1. A Change Agent

The growing pains of blended model for education is something we've experienced in 2020. The changes came at a neck breaking pace. A lot of us are overwhelmed and confused: students, parents, educators alike. 
Reflecting on these changes will help us adapt and grow more effectively. There is a lot of hope surrounding these new developments. 
I would like to take a minute and reflect on some pedagogical shifts we experienced. 
Moving away from achieving a score to looking at the skills gained, from drills and practice to inquiry-based learning is just a small portion of changes we underwent in recent years. I would like to focus on the following: 
1. Changes in assessments. 
Assessments are moving to more holistic evaluations that include promotion of soft skills such as collaboration and portfolio building. The focus is on growth rather then on raw scores. Treating students as partners in developing an educational success. 
2. Personal connections with students and developing creativity and individuality. 
Personalized learning is taking place of mass production in education. Withe advent of new educations technologies such that promote adaptive approach we must adjust our practices as well. There is no single approach that will encompass every individual's learning styles
3. Involving parents and community. 
2020 marked a significant change in parent's involvement in education. Parents and family are the key for engagement and success. 
4. Engagement strategies such as connecting with students, project-based learning, more meaningful lessons, visuals, as author/educator Kelly Gallagher says, “Engagement first, then content, then rigor.”
5. Be adaptive to change. Some schools with stronger infrastructure of collaboration and technology had more success in time of pandemic. We must compile and analyze their success:
"Our success was driven by our people being ready to be adaptive, innovative in the context that we're in… This Covid 19 moment's an unfortunate situation, but the good news is our educators and staff had built their capacity and continued to be adaptable." Phil Neufeld, Fresno Unified School District, California “Education Reimagined,”

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