Introduction I think we can all agree that the last three years have been unbelievably challenging for students, teachers, administrators and families. I don’t know that there is anyone in education that has not been impacted by COVID, the lockdown and the recovery. During the initial lockdown period, we as educators tried our best to treat our students with grace and not allow the Mary Loesing, Ed.D., is the president of New York State ASCD, the Long Island STEM Education Leadership Association, and the recently retired STEM Chairperson at Connetquot School District. Dr. Loesing earned her Master of Science in Biology Education from LIU Post and doctorate in Educational Leadership from Concordia University Chicago.
educational landscape that they were experiencing to damage their grades or their mindset. Now that we are back to mostly full-time in-person education, we need to help our students engage with their lessons. Keeping students focused on what is happening in the classroom rather than what is on a screen is challenging to say the least. However, we have all seen how much more students pay attention when they are faced with an intriguing problem to solve. Now more than ever, students need to take control of
their learning by understanding what they know and what they still need to learn. Productive, actionable feedback from their teachers is one way to provide students with the knowledge that they need to move their learning forward. These last three years have also taught us the importance of self care. Taking care of our own needs helps us to be more available to our families as well as our students. Teaching students to practice self care will help them to reduce the stress they feel and to help them be able to focus on their learning. The articles in this issue of the Impact Journal address the current challenges our schools are facing and offer concrete ideas to explore. 5
