Abstract
In March 2020, all Ohio school buildings were closed due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, leaving districts in crisis mode to complete the school year. This chapter per the authors details how the specialists in world languages and cultures at the Ohio Department of Education, in collaboration with the Ohio Foreign Language Association, were able to quickly and efficiently initiate virtual support for Ohio language teachers during the Spring 2020 school year, lead a summer professional learning series to prepare teachers for remote and blended learning the following school year, and continue virtually supporting teachers throughout the disruptions of the 2020-2021 school year. Priorities focused on teachers' and learners' social-emotional needs, high-quality and practical instructional resources that made language learning accessible for all, and a professional learning framework that modeled strategies for reimagining language instruction in an in-person, remote, or blended environment.
TopRedefining Professional Support
On March 11, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic (World Health Organization, 2020). On March 12, the governor of Ohio ordered all K-12 school buildings to close for three weeks, which eventually lasted the rest of the school year (ODE, 2020c). Teachers were forced to completely reinvent their classroom instruction to a digital format in the course of a few days. “Crisis teaching” had begun.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Learning Variabilities: The unique learning profile that each student brings to the language classroom in areas such as literacy, social-emotional learning, physical attributes, technology, motivation, or family support.
Remote Learning: Learning that takes place outside of a physical classroom, either synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of both.
Universal Design for Learning: A framework for planning learning experiences that provide multiple ways in which students access and engage with material and how they demonstrate their learning.
Ohio Department of Education World Language Specialists: Professionals at the state education agency in Ohio who oversee areas related to world language education in Ohio, including the standards, model curriculum, and professional learning.
Teacher Metacognition: The act of thinking about the thinking involved in planning and implementing instruction and learning.
Virtual Meetups: Professional learning sessions held synchronously online.
Blended Learning: May be called hybrid or concurrent learning. Learning that occurs partially in-person in the classroom and partially online, either synchronously, asynchronously, or a combination of both. Teachers may also be instructing both in-person and online students at the same time.
Accessible Learning: Planned learning experiences that remove obstacles and allow all students to engage with and have the same opportunities for accessing the information and resources.