Each new school year brings excitement, energy, and anticipation. As teachers, we look forward to seeing a new group of students and starting a new year of learning together. We find value in the relationships we build and eagerly await our chance to make a positive difference in the lives of our students.
At the same time, the first days of school can leave us feeling a bit nervous, uncertain, and anxious. These feelings are natural, especially when we care so much about what we do, and we recognize that there will be challenges along the way.
At AVID Open Access, we understand both your hopes as well as the challenges you face. We are here for you.
To help you start the school year, we have developed the AVID Open Access Back-to-School Toolkit. This collection of articles features a special emphasis on topics and resources that are specifically helpful to start your school year successfully. Browse the resources listed below. When you find a topic of interest, click the link for more detail.
Accelerate Learning As We Build Back Better
Explore strategies to accelerate student learning while supporting those who need scaffolds and extra help to be ready for new grade-level content. Articles focus on leveraging student assets, building community, designing for personalization and intervention, maintaining high standards, and connecting through student conferencing.
Create Community and Nurture Connections to Support Social and Emotional Learning
Develop strategies to establish and maintain a positive classroom community, nurturing virtual connections that are essential to the learning experience. Articles focus on building community, encouraging student collaboration, fostering a growth mindset, celebrating success, and connecting with families.
Deepen Connections to Accelerate Learning
Nurture connections with students, families, and colleagues through authentic and intentional collaboration and two-way communication.
Design for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Learning
Explore resources to establish a remote learning environment that honors flexibility, openness, and inclusivity. Articles focus on embracing differences, addressing academic gaps, and creating a welcoming classroom.
Design With Accessibility in Mind
Learn ways to make digital learning experiences more equitable by improving accessibility and empowering students with digital tools they can use to overcome their access barriers. Articles focus on Universal Design for Learning and student accessibility tools.
Develop Your Students’ Focused Note-Taking Skills
Learn an effective focused note-taking practice that incorporates digital strategies and tools to help students take notes and process their learning.
Explore Content-Specific Digital Tools and Strategies
Discover digital tools that can be used to teach content-specific curricula.
Empower Students Through Creativity and Choice
Explore how to create learning experiences where students are empowered to make choices and create across multimedia modalities. Articles focus on student choice, video, audio, image, writing, animation, and multimedia creation.
Empower Students with Digital Study Skills
Introduce your students to the skillset they need to navigate the online world where they are engaging with their learning resources. Articles focus on student study skills such as managing a digital learning environment, time management, organization, academic integrity, email management, online discussions, and the inquiry process.
Engage Students Through Inquiry Learning
Explore inquiry learning to help your students learn to think critically, ask higher-order questions, and effectively search for and find answers. Articles focus on seven steps in the inquiry process and include handouts and teaching resources.
Explore Blended Learning Strategies
Explore five blended-learning models and how they can be adapted for face-to-face, remote, and hybrid teaching. Articles focus on best practices for the key blended learning models: playlists, station rotation, whole group rotation, and flipped learning.
Explore Critical Reading and Viewing in a Digital Age
To be successful in this digital world, our students need new critical reading and viewing skills to help them interact effectively with information online. Articles include digital resources for marking text and annotating videos and images.
Foster Student Collaboration in a Tech-Empowered Classroom
Help students develop future-ready skills to collaborate across time and space through various digital channels. Articles range from choosing collaboration tools to teaching collaboration skills to designing lessons and empowering students.
Help Students Take Ownership of Their Digital Lives
Teach students digital citizenship skills that create positive experiences for themselves and others. Articles include topics such as digital citizenship skills, digital footprints, screen time, and cyberbullying.
Inspire Students With Project-Based Learning
Explore this dynamic classroom approach where students acquire deep knowledge through active exploration of real-world challenges and problems. Articles explore the major elements of project-based learning such as setting the state, engaging students, integrating authentic-based inquiry, providing voice and choice, reflection, and authentic assessment.
Mental Health
Explore strategies for fostering relationships, supporting social and emotional learning, and addressing student mental health concerns. This collection includes a combination of articles and podcasts focused on positive mental health.
Reimagine Summative Assessments for Increased Student Agency
Design summative assessments for your virtual classroom that will motivate and engage students to demonstrate their learning. Articles focus on authentic assessment that can be facilitated through the use of technology.
Support and Nurture Future-Ready Learners
Explore ways to empower your students with the confidence, skills, and strategies they need to be future-ready learners. This wide-ranging collection offers articles on student online discussion and study skills, fostering a growth mindset, reflecting on learning, and focused note-taking and digital reading skills.
Thank you!
Most of all, thank you for all you do! As teachers, you matter tremendously and make a positive difference in the lives of our students! We hope to see you back regularly at AVID Open Access as we continue to publish new content to support you throughout the school year.
Extend Your Learning
- 40 Clever Back-to-School Activities to Get Kids Excited About the Year Head (Good Housekeeping)
- Back-to-School Resources for Parents (Edutopia)
- The Best Back To School Teaching Resources For The Best Year Ever (TeachThought)