Thanks for stopping by to check out the COVID Connects Us project! We are a group of science educators working together to reimagine ways science education could be transformed to be a justice-centered, community-serving endeavor.  Together we created and studied a kick-off unit across disciplines and grade levels that focused on explaining, "Why are People of Color disproportionately impacted by the pandemic?" Grappling with racism, developing critical science literacy, using the range of NGSS science practices, and partnering with local doctors as medical mentors are a few of the lived experiences our science classrooms engaged in to kick off this school year.  Questions for you: 

How might doing science for community and justice change how youth perceive its relevance and value?

How do teachers need to support each other in this work?

Excited to hear your thoughts and questions!

It looks like there are several important connections between the work of this project with the project that my team worked on. It would be interesting to explore overlaps between the two approaches. Are project materials available for sharing?

Hi Troy - I knew you were engaged in a similar project, but I didn't realize quite HOW similar.  I would definitely love to talk with you more about how we could collaborate across these efforts.  Thanks for visiting.  Your video is great! - April

This project is relevant in so many ways! Turning pandemic challenges into an integrative learning experience, that allows students to learn science and think about epidemiology through a sociological, justice-centered lens is innovative and compelling.  I can imagine both the challenges and opportunities as teachers and students engaged in complex thinking activities.  Could you share some observations (or other data) related to teachers and/or students reactions...either specific to an activity or generally during the unit.  What was especially engaging or hard?  What supports did teachers need to get started?  Thank you for the presentation!

Thanks for sharing your project! The pandemic certainly has served as an authentic catalyst for exploring issues around social justice...in real time. I find that K-12 students exhibit high engagement when topics are relevant to their lives and are problem-based. We need more curriculum like this in our schools! 

What a wonderful and clear model of new teacher agency in tackling not just the immediate challenges of pandemic teaching, but recognizing the opportunity to fundamentally alter the the dialogue on persistent problems with current system of schooling.  I hope that you will take advantage of the outlets through professional organizations, such as NSTA, to share this clear approach.

Thank for your the encouragement, Eric!!  I promise we will  - especially because you invited us to!!  

I found the presentation to be informative. Although I think that it is important to introduce science to children at an early age, it really isn’t being done on a large scale for city school children. Once again that’s where racial disparity comes into play. I.e. racial profiling, housing, medical care, and the list goes on and on. Anyway, wonderful points were made during the presentation. Very good job, as Always, April.👏🏾

Hi April. Great video! I really like the focus of the units and the project. I am wondering about how the instructional materials can be used to connect learning outcomes across disciplines. For example, the materials have the potential of addressing relevant standards in ELA and social studies. 

This is a wonderful presentation, and it is great to see teachers leading the charge for innovative, timely education materials. I am curious how you supported the social-emotional needs of students as they grappled with issues of race and equity, as well as investigated a public health crisis that likely affected their immediate community. 

Again, thank you for this wonderful video. Kelly

Thanks for the note and kind words Kelly.  Such an important question you posed. Though I can share some elements that we were committed to (e.g. inviting students to take lead in conversations, encouraging participation in various ways (not requiring public contributions), and responding to needs or questions as they arose), I can also say we learned some things that we would do differently.  Our initial invitation to the unit involved recognizing racism; this happened, in some cases, before a sense of community and trust was built.  We realized that those teachers who protected space and created supports for building these bonds among students before they started the unit benefited from those relationships when some of the harder work was broached.  It is also important to say that this unit was meant to open the door to critical conversations about science and racism, but there was no need to get to some place specifically.   Hope that makes sense.

I appreciate several aspects of your video - the animation, the theoretical framework, and the reference to the NGSS standards. You have done a great job of highlighting the benefits of your program for your fellows. 

Hi April, Great video and project. I think Covid made me realize just how little progress we have made and how far we still need to go. A great challenge to work on together! Thanks for your ideas through the video!