A few days ago, I had inspiration to really lean in to all the desktop screen sharing that would be going on in this era of COVID-19 Distance Learning by encouraging my colleagues to create a collection of intriguingly-named blank folders on their desktops (ex. "Death Ray Instructions", "Treasure Maps"). These would just sit there as screencast easter eggs during Zoom sessions and similar online instruction. I also tried to get as many colleagues as possible around the world to create a "Project Albatross" folder, replete with a purple dot label. Might as well have some fun (example of what passes for fun follows. PLEASE read on past said example).

Then I realized that we could do better. Actually, I realized that at this moment, there is no easy place to go for a teacher who wants to volunteer to do some teaching for learners who don't currently have regular access to teachers. That seemed odd. But a group of close colleagues and I have come to believe that it is very much the current situation.

So we're going to build one.

"Project Albatross" is going to endeavor to do two things:

1. Gather information to help connect teacher volunteers with learners in need. Specifically focused on Biology and Life Science Instruction.
2. Gather free-use resources for biology education and put them all in one central location.

Here's the form for teacher volunteers. Take a read, and maybe think about either signing up or sharing it on? Once we see what the "supply" of teachers looks like, we'll figure out what to do next.

Initially I was inclined to build this larger, but the team of colleagues I'm working with wisely suggested we just focus on Biology. That said, we're happy to share the underlying "template" documents and resources from this project for any other group of like-minded teachers of other subjects who might want to do something similar.

So please, share this one widely, eh?

Would you like to help out with Project Albatross? Fill out the form, leave me a comment, contact or Tweet. This is a crucial time, and every bit helps!