all to question what that means and what it looks like, or should
look like, both now and whenever we might return to our non-virtual classrooms
and school buildings.
As you likely have over the last several weeks, we have been
trying out new tools that enable us to keep doing what we’ve done in the past,
and some that have enabled new forms of interaction and learning. It’s great
that so many tools and platforms are being offered for free to educators and
students right now, but it also creates option anxiety, and who needs anything
else to be anxious about right now?
What has grounded us professionally, as well as personally,
in the last several weeks has been the virtual conversations we’ve had with
colleagues near and far, to share strategies and common concerns, and of
course, to offer moral support. So, we’d like to do the same with our Using Informational Text friends.
Informational text certainly has an important place in
making sense of this time, and especially when used to help students make connections
with literature that depicts other times, places, and peoples experiencing
their own cataclysms and everyday lives. So, let’s get together and talk about
how to do this work at this time and in whatever the future may hold for
teaching and learning.
Please join us on one of the following dates/times (click on the link to register):
Click on the link(s) above to RSVP for your preferred
date/time; you will receive the Zoom invitation upon approval of your
registration.
Our approach to using informational text has always been
about building relevance and engagement. So, the underlying question of our
discussion will be: What makes sense now? What is our purpose? We will share
ideas about text pairings in our current climate, including strategies for
leading a whole-class or small group discussion of a reading via
videoconference and ideas for how to use informational text, including media
links, to foster engagement and community.
We’d also be happy to join you and your students via whatever
remote platform works for you to read and discuss an informational text with
you. This moment is particularly conducive to remote guest appearances! Let us
know what and when might work for you. Reach out to us via Twitter
@usinginfotext or email.
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