Thank you for saying this out loud. I teach in Oakland CA. My school is very intersectional (is that a thing, seems like a better way to describe it than “diverse”). Last March I “lost” several students. I told myself I was working hard to teach the ones that were engaging but I now haunted by those I couldn’t “find”. Now the year is going to start again and we are going to be behind f@#&ing screens. It seems to me that no aspect of education/schools is maximized for the benefit of students. Those with the greatest privilege are a able to work it to their advantage but those with the least are screwed. Even more so now, as you describe.

So what do we do about it?

I am trying to build a “contact tracing” app but not for the disease of Covid, instead the diseases of racism and poverty. Maybe if I work with my colleagues to find and engage all of my students, maybe if they know I am here and I know they are there, maybe the work to maintain the connection will matter?

Next, I want to give them credit for learning. What system can I build that lets them declare what they want to learn and then gives them the ability to report on progress and milestones? I don’t even care what they choose. It’s not like we are asking them to learn anything earth-shattering this year.

What else!? What else…