“My greatest challenge,” says Johnson, “has been making sure my school community was able to keep safe. I knew it was essential for classroom teachers and support staff to have easy access to first aid items because they had to remain contained within their group.” So Johnson created and distributed emergency kits.

“In our school,” Pardo says, “we do as many things as we can to engage students. Our goal is to create a safe space where students feel they belong and are validated.” Pardo has been working remotely since March and finds it extremely difficult because she is a hands-on person.

The deadliest school shooting in U.S. history claimed the lives of 14 students and three staff members on Feb. 14, 2018, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland, Florida. Five weeks later, students nationwide walked out of classes to support the March for Our Lives in Washington, D.C., organized by Stoneman Douglas survivors.

Educators at PS 185 in Harlem used the school garden as an outdoor classroom this fall. It helped students’ regulate their moods, develop fine motor skills and boost learning in science and vocabulary. 

When teaching remotely, there is so much educators can't control, says one AP English teacher at Brooklyn Tech HS. It's a challenge to engage students and to gauge their interest.

A kindergarten teacher in Brooklyn says technology was the smallest part of her day before COVID-19, but now it's the biggest part, and she has been as willing to try and as adaptable as her students.

A pre-K teacher at PS/IS 127 in Queens who teaches remotely from both school and home, misses having students in the classroom, but she uses her creativity to keep them engaged and laughing.

Because singing and playing instruments carry a higher risk of coronavirus transmission, an in-person music teacher at PS 129 in Manhattan has had to reinvent how to teach musical concepts and skills.

A paraprofessional at PS 204 in Brooklyn has become a jack of all trades in the face of staff shortages, working one-on-one with in-person students; helping those struggling with remote learning; doing temperature checks, screenings and lunch duty; plus serving as a hall monitor.

To make the school year feel successful, educators are revising lesson plans, troubleshooting technology and investigating new strategies. Day by day, they’re figuring out what works for their students — and themselves. Read their stories.