Rhode island Mathematics teachers Association

     This is the new reality created by COVID-19, a pandemic that has impacted and will continue to impact our daily lives.  We are concerned as citizens. We are concerned as family members. And we are concerned as educators. Going forward, this will fundamentally affect how we conduct our daily lives; we need to be there for each other.

     We do not know when life will return to some sense of normalcy, but we know that until then, we are responsible for educating our students to the best of our ability.  How do we create a meaningful experience for our students while maintaining a semblance of order?  

     Fortunately, the education community is an incredibly supportive group.  We humbly suggest a few resources for you in this difficult time. There have definitely been a multitude of resources, and we don’t intend to add to the information overload.  Feel free to use some, all, or none of these resources. 

From the Rhode Island Department of Education

• RIDE has worked tirelessly to support educators as they implement distance learning.  https://www.ride.ri.gov/InsideRIDE/AdditionalInformation/Covid19.aspx

• The Highlander Institute, in partnership with RIDE, is launching the Rhode Island Distance Learning Helpline. A free statewide helpline, staffed byFuseRI Fellows for 6 hrs M-F & 2 hrs Sat & Sun.Fellows are RI educators supporting other RI educators w/online coaching.

From Tim “Tech” Marum

• Zearn has made their lessons available during this time.  https://help.zearn.org/hc/en-us/articles/360044029574-Resources-and-information-to-support-your-Coronavirus-COVID-19-Planning

• Desmos has dedicated much of their recent effort towards supporting teachers during the coronavirus outbreak.  You can access their work at learn.desmos.com/coronavirus.

From Dr. Sara Donaldson

• The Leading Equity Center has a free online course that is good (takes a bit of time but focuses on equity).  Their resource blog is at https://www.leadingequitycenter.com/blog/covid-19.

• Learn Zillion has opened up a lot of their videos for free access.  www.learnzillion.com

• Go on Twitter and follow NCTM, NCSM, ExploreMTBoS. There are a lot of great resources and support being shared.

From Susan Pagliaro

• Here is the link to an interesting article.  Resources For Teaching and Learning During This Period of Social Distancing - MindShift 

• A website with videos geared to students in middle school and up http://virtualnerd.com/.

From Dr. Drs. Danielle Dennis, Sarah Bularzik, and Dr. Kees deGroot, curated by Dr. Diane Kern and sent by Dr. Nicole Hersey

• We need to give ourselves permission to not expect perfection when shifting to online classes so quickly: https://anygoodthing.com/2020/03/12/please-do-a-bad-job-of-putting-your-courses-online/?fbclid=IwAR1798aI9YT4IbDJiFSCx2nCry4McBS9BpQtX517otuQD9IeKJboyXDrR5c

• How to Cope with COVID-19 Stress

https://wexnermedical.osu.edu/blog/how-to-cope-with-coronavirus-stress?fbclid=IwAR0OY5JBlkS99uNTWflLrwniEnQ7C7J1p6LO-Fv9ts_u24qmuy3paejPnRw

• Ten Percent Happier: Coronavirus Sanity Guide

https://www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide?fbclid=IwAR0RNRHfrr8ZjYYUuGB-gwPtwzUB9PJvleBijbHZZ2hIzYLtcii8N8b6LnI

• EDpuzzle is an easy to use video platform that allows you to take any video (preexisting or made by you) and personalize it to your lesson. You can crop the video, record your voice on top of it, and embed quizzes in the video to check for student understanding.  www.edpuzzle.com

From others

• diagnosticquestions.com is a site in which you can create assessments and assignments.  These questions are easy to score and diagnose misconceptions quickly...fantastic formative assessment!

• Visit www.mrbartonmaths.com/btn for videos on Diagnostic Questions that give students the most difficulty.

Being away from our colleagues and confined to our homes, we may feel more alone than ever.  But you are not alone now. You are not the only one nervous and unsure in these trying times.  Together, we can do this!