Throughout my 25 years as a teacher and principal in Becker Public Schools, there are a few memories that definitely stand out. I guess some would call them career defining moments.

I can remember “9-11” as if it were yesterday and the questions and concerns of students as we witnessed that historical moment unfold. I fondly remember hundreds of students, many parents and dozens of colleagues. Many positive memories and a couple that are not so great, but still memorable.

Did I ever mention the time a student hid a Chukar bird in my desk? I guess that’s a story for another column.

One thing is certain, all of those experiences taught me lessons to prepare me for another career defining moment- distance learning.

For teachers (parents, students, administrators, bus drivers – you get the idea), distance learning will be one of those career defining moments.

For me, I’m thankful every day that I’m undertaking this task in Becker.

I know our system isn’t perfect, but in the past two weeks I’ve talked to many friends and colleagues from other districts and the conversations always leave me feeling extremely fortunate that our community has certain things in place to make this transition successful.

Being a 1:1 district, meaning that all students have a device to assist in the process, is a game changer. Our entire community has embraced technology in a financial and theoretical manner in the past, even though we know it comes with some speed bumps in the process. This has proven to be an incredible investment to allow students and staff the opportunity to continue the learning process with as few hiccups as possible.

Our work in the past years in identifying the learning targets, or standards, is really paying dividends because we have already identified the most important concepts that students need to master. This allowed me as a teacher the chance to jump right into learning new strategies for content delivery. The work now is to figure out how to best do that in a digital environment.

The other thing that I think distance learning is showing is that our community is second to none in terms of students and parents. I know this all sounds a little Pollyanna and possibly cliché`, but it’s something I truly believe based on my experiences as an administrator for nearly 10 years. Becker people are good folk. They care about education, their own kids and other people’s kids. They take care of one another and that has been clearly evident over the past month.

I try to approach everything in life with a good sense of humor (students be prepared for Zubaz day in the future) and I think that is important during this time.

Also important for me has been the concept of humility. When I need to figure out a piece of technology, I’ve learned to just ask the 14 year old and they can probably do it. And not only can they do it, they can explain it, make a video to send to me and include three or four tips for how I can do it better!

Distance learning of course has some limitations when it comes to building those classroom connections that can help deepen the learning process. But it’s been amazing how students have adapted to the situation. From advocating for themselves, to asking clarifying questions and seeking help and guidance, my students have risen to the occasion.

I guess that’s one thing that hasn’t changed in the 25 years I’ve been in education. Students continue to do amazing things. I’m betting that’s what I will remember most about this latest career defining moment.