Summary: <br> This morning I was running a three-mile track around my neighborhood. <br> <br> <br> <br> Photo by Tikkho Maciel – Creative Commons No known copyright restrictions https://unsplash.com/@tikkho?utm_source=haikudeck&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=api-credit<br> <br> <br> <br> As I passed the houses and occasional drivers, I felt a sudden kinship to my neighbors I’m not sure I’ve felt before. We don’t just share the same zip-code; we now share a common experience. And this experience spreads beyond our cities and states. We share a common bond across the entire world.<br> <br> <br> <br> If you think about it, we have only been in this distance learning journey a relatively short time. But it doesn’t feel that way. The first case of COVID-19 worldwide was reported in January. But none of us had any idea what would happen in the ensuing weeks. By early March, U.S. cases had been reported. Washington state was the first to close schools. And as the virus spread into a pandemic, U.S. schools across the nation responded with closures and implementation of distance learning. <br> <br> <br> <br> In my own state of Oklahoma, March 25 marked the announcement from our Oklahoma State Department of Education that schools would close the rest of the year with distance learning plans beginning April 6. As I write this post on April 10, 2020, my family and I are in our fourth week of safer-at-home activity. And my children are finishing their first week of full-time distance learning lessons from their school. <br> <br> <br> <br> Just as we all share a common bond with one another worldwide, as leaders, we also share common lessons during these times.<br> <br> <br> <br> When schools began closing and making plans for distance learning, my calendar quickly filled with Zoom meetings and phone calls from other leaders. As executive director for the Oklahoma Association of Secondary School Principals (an affiliate of the Cooperative Council for Oklahoma School Administration), I have had a front-row seat with leaders across my state. <br> <br> <br> <br> I also coordinate with other state leaders through NASSP, the National Association of Secondary School Principals. And as a Solution Tree author and speaker, I also have colleagues across the nation and internationally with whom I collaborate.<br> <br> <br> <br> What lessons am I seeing from leaders during these uncertain times? Here are a five:<br> <br> <br> <br> 1. Relationships still matter now as much as ever.<br> <br> <br> <br> For principals with small and large school populations, I’m hearing the same feedback: Reach out to your people. Make sure they know you care about them and their safety and well-being. Above all else, assure your teachers, staff and students that you care and want to be available to help however you can. <br> <br> <br> <br> Chris Legleiter, Principal of Leawood Middle School, Blue Valley Schools, just outside Kansas City, Missouri, talked to me by Zoom and said, “I’ll be honest that is the hardest thing I think for most educators. We are all about relationships, and it took me a few days to really understand those relationships are still there. Now it is all about understanding how do I adjust to still connect with people.”<br> <br> <br> <br> He explained more, “As the building leader, I have used videos as one way to connect. I spent some time calling families one-on-one by phone. You can still write a note and mail it to someone’s residence. I think connecting relationships are still important, but I think that looks so different now in the virtual world. That’s what I’m trying to stay focused on what I cando, not what I can’t do.”<br> <br> <br> <br> 2. It still takes a team!<br> <br> <br> <br> Don’t carry the burden alone.
