This may come as a total shock, but did you know that Shaquille O’Neil has his Ed.D.? His dissertation focused on humor in the workplace, specifically for leadership….seriously…never thought I would ever be referencing Shaq lol…..This idea of humor takes new meaning for us as educators entering into this new landscape. Educators are a super funny bunch and strive off daily humor with not only one another but with their students. So how does this happen virtually? Well, you have to be willing to take some risks and act a bit silly to really connect with your audience. States are entering into some really uncharted waters as we see them canceling school for the remainder of the school year (Vermont being one of them), and we have to think…..how I will make my students feel connected?

I have focused my last few blog/vlogs on Social Connectedness in this new COVID-19 Era because I truly feel that we MUST be innovative on how we are building community within our schools in the online world. How important are academics? Well, I personally feel not nearly as much as a student feeling socially connected to their peer and teacher. If a student can learn to read or even not lose their current skills, then that would be great. I guess what I am trying to say is we need to LOWER the bar.

Lower the Bar

We need to think about how families are handling this sudden switch to online learning. Many (MOST) districts were not designed to go online in a matter of days, so it is not like we are experts in this field, so it is important to understand that we will make mistakes, ask too much sometimes, but realize that at the end of the day, it is about a student feeling connected. What is the easier way to do this?

Make your students laugh!