The famous 12th century philosopher Maimonides tells us, “A person should always take care not to cast his thoughts backwards, for his eyes are placed on his face and not his back.” With this, Maimonides reminds us of the value of looking forward without dwelling too much on the past, or even the present. His words ring especially true in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
With more and more schools committed to virtual learning for the rest of the school year, our minds are all occupied with questions about how to create community when we’re not together, how to engage students in authentic learning when behind a device, and how to support teachers through a process that is new to everyone. While these are all important questions in achieving our present goal of minimizing interruption for student growth and learning, we also must keep in mind the big-picture future of our schools.