Four weeks down. That number indicates how many weeks that school has been in session. School didn’t have in-person learning until last week when kindergarten and first grade students came back. Next week second and third will be coming back. Although they are coming back there are still many elearning students that will be zooming into the classrooms. Next week more teachers will transition from teaching solely online to managing an in-person and online classroom simultaneously.
As I reflect on the last four weeks, I’m impressed with how quickly students have transitioned to using Zoom and learning with a completely different model. They had practice with our emergency elearning in the spring, but this is different. There’s more structure and teachers have had more time to plan instruction. There have been hiccups along the way for sure (wifi problems, Zoom settings, talking while on mute, getting materials to students, learning a new LMS, …), but most students are engaging in math and exploring new concepts like they would in a regular classroom. Breakout rooms have allowed math to be more social, digital math routines are becoming consistent, and my document camera has been getting a workout everyday as the class completes problems together.
Next week one of my classes will be coming back for in-person instruction. The entire class won’t be coming back to school as some students will be elearning from home. Those students will log in to Zoom as usual. The group of students that’ll be in-person will need to learn new procedures related to social distancing and mask wearing. This may impact those elearners at home as class might not start at time or be shortened because of dismissal and hallway congestion.
I think there’s a perceived notion that once students are back in school that instruction will shift. The copy machine will be back up running again, the teachers’ lounge will be buzzing and the sounds of kids will once again echo off the walls. We’ll be moving back to business as usual. I’m in the camp that doesn’t necessarily agree with that stance – at least for this year. A question comes to my mind when thinking about this.
How is it equitable to switch your instruction and gear it to in-person students when part of your class is still learning from home?
Now, I’m excited that some of my class will be back in school. There’s a comforting feeling that we’ll at some point get back to normal. There’s a physical social element that’s important in being able to see non-verbals and speak to one another in person. Being able to raise a hand (not digitally) and ask for help or show a model in person has many benefits. I’m looking forward to the time where students can play math cards games with each other, build mathematical models and use manipulatives without worrying about being to close to one another.
With all that being said, I believe students in the classroom will continue to log into Zoom, attend breakout rooms with the entire class and participate along with elearners at home – similar to what we’ve been doing during the past four weeks. As the year progresses, individual students/classes will most likely need to quarantine and they will transition to an elearning only model. Parents might decide to move students from a hybrid to eLearning and vice versa. I believe there won’t be a significant shift in the model that we’ve been using except that some of the students will now be in the classroom. Class time will most likely be shortened and adjustments will need to be made for students to navigate social distancing at school. I understand that aspect and know that it’s necessary to be flexible, but am also aware that it’s not a seamless transition from elearning to in-person learning.
Educational Aspirations 