Back-to-school season looks different this year due to COVID-19, and parents, teachers and students around the world are facing a myriad of challenges, from remote teaching and learning, balancing work and home responsibilities, and most importantly, maintaining the safety and well-being of all involved. That’s why we’re launching an Educator Hub to support teachers and provide resources across our apps to help people navigate the new school year, stay connected and take care of each other.
Resources for Teachers and Students
The Educator Hub is designed to help teachers find or build their online community and discover resources for the classroom and beyond.
- Anti-Racism Resources: Educators play an important role in helping students understand the world around them and building an inclusive environment where all students feel respected. The Educator Hub includes information and guides from education organizations to help teachers have important conversations with students about racial inequities. We’re also sharing Anti-Racism Guides on Instagram to help foster a more inclusive and respectful community and provide access to informative and inspiring content. The Anti-Racism Guides include information from experts like Child Mind Institute to help kids understand racial justice issues in the news, and The Conscious Kid to help parents and educators talk to young students about race.
- Get Digital: The Educator Hub also features Get Digital, our free digital literacy program, developed with experts, for teachers, students and parents. It includes lesson plans, conversation starters, activities, videos and other tools to help young people develop skills needed to navigate and thrive in today’s digital world. For educators, Get Digital provides ready-to-use lessons for teaching young people about digital citizenship and maintaining health and well-being while using technology. For students, there are various activities that reinforce and expand on the digital skills they’re learning in school and at home. And parents and caregivers can use this program to start conversations with kids about how to stay safe online.
“I am a third-year teacher and the ClearTheList! groups have become an oasis where I can not only vent and collaborate with other teachers but a place where I have come to truly admire and respect a fine collection of educators.”
– Sarah Carpenter, ClearTheList!
Staying Connected
When Shelter in Place took effect across the world, we saw a surge of homeschooling Groups on Facebook. More than 2,000 new homeschooling Groups were created in March alone, 8x more than the month prior.
As many people stay home this back-to-school season, we want to help keep everyone connected.
“Many of us are parenting, working, teaching, managing the household, managing self-care, and/or in some instances losing our jobs, losing our homes, and losing loved ones to COVID-19. Thankfully, we have each other in this Facebook community to provide support, resources, and inspiration. It is the generosity in advice, care, and contributions that keep us connected every day.”
– Allison Harris-Turk, Founder of Learning in the Time of Corona Facebook Group
The Educator Hub will help teachers connect to other teachers and find support from communities online. Teacher can also get inspired and find help by following hashtags on Instagram like #teachersofinstagram, #teacherssupportteachers, #distancelearning, #teacherspayteachers and #teachergram.
We also want to make sure kids and their parents stay connected to their school communities this year, so we’re providing a series of digital guides and activities to help them stay in touch and engaged using Messenger Kids and Messenger Rooms. The guides were developed in partnership with nationally recognized family and parenting expert and author, Ericka Souter. The guides also contain a series of safety tips that were developed in collaboration with a member of Facebook’s Safety Advisory Board. They cover topics including: Staying Connected for Back to School on Messenger Rooms, Helping Your Child Connect with New Classmates, Building Virtual Clubs & Study Breaks for Your Child, and Virtual Lunchtime, Recess & Playdates with Messenger Kids. You can learn more about these resources in the Messenger Newsroom and find additional information on Messenger Kids and Messenger Rooms.
Taking Care of Yourself
During times of isolation and uncertainty, it’s important to be mindful of your mental health and well-being. So in addition to the well-being tips in our COVID-19 Information Center, we’re sharing wellness resources from trusted partners and experts in the Educator Hub.
- The Educator Hub offers self care strategies, mental health tips and other resources from experts like the Greater Good Science Center, CASEL and EverFi.
- The Educator Hub also features Pressure to be Perfect, a free online resource developed in collaboration with the JED Foundation to support positive teen expression on Instagram. With guides for both teens and their parents, Pressure to be Perfect helps teens understand how they feel about the content and people they interact with online, and develop a sense of what they want to share and when. Pressure to be Perfect covers topics like how to be a good friend online, how to make the most of your time online and how to customize your experience on Instagram.
- And on Instagram, we’re sharing mental health and anti-bullying guides to help educators, parents and students manage stress and maintain a positive environment this school year. The guides will offer wellness tips to support people’s mental health in the classroom and beyond.