As a teacher, I always prided myself on my first-day-of-school lesson plans. Instead of reading aloud yet another syllabus, my 9th grade students spent the first day in conversation with one another, building connections with each other, with me, and with English Language Arts.

I take the same approach each July with the new cohort of teacher residents, who begin their year-long apprenticeship with a summer intensive. We carve out time getting to know each other as humans and as educators. We share our stories. We reflect on our identities. We engage in hard conversations about equity. We envision the future of education together.

This summer, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that we could not do any of these activities as usual. We would not hold our full-day sessions in person. We would not sit around the same table for lunch. We would not catch each other in the hallway for an informal conversation, where friendships blossomed and lifelong professional connections were formed.

Instead, we were 28 future teachers and 4 faculty, spread across 5 states and 3 time zones, gathered together in one Zoom room to build the foundation for our year together…

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