Lessons Learned During the Coronavirus & How to Prepare Your School for the Future

Hi friend, 

This topic has been on my heart for awhile.

As I watch small schools scramble to create effective distance learning programs and train staff on Zoom and other platforms, I feel compelled to run to each one of them and give some tips for the future (an after-coronavirus-future). 

And just a side note: I'm a water-glass-half-full kinda gal so I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer here. I just happen to be very practical and believe in learning from mistakes. I don't want to see this mad-scramble happen again for these amazing small school communities. 

Here are some tips I hope will help!

1. This will happen again

Look, whether we have a massive blizzard and enter into an ice age or have another pandemic or something worse, there is a high probability that you will have to embrace distance learning again in the future. 

The only thing certain about the future is that it will change. So if this health crisis and economic upheaval has taught schools anything, it's to be better prepared for the future. 

Don't scrap your distance learning plans after coronavirus. Debrief about them and then make sure they're ready to go in the future. 

Financially, look at how your school is suffering now and figure out what you need to do to stay fiscally healthy in the future and if something were to happen again that shuts you down. 

Now is the time to say, "If this happened all over again, what would I do differently?" And then start ensuring that you're doing those things and preparing for the future.

2.  Be prepared - train your staff and faculty!

Now that you know what distance learning looks like for your community, this is the time to ensure that every year your faculty and staff have training in the things they need to succeed should we have to do it again.

This could be...software training, how to shoot video or operate Zoom, how to effectively communicate with parents via phone, email and text, etc. 

Select the topics and skills that are relevant for your community and get them on your annual professional development calendar.

As new faculty and staff join your team, they should also be educated about how your school does distance learning and the platforms used. 

Check out this video for more info!

I'm here for you. 

Aubrey

Aubrey Bursch, Founder, Easy School Marketing

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