We continue our COVID-19 May-June 200 print edition stories of families sharing their experiences about working from home and helping their children with school work during the city’s stay-at-home orders
Natalie…
In my classes, I only had a couple of students who had temporary internet issues. I keep flexible office hours and instruction time on the video and audio-conferencing app, Zoom. Each teacher is catering their lesson plans differently for their students depending on what they teach. I teach English.
My focus with my students is to continue building the stamina of their reading, writing and speaking skills. Our goal is to keep them engaged virtually and learning.
I’ve made house calls, scheduled personal one on one Zoom meetings, text messaged, Facebooked, sent direct messages on Instagram, reached out to their friends, relatives, etc. The loss of consistency in education for these kids, in particular, is where things get scary. They may not have people at home to guide them. My instructional approaches have changed each week to support the students and families.
Monica, an instructional coach at a K-5 charter school…
My role during this digital learning experience is to support the teachers in whatever way I can with online learning with their students. We use Zoom, Google Classroom, Wix, and Seesaw, along with other online learning platforms. These are great for the households that have internet access. One-third of student households are without internet access.
Our school has not been able to provide computers and internet access to our students, so our teachers have to be extra vigilant in following up with students who are not virtually connected.
Our teachers have developed schedules for students to follow in order to have some consistent, regular schedule. The work assignments are weaved into the schedule. Most of our teachers are also having daily Zoom meetings, where students are able to check in with teachers, ask questions and or get help with the assignments.
Rachel is the mother of a teen daughter and a preschool-aged son, who shares…
Since my younger child was attending pre-school just a couple of days a week, his teacher follows up with us periodically to provide tips for crafts and other projects that he can complete.
My older daughter is really struggling with being motivated to do her work, which is basically extra credit at this point. Since she is in high school, she already has a district-issued computer. The school district knows that results will be mixed among their students – some will do the work; others won’t. The teachers and students both know they’ll have their work cut out for them when things do return to normal.
