Some in leadership questioned Mr. Levy\u2019s less rigorous approach given that he was the science department head. But Mr. Levy\u2019s decision was based on the reality of the situation, and he successfully defended his actions.<\/p>\n
Our curriculum director sent me an email . . . \u201cWhy are you teaching this material? Because that\u2019s not part of your standards.\u201d I didn\u2019t realize there would be any accountability. My response was totally honest. I basically told her, \u201cThe kids are highly stressed right now. They\u2019re not caring about the fine aspects of science. . . . I\u2019m thinking of the kids\u2019 mental state versus what are they really going to learn the last eight weeks of school.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n When the 2020\u201321 school year started, families could choose to send students to school in person or remain online, and all but a handful of Mr. Levy\u2019s students returned to the classroom. However, this arrangement presented a new set of challenges because Mr. Levy was responsible for planning and delivering science instruction to both groups of students. He took an approach where students in the classroom performed hands-on labs and then shared photos and data with the students at home so that they could still do the analysis. However, he was aware that this approach was only sustainable if he and his students stayed well. He knew COVID case numbers could surge at any time and force a return to virtual-only instruction, or he or his own children could get sick, causing him to be out of the classroom for two weeks at a time. Therefore, he diligently worked ahead, planning lessons and activities that could be carried out despite changing circumstances.<\/p>\n It made me question what I was doing and try to make it as efficient as possible. Realizing, \u201cHey, I need to get through certain material, because I don\u2019t know what tomorrow will be, like if all of a sudden we\u2019re going to be online again.\u201d. . . So as a science teacher, I just tried to make sure that I was ready for anything to happen. . . I\u2019d try to be two to three weeks ahead fully planned, as organized as possible in case I had to step out of the classroom for a couple weeks.<\/em><\/p>\n As he made thoughtful, fact-based instructional decisions, Mr. Levy also made it a priority to develop that skill in his students. Specifically, he carved out time to help his students consider the varying, often contradictory, pieces of information they were hearing about COVID.<\/p>\n I view my job as to never try to persuade kids to think a certain way, but to have an open mind and look at the facts. So, I would show them two sides. Like, \u201cHey, this is in the news, and this is in the news, and they\u2019re obviously opposite. So, what evidence supports both sides? And then what are some fallacies of both arguments?\u201d And try to have them come up with a conclusion for what might be causing different things to spread or different things to appear. I think one benefit was just for the kids to be more cognizant of what they\u2019re hearing and not just take everything that they see or read as fact.<\/em><\/p>\n Among his in-person students, Mr. Levy noticed a range of opinions on the severity of COVID, from blas\u00e9 and unconcerned to fearful and avoidant. In response, he shared scientific information about the virus and its spread and historical information about past pandemics. The class looked for trends in the case data on the Johns Hopkins website and made predictions about what would happen to case rates after holidays. Whether motivated by fear of the disease or simply wanting to avoid another shutdown, Mr. Levy felt his students were all giving more thought to the consequences of their actions and making decisions accordingly.<\/p>\n You could tell that all the decisions were a little bit more conscious. Like, \u201cDo I want to walk out right now, or do I want to wait until the crowd dissipates?\u201d You could see that most of the kids, they\u2019re smart enough to think, \u201cHow could I be as safe as possible while still being at school?\u201d Because when they came back in August of 2020, they were thrilled to be back at school. They were like, \u201cMan, that was a long time since March when we were at home, locked inside, couldn\u2019t see my friends.\u201d So they were just glad to be back at school and they just made the best of it as they could.<\/em><\/p>\n Mr. Levy\u2019s school required all students to return in-person in the spring of 2021, then opened without any COVID-related restrictions for the 2021\u201322 school year. In Mr. Levy\u2019s opinion, teaching essentially went back to normal, with just a few small changes brought on by COVID. For one, Mr. Levy was mindful that living through the pandemic affected his students. Some students were still particularly anxious about becoming sick, so he softened his stance on group work assignments, recognizing that it was important for students to feel safe at school.<\/p>\n Normally, I like to force kids to be in groups just because I think so much of life is knowing how to deal with people, especially if you don\u2019t like them. But I thought, there\u2019s still kids out there that are traumatized by all this, and especially kids that willingly chose, \u201cHey, I\u2019m going to wear a mask all year even though I don\u2019t have to.\u201d You could tell that me forcing them to be in a group might be too much for them. So I always provided the out. . . . I never chose groups this year, and I never forced groups this year.<\/em><\/p>\n The other change influenced by COVID was prioritizing teaching critical thinking. COVID continued to be a socially and politically fraught topic in the world in 2021\u201322, so when his students discussed it at school, he prompted them to base their claims on evidence.<\/p>\n Whenever I would hear a kid make some really random untrue statement. . . . I would always call him out on it and say, \u201cHey, tell us more about that, and where did you hear that?\u201d And try to make them back up their thought. On the flip side, I would also do that with kids who would say something that I view as true. I would say, \u201cHey, give me some evidence to support that as well.\u201d So they\u2019re still needing to back up all their arguments they\u2019re making with evidence. They were realizing that nobody in the class was able to make some random statement and expect me or anybody else to view that as true, because I was always going to call them out on why they believe it or where they heard it and to give me support about that. And I think that cut down on some of the misinformation being spread.<\/em><\/p>\n Mr. Levy modeled critical thinking and evidence-based decision making constantly throughout the pandemic. And though living through the uncertainty of COVID was difficult, Mr. Levy helped his students understand that by being in school during the pandemic, they were not only learning science\u2014 they were experiencing the process of science.<\/p>\n Hopefully, down the road, we\u2019ll look back, like, \u201cWow, that was a cool and a crazy time to live through, because here\u2019s all that we learned from it.\u201d . . . Science is always changing and medicine\u2019s always changing. We go with the evidence supporting things at that time, and we might find new evidence tomorrow or next year that might change our train of thought. But we have to always follow the evidence.<\/em><\/p>\n\n![\"Elementary\"](\"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/RAPID\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/giovanni-gagliardi-fvT3t9iOaJI-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" "\\"Elementary\\"")
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