Welcome To The Bubble

Hi all, welcome to issue #255 of Digitally Literate. Each week in this newsletter, I synthesize the news of the week in education, technology, & literacy. If you haven’t already, please subscribe if you would like this newsletter to show up in your inbox. Feel free to reach out and let me know what you think of this work at hello@digitallyliterate.net.

I had several friends reach out behind the scenes this week with the same question. “There is so much information and anxiety about opening classrooms in a month. Could you cut through the mess and identify wicked problems that we should address?”

Dear colleagues…this issue is for you. <3

Welcome To The Bubble

One of my recent interests focused on “The Bubble.” For those of you that may not know, the NBA is creating a social bubble at the Walt Disney World Resort to finish up the 2019-2020 season.

It’s interesting to see the steps being taken to protect lives, but also the social media content coming out from all. One of my favorites is the VLOG from Sixers rookie Matisse Thybulle.

I’m wondering what our institutions will learn from this experiment, and what can we use to protect lives in our classrooms.

America is not prepared for schools opening this fall. This will be bad.

There is nothing Americans can do to save public education right now. We had a window about three months ago. We saw this coming. Teachers all saw this coming. There was no federal help, no national leadership.

We got to visit bars and amusement parks this summer, though. So there’s that.

This COVID-19 Event Risk Assessment Planning Tool provides interactive context to assess the risk that one or more individuals infected with COVID-19 are present in an event of various sizes.

Teachers: You Are Being Gaslit

We are being presented with the false choice between our own safety and quality education. We are being made to feel crazy for being scared to do our jobs, when in reality, it is logical to be scared.

You have the power to shut it down.

Stay Apart or Stay Home

Student conduct codes and pledges promise good COVID-19 habits.

Whether we call this a “community compact,” “social contract” or “behavioral compact,” it’s time for educators to start thinking about the words you’ll use to address this with your students. Educators are the prime (most important) connection with our students. Your life (and the lives of others) may depend on it.

What will you say?

How to Judge Whether Your School District Is Doing Enough

I’m sure no one could use this guidance at this point. 🙃

This 62 page report the Harvard School of Public Health’s “Healthy Buildings” Program outlines recommendations for five aspects of in-person schooling:

• Healthy Classrooms
• Healthy Buildings
• Healthy Policies
• Healthy Schedules
• Healthy Activities

As we think about opening up the new academic year, we should be focusing on the students that need to attend F2F, as opposed to blanket policies. To that end, this piece on CERPs (COVID-19 exposure risk profile) is a mandatory read.

CERPs hinge on preexisting forms of social differentiation such as socioeconomic status, as individuals with more economic resources at their disposal can better insulate themselves from exposure risk.

How to talk to conspiracy theorists—and still be kind.

1. Always, always speak respectfully.
2. Go private
3. Test the waters first
4. Agree
5. Try the “truth sandwich”
6. Use Socratic method
7. Be very careful with loved ones
8. Realize some people won’t change
9. If it gets bad, stop
10. Every little bit helps

Real-time collaboration with Canva

Learned two great things from Richard Byrne about Canva. I use Canva 2 to 3 times per day…so this rocks.

Canva started rolling-out real-time collaboration options similar to what you might experience with Google Docs or Drawings. Canva has an education version that is completely free for teachers and students. Head to Canva for Education page to sign up.

Choose confrontation wisely, but when it is your time don’t be afraid to stand up, speak up, and speak out against injustice.

John Lewis

Digitally Literate is a weekly review of the news, notes, tips, and tricks from the week that resonated with me.

I really needed this post this week. I think you’ll enjoy this storry about two teachers trying to find a safe way to find students missing in their classrooms.

As a regular reader of Digitally Literate….you should complete this survey on the future of digital life in light of COVID-19 and AI.

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