Our school system (in Connecticut) was in a hybrid model from September through the end of January. Kids came to school each day, in two different cohorts. Classes were small. Time was limited. There were pros and cons. But this time helped us reconnect with kids as we readjusted to school in 2020.

In January 2021, we had our second first day of school where cohorts came together, meeting for the first time in a school that looked very different than the school they left last March. Our school has never had desks…until now. Tables were carted away and stored and replaced with desks shielded by plexiglass. All of that seemed irrelevant to the kids, who were just happy to come to school and be with their teachers and friends.

Today, I was invited to a quick meeting with our first grade team and my friend Dawn (also a fellow slicer and one of our school’s reading teachers). Because we are back in school full time, Dawn is resuming her pre-covid push-in time with primary grades. This has been a staple of in our early intervention model-our interventionists working with all students. Getting to know them. Helping teachers address specific needs quickly and systematically. Dawn called the first grade team together to reestablish structures that we had previously put in place to strengthen collaboration and drive strong small group instruction.

“We’re back,” said Dawn. “So let’s come back to what we know works.”

Dawn and I have been talking about this a lot.

Our school just finished a round of benchmark assessments that allow us to look at student growth. Dawn has been tracking the growth of some students she has been working closely with. Several times this week, she has stopped me in the halls to celebrate some major growth in some of these kids. “It’s because they’re readers now,” I keep saying to her. “You helped them to see themselves as readers, love to read, and find the right books.”

This is just another small example or coming back to what we know works. We have had to do a lot of adjusting, improvising, and reimagining over the course of the last year. It feels good to finally be in a place where we can start moving towards getting back to what we know for sure.