No doubt, teaching during a pandemic has truly changed the landscape of the teaching profession in tremendous ways. As I coach teams of educators and provide various strategies for effectively implementing different co-teaching models in light of the COVID protocols, I hear a common statement from almost every teacher, “I wish I had my kidney table back!” Teachers are longing to pull small groups of students who need specific interventions, individualized supports for mastering the content, or a quick extension activity to promote deeper learning. I don’t think anyone realized just how crucial the table shaped like a bean in the back of the classroom was to effective and flexible teaching and learning practices. Now that in most cases it’s no longer there, it is definitely missed!

As a former elementary school teacher, I always had two tables in the back of my classroom. I had one kidney table and one rectangle table. It was necessary for teaching and grouping specific students so they could get to the next level of learning. The shape of the table is not the issue (although the shape is a personal favorite). What truly matters is the idea of being able to pull specific students to the table, and work on the key skills they need to be successful in the grade-level curriculum and/or meeting IEP goals.  As an elementary educator, I guess I did take the places in my classroom for granted. My students and I could work at another table, we could sit on the carpet and work on a clipboard, we could even use multiple areas in the classroom to learn different skills and strategies for learning key grade-level content. With COVID protocols in place, teachers and students are stuck in specific spots of the classroom screaming through a piece of cloth. I am always giving the teams of educators I coach praise for all the changes they have made and challenges they work feverishly to overcome to ensure the success of their students.

Of course, we all understand the importance of WHY we are teaching and learning this way. When we started teaching this September, I believe we all tried our best to see a hopeful future and help our students as best as possible. This year is an anomaly, and no one was ready for it. Now that teachers have been teaching this way for seven months, every teacher asks me the same thing, “please email my principal and/or administrators and ask if we can have our kidney table back in our classrooms? Can we change the separated desks to small groups or use the floor space to work with 2-3 students?”

All across Long Island, teachers have changed the way they facilitate learning in their classrooms. They have adapted and changed their way of thinking when it comes to instruction of the material, but still want to know, when can I have my old classroom environment back? I do not know exactly when the “normal” classroom environment will return, but I am always searching for new ways to implement the use of the bean-shaped table in the “back of the classroom.” Another conversation that seems to always pop up with my elementary educators is the use of student desks moved back to table groups.

Teaching during a pandemic has changed in numerous ways, but one thing is for sure, access to a small table or other designated learning space for pulling a small group is a must in every classroom. Students continue to succeed when they master and retain the content and instruction in small groups. If administrators want to know a way to make all educators insanely happy, it is definitely allowing the physical use of the bean-shaped table in the back of their classroom. They have worked so hard this school year, please give them access to the magical table with exponential abilities!

--Jennifer Engler, CMDI Educational Strategist