We’re moving from full-time distance learning to concurrent/hybrid in May and, with luck, we may get back to something that might approach “normal” in the fall.  Since half of our high school student body is sixteen or older (and eligible for the vaccine) and – theoretically, at least – all of our students’ families would have been eligible for the vaccine by then, I’m wondering if that would be enough to reduce social distancing requirements?

Either way, our students are going to be needing support (what they don’t need this spring is standardized testing).

Here are a few resources to help us start thinking about how to provide that help – please make your own suggestions:

3 strategies for helping students in crisis return to school is from K-12 Dive.

Back-to-School Blueprint is from The Rennie Center.

No One is the Same: Supporting Students’ Mental Health as We Return to School is from We Are Teachers.

“Best” Lists Of The Week: Responding To Student Trauma

Accelerating Learning As We Build Back Better is by Linda Darling-Hammond.

The Pandemic Will Affect Students’ Mental Health for Years to Come. How Schools Can Help is from Ed Week.

Students Need Emotional Support When Returning to School in Person. Here’s How is from Ed Week.

What does the evidence say about… increased instructional time? is from FORA Education. I’m also adding it to Trying To Bring Research, Sanity, Teacher Expertise & Student Voice To The “Learning Loss” Discussion.

Q&A: Meeting the Needs of Students of Color in a Time of Collective Trauma is from Ed Week.

A Return to In-Person Learning Isn’t Enough for Students of Color is by Selena A. Carrión.

Reimagine and Rebuild: Restarting School with Equity at the Center is from a bunch of respected education organizations.

Ten Ways I’ll Be Teaching Differently Next Year is one of my Ed Week posts.

Amplify, Hospice, and Create: How Schools Should Spend the Money from the American Rescue Plan Act is from Next Gen Learning.

Helping Students Bounce Back From a Disrupted Year: Strategies for Schools is from Ed Week.

PREPARING SCHOOLS TO MEET THE NEEDS OF STUDENTS COPING WITH TRAUMA AND TOXIC STRESS is a new research paper from Annenberg.

‘Don’t go back to the old normal’: Opportunities for Adolescent Learning Revealed by COVID-19 is from MindShift.

The kind of teaching kids need right now is a column I wrote for The Washington Post.

Put Students, Not Screens, at the Center of Post-Pandemic Learning is from Education Next.

Surviving this next school year with three infinite resources. is by Dan Meyer.

The science of catching up is from The Hechinger Report.

Fostering Hope, Healing, and Well-Being is from ASCD.

Supporting a Restorative Opening of U.S. Schools is from The Learning Policy Institute (it’s from last year, but it’s new to me).

I LEARNED A LOT ABOUT MEMORY, ASSESSMENT & TEACHING IN THE FALL FROM THIS ARTICLE

How can teachers support students as we return to in-person learning is from Ed Source.