Fostering a strong classroom community is a critical piece of student learning, whether it's in person or virtual. Research shows that two prerequisites to effective teaching and learning are prioritizing student well-being and connection. While the current COVID-19 environment might make some of the traditional team building activities unsafe, here are some ideas that can still help you build relationships with your students.

Introductions and Check-Ins 

Learning about the personalities of your students, students learning about each other, and students learning about you can be difficult in a socially distanced classroom (whether in person or virtual). Your classroom can still get-to-know each other by using digital tools. For example, create a Flipgrid introduction video, where students respond to a question with their own video. I created this Flipgrid example for a virtual meeting with teachers. I ask the question, "What's your favorite item at home?" - I'd love to see some responses! 

Don't want to use videos? Then try out Google slides! Assign each student a slide and ask them to upload images that represent who they are, what they love, etc. You can also use Google slides as "check-in" activities at the beginning of in-person or virtual class, like this slides example of the Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down game.

When thinking of topics for discussion remember to be sensitive to potential questions that might cause undue stress as, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, approximately 25% of American children will experience at least one traumatic event by the age of 16, and there is a chance that many of our students had a summer they would like to forget. So instead of asking, "How was your summer?" ask "What are you looking forward to in ___ grade/this class?" "What is a goal I can help you with this year?" or  "What is something you would like me to know about you?" 

Whether you use videos or slides, students can view their classmates' responses to begin making connections with each other outside of content. 

Establishing Collaborative Norms 

Engaging students in the development of classroom norms helps create student buy-in by collaboratively creating an agreement on how they will treat one another. This is often done in person as ideas can be shared and agreed upon during classroom discussions. In a virtual setting, tech tools, such as Jamboard, can be utilized to not only develop and share ideas, but the norms can also be easily revisited by the class to evaluate areas of strength and improvement throughout the year. Check out these resources for classroom norms and classroom culture.

Partnering with Families 

This past spring, we saw how vital parent support can be in ensuring students remain engaged with their learning. As school reopens, we have an opportunity to invite family members to actively partner in their child's education. Check out this resource on supporting equitable home-based science teaching and learning.  There are several tables in this resource that provide examples of  what family roles in learning can look like and how to leverage these roles to support student learning experiences. All parents have the capacity to support their children's learning, so let's build authentic partnerships that can ultimately lead to significant gains in student achievement. 

However you are going back to school this year  - whether in person, blended, or virtual - we know the year will look  different than in past years. Let's take advantage of this opportunity to build stronger, more collaborative learning environments that support and engage all students in the wonder of science. 

To support districts and teachers as they implement shifts associated with the new Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OAS-S) we have compiled a document called the OAS-Science Implementation Toolkit. This toolkit is designed to house all current resources available for implementation support, including recorded webinars, presentation slide decks, middle school science-specific resources, distance learning resources, professional development opportunities, free and open instructional resources, and so much more! This resource is updated monthly so be sure to save the link and revisit throughout the year.

Science Opportunities

Spaceweather.com and Earth to Sky Calculus are partnering together to launch student experiments into the stratosphere using a high-altitude balloon! This program is called FREELIFT and is open to everyone (all grade-levels, all schools). Students submit 1-page proposals for high-altitude research and the best proposal each month wins the trip to the stratosphere. To find out more information visit the Earth to Sky FREELIFT webpage.

Equity and Inclusion

Creating a classroom that fosters trusting and caring relationships, opening up opportunities for all students to learn, can be tricky. The STEM Teaching Tool on "How to Build an Equitable Learning Community in Your Science Classroom" describes a range of classroom activities designed to cultivate classroom communities that welcome and support all students. This includes get-to-know-you games, ideas on bridging learning between school and students' everyday lives, and resources that explore student perceptions on science identities.