Thanks to contributions from the community, our ongoing project A Time to Remember records and documents how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting people’s lives at home. As parents, teachers, and students are settling into the new school year, we are looking for new contributions that tell the story of how education looks during a pandemic.
The new school supplies, the first-day back to school outfit, the brand new backpack, meeting your new teacher. These are all traditional back-to-school experiences we have all known. This year, whether children are attending classes virtually or in-person, going back to school in 2020 is definitely a different experience.
Teachers are coming up with new ways to engage students, like this kindergarten teacher who went viral on TikTok for staying energetic despite the complications of virtual learning. Students are figuring out how to create new friendships and maintain old ones in virtual or socially distant classes.
Need a little inspiration? Look through our suggestions below to help get you started thinking about what to contribute.
Final week of school for fifth grader. Contributed by Cristina Prochilo, Historic New England staff member.“Mom’s coworking space,” in an effort to entice teenagers to do homework with the promise of cookies and tea. Contributed by Julianne Mehegan.
For teachers:
How have you had to adjust your lesson plans to comply with a digital landscape? Tell us about it in a journal entry.
Take a photo of your workspace at home.
Did you purchase any new materials or have to learn how to use a new software to effectively run your classes? Take a photo of it or write a journal entry about it.
Submit a photo of one of your lesson plans.
How do you maintain a work-life balance? Do you have any specific activities at the end of a work day that help you unwind? Send us a photo or video of your favorite post-work activity.
For students:
(This one has almost no work required!) Did you write a paragraph or essay for school about how you spent your summer or how it feels to return to school? Submit your short essay as a journal entry.
Are your classes in person, virtual, or a combination of both? How are you adjusting to these changes? Tell us about in a journal entry.
What was your summer like? How was it different than other summers? Tell us about it in a journal entry or submit a photo from this summer.
Take a photo of your workspace at home.
Did you pick up a new hobby over the summer like embroidery or painting? Take a photo of your work and tell us a little bit about it.
