School Reopening Community: Learning Beyond COVID-19

Some decided to be virtual or enroll in our cyber program, but the majority are in person. I teach math at the high school.

probably through the first semester at least.

Now, we are hybrid teaching. It has been an interesting ride with trying to teach, engage, and motivate students through online learning. Somedays I think things are going well, and other days I think I am not getting through to them. I have changed a few concepts this quarter by taking notes of each student and making sure I contact students, parents, and/or guardians to keep on top up of students doing well in class. One caveat is that I do not have to worry about disciplinary issues, but I do have to worry about "check out" issues. I am trying to do the best I can to keep my students interested by using games such as Kahoot, Vocabulary.com, and other online choice boards. I am also trying to help with their levels of stress by using mindfulness strategies such as soft belly breathing and music. I am getting daily headaches lately. I am not sure if it is from computer/ screen use or something else. I find that soft belly breathing helps to ease some of the pain.

I am so amazed at some of my students who have stepped up with thier learning activity. I have online Zoom meetings with these students and just like at school, when we would warm up and take brain-breaks , it is the same. It started slow but it has just grown. I could not have done this without the awesome support of parents. Thank you for helping. I miss a lot of my students and have been sending text messages, emails and shout-out through others students and bus-drivers. <br>I have grown too during this new and different time. I am seeing students having fun with Math too.

The district worked to get every student a Chromebook and, if requested, MiFi. IT and schools pushed instruction on various ways to deliver instruction: Google Classroom, eLearning, and apps such as Padlet, Thinglink, Jamboard, and PearDeck. The weekly schedule was changed to include 4 days of Zoom instruction and 1 async day. <br><br>The issue of safety was paramount. It has paid off in that our district has one of the lowest infection rates of any similarly sized city in the nation. That said, it has been a challenge both for educators and for students. Some students have stated that they prefer the distance learning model and take on the responsibility of attending Zoom class and submitting work regularly. Others wish to return to school, both for social and academic reasons. Tech problems have included poor internet connections, quick expenditure of the limited monthly gigabytes of MiFi, and broken Chromebooks. Students who lack organizational and self-monitoring skills are floundering. Teachers report that they are doing more work than ever before to adjust curriculum and lessons to the more limited minutes, add digital enrichment, and contact with students who either do not respond while in class or fail to sign on at all.<br><br>This week, after a district-wide survey of comfort levels in which 81% of teachers stated that they did not feel comfortable returning to schools in November, our district declared that distance learning would continue, at least until January. The one exception is self-contained Special Education classes. Starting January 4, these SPED classes will resume 4 days weekly, retaining the async day. If some parents opt to keep their children home, this will create the need to adapt to a new hybrid teaching model. Logistics are still being worked out. While it would be a great advantage to be able to work in-person with these students, I am concerned for the safety of our 2 SPED classes that would return. Our school is undergoing major renovation that limits space and affects heating and ventilation. Many of the children and some of the educators have health problems that, in spite of adherence to a protocol of masks and appropriate cleaning, could be exacerbated by poor ventilation or by increased risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Wednesday is a remote PD day for all teachers, allowing time for building, district, and department collaboration.

I usually have several grade levels, as well as reading levels, in my room. Once you add the mental health and behavior issues, simple, meaningful lessons and assignments, would be welcomed.

I love technology, but I never thought that I would be teaching pre-k students in this virtual environment. Your day definitely have to be structured as much as you can make it. We started out using a lot of video's and we have learned pretty quick that the students really got nothing out it. So we have had to drop off bag of supplies and materials that they can use for virtual learning. Safe distance of course. So now we are working more hands on than before and less videos.

Of course we have been forced to learn new ways of doing everything! But I believe students and parents have been challenged as well. we are working together it seems more closely and more passionately for the benefit of the students.

We have strict guidelines we follow. We all have temp checks before entering school. Then wash hands, We wear masks. After each class all desks and chairs are disinfected. Periodically throughout the day, high traffic areas ( door knobs...) are disinfected. At the end of the day the whole school is sanitized. I am so thankful for our head of school and staff and that we are able to go to school. We teach students with learning differences and being online is EXTREMELY difficult for our group of students, Ellen Humphrey newvistasschool.org