It’s pretty clear there will be no “return to normal” in education. “No one has been trained for this,” @slamteacher and I wrote back in April. Since then, too many institutions have spent money installing cameras in classrooms rather than investing fully in faculty development.

Institutions have spent months designing elaborate return-to-campus plans, many of which are now being shelved. Few institutions have drawn together faculty, staff, and students for the hard (and necessary) conversations that would help us all grapple with our present moment.

The work of teaching is hard. Teaching online, or teaching remotely in crisis, is especially hard. Back in April, Sean and I launched weekly “open online office hours,” a space for questioning and dialogue between and among faculty, teaching staff, and students at every level.

When we started our “office hours,” we had no idea what they’d become. Every month, we’ve added more dates, not knowing how long these meetings would be necessary. Along the way, we found community, a space of care, struggle, and hope.

Each session has had between 20 and 100 folks, a revolving group from over a dozen time zones. We’ve had a few sessions with topics, some with special guests, and often questions posed in advance, but for the most part, we gather without a clear set of predetermined outcomes.

These are exactly not webinars, not lectures, not workshops. Sean and I share what wisdom we can, but the focus is on dialogue, on all of us asking and tentatively answering questions together, usually questions we couldn’t expect, couldn’t possibly plan for.

Sean and I have decided to continue “open online office hours” throughout next semester. We’ve added new dates every other week at noon Eastern through December. Whatever you need, whatever wisdom you can bring, we hope you’ll join us. Register here: https://www.jessestommel.com/office-hours/