When the pandemic forced most kids into remote learning last spring, children lost vital physical connections with their teachers. Gone were the morning high-fives, hallway conversations, and over-the-shoulder homework corrections they were used to.

In the fall, most kids started the new school year remotely. They had new teachers but few opportunities to get to know each other: no real face-to-face contact, with many students shutting off their cameras during class.

“This year, teachers have had to teach without the benefit of pre-existing relationships, and that’s been incredibly difficult,” explains Jessica Lahey, a teacher with more than 20 years of experience and the author of The Gift of Failure and the forthcoming The Addiction Inoculation: Raising Healthy Kids in a