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Zoom, which had barely been a blip on the education radar, became a lifeforce to keep us together. Director of Lower School Andy Wilson agrees that Zoom has had an outsized influence. "Everyone's increased capacity with Zoom has been a game changer. We can now more easily schedule 'face-to-face' meetings with families as needed, bring in visitors from near and far to present or present to, watch an event happening across campuses or across the world…just about anything." The convenience that Zoom offers is not lost on Rebecca Damas. She recognizes that "holding Family Conferences on Zoom has been universally popular among parents and advisors. Parents don't need to lose half a day of work commuting to the meeting, and the meetings run on schedule. Screen-sharing during Family Conferences is also handy—it is an effective way to share student work with all attendees." Director of Upper School Dan Feigin also maintains that "virtual Family Conferences promote equity, inclusion, and convenience." According to Michael Danenberg, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, "Teachers were frequently teaching remotely during the start of the pandemic, and they had to rely on various digital strategies and resources. They became adept at incorporating technology into their instruction, and this practice has continued to the extent that it adds value. During the pandemic, the use of Google Workspace tools (including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings, Meet, Chat, and Sites) by teachers and students exploded. One of the primary advantages of Google Workspace is its collaborative nature. Despite the pandemic keeping us apart, students were able to work together on projects using these tools. They realized that they didn't have to be in the same space to communicate and collaborate. Teachers could also review and comment on work in progress, which provided more timely insight and influence. We always need to revisit and evaluate technologies like these to confirm their effectiveness, but the pandemic gave us a big push forward." In addition to evaluation, faculty and staff need to continue their own professional growth in order to make the best use of available technology. Mr. Feigin notes that Trevor's "continued professional development for faculty in the areas of technology and innovative digital curriculum is essential." Mr. Wilson adds that "digital tools and platforms such as Google Classroom, Seesaw, and Sora's online library have been invaluable in our ability to more easily help students to engage in work at home—whether that be regular homework or occasional remote days—and to increase communication and shared resources with families." There were also lessons learned about students' capacity to use technology effectively for learning at even younger levels. Through the experience of the pandemic, the use of one-to-one laptops expanded. Assistant Director of Lower School Stephanie Nelson attests that, "Three years following the 2020 school closings, when we scrambled to get technology in all Lower School hands, 3rd- and 4th-grade Trevor students annually receive their own laptops and are using programs such as Google Slides as a way to present what they've learned." Mr. Danenberg also thinks there are many more lessons to come on the fascinating topic of flipped classrooms. "The concept of the flipped classroom gained some traction during the pandemic and I think it deserves continued attention. The idea is that content delivery occurs at home in the form of short video lessons, online discussions, research, or readings. Class time can then be devoted to deeper exploration of the content through interactive work, small-group activities, and focused discussions. The teacher is the facilitator, helping students apply what they learned at home in the classroom. Some of the digital resources employed during the pandemic lent themselves to this approach. EDpuzzle is one example that many teachers continue to use. This tool allows them to add quiz questions to their own videos or existing videos online. They can then assign those videos, so students must watch them while answering the questions at home. Students become responsible for learning material on their own and then coming to class prepared to engage and use that knowledge." 36 / TREVOR MAGAZINE WINTER 2022–2023

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