Douglas Fisher - The Distance Learning Playbook, Grades K-12: Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting

We are in a place in history where we desperately need answers to questions that will determine the future of our nations most precious possessionour children. The Distance Learning Playbook is an incredible resource with a wealth of practical support for teachers and administrators, and it will fill a huge information gap that many schools are experiencing in educating students from a distance. With very practical, easy-to-use examples of how to start and end a class, provide the social-emotional support needed, and set up norms to develop a safe culture for students to learn at high levels, this is a must-have for educators at all levelsdistrict leaders, principals, coaches, and teachers. This resource is ideal for schools that are looking for answers in the quest to create a whole-child approach to virtual education.

Dr. Charles Newman, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, Perris Union High School District, CA

Never has there been another time in history where the majority of educators around the world jumped into action to reinvent how schools and classrooms function. Using current research of what constitutes best practice, The Distance Learning Playbook helps guide us all through pandemic teaching. This book is filled with ideas and insight from real educators as they reflect on what they themselves need and what students will need to learn within a new teaching and learning environment. Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie continue to develop relational pedagogies that support cultural responsiveness and social emotional development in order to have a positive effect on student achievement, but this time, in a new setting. They help us understand research-based approaches to engage every student, and in doing so, help us select the appropriate digital tools. I cant wait to use this book in our professional learning.

Lisa Riggs, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Gresham-Barlow School District, OR

I love this book! It provides practical information to support all our teachers as they shift all or some of their instruction to distance learning. It is the best of what Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie have to teach us about great instruction, all in a hands-on tool to guide teachers as they plan for the upcoming year. From teacher self-care to feedback, assessment, and grading, its all addressed here. This resource is right on time and will be a foundational tool to help shape the instructional focus at my school this year.

Jennifer Carr, Principal, Ahwahnee Middle School, Fresno, CA

As we charter the unfamiliar territory of a blended learning platform, we turn to the experts who have gone before us. Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and John Hattie remind us that the focus is not technology, learning management systems, or devices, but that the focus remains student learning. This book serves as a safe haven, as it reminds us what effective teaching and learning entail, and then wraps it around a digital learning framework. Whether districts are familiar with distance learning or starting from ground zero, The Distance Learning Playbook is the place to start.

Melanie Spence, K12 Curriculum Coordinator/Assistant Principal and Education Consultant, Sloan-Hendrix School District, Imboden, AR

Echoing through the pages of this timely book is this message: effective teaching is effective teaching, no matter where it occurs. Teacher voices and classroom examples animate core principles of research-based teaching and learning, enabling the reader to visualize practices in both face-to-face and online learning environments. Multiple self-assessments and templates for reflection support reader interaction with the content. The authors connect Visible Learning and informed teacher decision-making to all facets of effective lesson design and delivery and address the important issues of equity and inclusiveness, learner self-regulation, and the use of formative evaluation and feedback to move learning forward. A must-read book!

Jackie Acree Walsh, Author of Quality Questioning, Second Edition and Consultant, Montgomery, AL

The year 2020 will be forever etched in our minds as the Era of Distance Learning. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused cascading changes that have shifted our educational institutions. This concerted seismic move has elevated the need for robust internet connections and meaningful virtual interactions. The Distance Learning Playbook is an invaluable resource designed to prepare our teachers to provide a powerful learning environment through technology, while promoting the most powerful tool available to educatorsa caring relationship with students.

Dr. Francisco Escobedo, Superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District, CA

Teaching for Engagement and Impact in Any Setting