COVID-19 And The Education Balancing Act
By Camille Edwards, JWOF past president
With no real plan, destination or timeline, it was first on another continent, in another country, another state and then in mid-March school buildings closed in Florida due to the pandemic. It was an abrupt, unplanned, and definitely an unforeseen shift from going to a school building to learning at home. Neither teachers nor parents predicted or had adequate time to plan for this drastic change which I might add was only one of multiple challenges most were handling simultaneously. Preaching to the choir, right!
Students were ill equipped to learn remotely. Teacher-related challenges included rolling out a virtual learning plan, providing technology access to all students; being trained to deliver online instruction. Parents, regardless of their work status, struggled to add the role of pseudo-educator to their growing responsibilities. All of this coupled with the impact of everyone at home or being an essential worker and the health uncertainties, 2020 has been an exceptionally perplexing year for everyone.
Recess time! Take an imaginary break to think about that seesaw on the playground. Visualize the teacher at one end of the plank, a parent at the other end, and the child in the middle. Now start slowly at first and then gradually increasing until you are at full speed. The goal is a balancing act to ensure the child doesn’t fall off because one or both ends of the seesaw isn’t in correct motion. It’s my best analogy of teaching and learning in 2020. The parent and teacher working in concert has always been essential for effective learning to happen. The pandemic has made it absolutely critical.
Students returned to school after what was probably the longest summer of their lives and parents now have Students returned to school after what was probably the longest summer of their lives and parents now have heightened expectations. Schools spent summer 2020 improving on their distance learning. Focused on keeping the seesaw balanced, here are strategies shared by JWOF parents and teachers as they answered the question, “As a parent or teacher, how are you creatively approaching remote teaching and/or learning during the pandemic?”
Dr. Laurel Crowle, Principal, Morrow Elementary, Broward County
Students need a designated spot to do their eLearning. A place that is quiet and where they are comfortable working with all of their needed materials. They might need assistance, especially with their digital applications including online textbooks. Parents and students need to know how to reach their teacher especially when things are not going well or if they are having login and Internet issues.
Parents should learn about both about the asynchronous platform such as Canvas where students’ work is housed and the synchronous platform such as Teams where students and teacher meet daily for instructional purposes. They should become familiar with both platforms so that they can assist their child when needed.
There are many resources available to both students and parents and they can find many of these resources on their school’s website such as Learning Never Closes in Broward. Parents are encouraged to review these resources to get a better understanding of the expectations.
Dr. Audrey Robillard, Secondary Resource Teacher, Seagull School, Broward Schools
I collaborate with the Media Specialists to deliver virtual circle time and provide students with a virtual library to do some type of active learning. Via Microsoft Teams we do storytelling, checking out an e-book, play a Khoot game or students have a story read to them.
Maxine Reyes, Tampa Florida, parent, Tampa Florida
I encourage remote learning with my 11-year old daughter in the following ways:
I allow her to sleep in an hour later that she would with traditional school.
She gets to create her schedule by choosing the subjects she wants to study on certain days with the understanding that she must complete reading and math assignments daily.
We watch videos relating to the topics she learns to get a visual understanding of the topic.
I encourage virtual connection with friends and their parents.
A bonus reminder of gratitude for health and more time spent with family.
Judy Poten, Business Teacher, Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Sigh! …. (pause) …You all have seen it in the news, you know about the challenges Miami-Dade had due to the student hacker. You can only imagine the added stress to handling remote learning. My strategy just like in the school building remains a structured environment and high expectations for learning every day. My students know that their academic accomplishments are my top priority. I couple strict class rules with a caring attitude. I am particularly concerned about the added challenges the pandemic has created for them and for their parents.
Danielle Minto- Green, Gainsville, Florida, parent of two boys ages 6 and 10
My goal after deciding to have the boys attend school remotely was to try and give them an environment as close to the brick and mortar as I could and to help promote autonomy in their everyday learning. I’m that mom who didn’t walk their first-time kindergartener to class everyday for the first week. Daily, I let my boy’s hands go a little earlier than the day before in an effort to promote confidence and autonomy.
One thing I did to creatively promote learning came from an idea I saw on Facebook. I created a mini classroom with a tri-fold presentation board. I decorated the board, attached a calendar, school schedules, a white board, a cork board, behavior charts and a goal chart. They have everything they need right in front of them – important dates, reminders, and an encouraging message every day. The tri-fold board is also meant to help keep the boys focused by having a “wall” on each side of them.
In another effort to creatively promote autonomy in everyday learning, I purchased hanging folders and labeled them with each day of the week. In the folders I place extra practice work to help support what they are learning in class. This way they do not have to interrupt me during school/work hours and can just check the folders for additional practice work.
Janice McIntosh, parent of 8th and 10th grade girls
As a parent I’ve noticed that the class times are shorter, however the students are getting more work time. This, I’m sure is due to no commuting between classes or setting down time for the students as it’s ”go time” once they are online. With this extra time, my daughters use it to catch up on additional reading and putting more effort into the quality of their homework. I provide added incentives for them to read more and even took out a Barnes and Nobles membership with a twice monthly outing to peruse new books and have them out of the house for a bit.
Judith Cunningham, parent of a 10th grade daughter/Host on work related Webex; JWOF Treasurer
Her effective strategies include participate and interact, making it social and Incorporate icebreakers
Forlette Trail - 5th grade Math and Science Teacher, Annabel C Perry, PK-8
My students are doing ‘hands-on’ experiments from home. For example, students learned about physical and chemical change by tearing paper to demonstrate physical change. We use Kahoot quizzes for the problem of the day engagement and content review.
Natalee Clarke – Richardson, parent of a 7th grade son, Broward County
LOL! It’s almost like being in 7th grade all over again. I am very present during his school hours. I engage him with some of the discussion questions he is having… I get him curious and have him share his thoughts about the topic.
Madison Jones, Instructional Coach, Orange County School District
My strategies include incorporating community building activities, co-creating rules with the whole class; giving student virtual jobs to help to keep the class moving and allow interaction with each other. I’m doing daily checking to gauge going beyond just how students feel. I’m making sure to evaluate the whole child."
Michelle Williamson, parent of a son in middle school
My son is looking forward to getting back to the classroom, however we have had to adjust. We set up a workstation for him, equipped with a laptop and headphones. We created a schedule that includes time to exercise and play. We are attempting to limit his screen time outside of virtual school.
Sandra Brown, Teacher, Apollo Middle School, Broward County Public Schools; JWOF Scholarship Chair
Nothing is normal during Covid virtual learning. I've fast learned taking care of my students' head and heart spaces are paramount if I'm going to be successful in having them absorb the academics. Like a couple weeks ago when I was focused on attendance (which can take 11-15 mins nowadays) and then reverted my attention to the Chat box to see if they were engaged with what I had assigned. No... they weren't. Suffice it to say what this class of 20+ kids were engaged with was helping to console one another through the mound of problems (mostly emotional) that many were experiencing and freely expressing. For the rest of the 70 mins I was with them in this virtual classroom I didn't teach. Instead, I let them talk, I listened, I consoled, I motivated, I mentored, I encouraged, and I uplifted. Two days later when they returned, they were ready to work.
Angine Tyghter, Parent and Principal, Nova Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary, Broward Schools
As a principal/parent I experience both challenges and joys of remote learning. As a principal I encourage my team to celebrate the small successes they achieve and to remember that high expectations for students remains a requirement. Teaching and learning have the same focus of growing each student individually from where they are now. The shift is only the modality in which we deliver instruction. eLearning presents unique challenges but with our focus on growing each child, we can keep our core mission in place to promote effective teaching and learning.
As a parent I work to encourage my children to give their best and remind them this way to learning won’t be forever. I set a positive and encouraging environment. I hold my children to the same level of accountability as if they were in the school building.
Dr Keisha Hill-Grey, Parent of two Kindergarten and 5th grade boys, JWOF Vice President
I think remote learning is actually the safest option for our children, families and community during this time. In order to work for us, we make sure there is ample opportunities throughout the day to support our young learners. During breaks for the five-year old I let him sit beside me and complete his daily, assigned, independent tasks. Allowing the boys to support each other replaces peer learning that works so effectively in the classroom. Big brother helps with tasks like logging in for school in the morning and sets things up for a productive day. When little brother is struggling with remaining focused, I hear his older brother giving him reasons to stay on task. And when the day is done, I make sure they have something fun thing to do as a reward for their efforts.
And there you have it from several JWOF teachers and parents in elementary and secondary grade levels. As we head back to the school buildings you can be sure that distance learning will continue at least through the end of 2020. Take what you can from the suggestions above to keep your seesaw balanced for the young learners in your care.
Please give us your thoughts and share with in the comments below how you are keeping the seesaw balanced (or not).