While COVID-19 has actually required educators to rapidly accept digital resources, I have taken the opportunity to lean deeply into “green guideline” and try to go totally paperless. The good news is, when the Duval County Public Schools went completely virtual in 2020, our district put into place a host of digital learning applications instructors could use to support mixed direction. While my district has fortunately gone back to in-person mentor and knowing, the resources we utilized to teach in the remote or hybrid environment are now supporting efforts to relocate to paperless mentor and learning.

As an inner-city U.S. History teacher of 17 years, I often assess my training practice in an effort to find brand-new ways to improve. As I recently evaluated some of the videos I have of own training practice, I was struck by the huge amounts of paper-based projects being given out and gathered.

A fine example of what paperless lessons can appear like in practice can be seen in how I teach my trainees about the history of D-Day. As the Team Historian for the Round Canopy Parachuting Team USA– a company devoted to honoring Americas paratrooper by performing the very same kinds of parachute leaps that happened on D-Day– I had access to a treasure trove of products about the Allied landing in Europe. Using these resources, I developed a distinct digital lesson on the history of D-Day using content from Discovery Education and the Airborne Special Operations Museum Foundation.

While this is one example, the following critical active ingredients in developing a paperless classroom can be used for any mentor environment or lesson plan:

In this lesson, jumpers from the team take trainees through a simulated exit from a C-47 Sky train and try on a parachute and reserve parachute with no extra equipment.

Hands-On Learning Opportunities. Part of my role as the Round Canopy Parachute Teams Historian is to create and maintain paperless STEM/Social Studies lessons designed for the high school level. After reviewing numerous possibilities, I chose to construct a hands-on taking a trip exhibition that featured not only resources from the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center, however the U.S. Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum. In this lesson, jumpers from the group take trainees through a simulated exit from a C-47 Sky train and attempt on a parachute and reserve parachute with no extra gear. Trainees walk through the artifacts my fantastic uncle sent out home from the war, consisting of everyday items from canteens to winter season clothing to letters. This permits students to get hands on with the history while finding out the science and history around parachute drops and the D-Day Invasion..

Daniel Tobias Flint, United States History Teacher, Westside High School, Duval County Public SchoolsDaniel Tobias Flint is a United States History Teacher, a Discovery Educator Network Star and the Social Sciences Department Chairperson in the Duval County Public Schools Westside High School.

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A great example of what paperless lessons can look like in practice can be seen in how I teach my trainees about the history of D-Day. Utilizing these resources, I produced a distinct digital lesson on the history of D-Day utilizing material from Discovery Education and the Airborne Special Operations Museum Foundation.