May 1, 202- We’re well into the new COVID-19 reality for schools, students, and families. We wanted to check in with some of our regular ERC friends and clients to see where they are at, what’s being recognized and the beginnings of looking ahead. Some strong themes are beginning to emerge –the importance of community, and of professional collaboration, some students hard to reach while others doing better out of school, and above all, the hope for a deliberate and sustained chance to make sense of it all when on-the-ground school resumes.
Here are snapshots:
Steve Siciliano
Director of Special Education/Senior Teacher
Health Leadership High School
Albuquerque, NM
“This event has had a profound impact here, for some similar to 9-11. Our school community is very important to our students, so now that it looks like learning on-line will be ‘school’ for the near future we’re trying to figure out what are the best elements of that. We have had remote learning going, and we’re picking up the pace as we move forward. I can imagine some on-line schools saying to themselves, what’s all the fuss? But for traditional, on-the-ground schools this has had a major impact, been a gigantic disruption. I think that many of us may be looking back and asking, did we make the most of social relationships when we were physically together- in the hallway, the cafeteria. I know we’re appreciating just how much we miss our facetime.
“There will undoubtedly be pressure to ‘make up for lost time’ and get back to ‘business as usual’ as fast as we can. But I think that would miss an opportunity to see how we might come out better in all of this- how can we be better teachers? have better support systems for students? know more about what matters to each other? When the time to gather comes, we need to make time for students to re-settle, and to address big questions –what was it like for you? what mattered? how did your family do? and now, what does it mean to be ‘back in school’?
“It’s becoming clearer that a number of things will need to change but its also hard to say precisely what those changes will be. I can’t imagine that social/emotional support for young people, and attention to youth development are not going to come up as far more important, paying more attention to Maslow. That will likely have some impact on time and structures, and what we do in the school hours, and what we think of as the most beneficial use of time together.”
Jennifer Gillis
Asst. Superintendent of Schools
Manchester, NH
“From a district level, we have to be asking the question, when school re-opens what exactly will we be coming back to? We’re realizing the importance of our community partners, so perhaps some of those lines that separate families and community organizations will begin to be erased. We’re feeling good about the interplay and operations among community members and agencies here, much of it due to Emergency Management planning we did that closely involved our schools and partners. We’ve moved some mountains in a very short time. Now we can count on a driving core of people we know well when it’s time to get meals out, to help locate students and families, to problem-solve and take care of basic needs. We have excellent communication with our building leaders and that’s made things easier. Teachers, administrators, and community volunteers are showing up to be part of delivering meals, checking on families, and it’s a reminder that so many people are good-hearted and want to do the right thing.
There will be competing passions once school resumes, and we have to make sure we take time to explore those, to see what needs to be done, and thought about, differently. We’re realizing that for all the kids that miss the social contact we are also seeing many students doing well, some better in an on-line scenario, so we don’t want to lose any lessons in that. I think it’s also going to have an impact on the way we’ve traditionally thought about grading. Many of our values may be shifting and becoming clearer, and that’s where leaders have to step up and make time to assess what’s needed for the new reality. There will undoubtedly be some positive opportunities that will have come about if we’re on the look-out for them.
James Pope, Jr.
Dean of Students
SW Early College High School
Memphis, TN
“Our first and main challenge remains getting -and staying- in good touch with some of our students. We have students from all over the city and varying levels of connected-ness in homes. I’m setting up an ‘Ambassadors’ volunteer program so a group of our students who are very social and well-connected and know the different networks can get in touch with -and keep us in touch with- students who have been hard to locate.
“We’re offering Literacy and Math instructional components and we have our three-times-a-week Advisory block, a check-in which now, like everything else, happens remotely. We’ve developed a routine for Advisory so we can check in on well-being, keeping up with studies, but also asking questions about their habits --exercise, use of time, and work or free time routines. We know its going to be very different student to student without the framework of being at school.
“I’m from the relationships and wellness side of the house, so its been a learning curve for all of us from that world to get up and running comfortably with all the technology systems and tools. This is likely to be ‘school’ for a while, so that’s going to be good in the long run. We’ve also re-learned how important that face-to-face time with adults is for many of our students –the check-in, the pat on the back, the jokes and laughter. We can feel how much some students miss it. We’ll probably treasure that more when we get back towards old-fashioned school.”
Katie Brownell
Grade 4 Social Studies/Language Arts
Hoosick Falls, NY
“I’m really happy to be a co-teacher. Having a teaching partner is helpful, to share the load and be a part of planning and follow-through. We’ve worked hard to communicate and we’re pleased with the level of student participation. We’re trying now to look at the work we’ve been giving out and making sure we give them high-value learning. ‘No filler’ is our new slogan, only high-quality work.
“I became the ‘Yoga Lady’ a few years ago during a district-wide focus on wellness and social/emotional health, after I started doing it in my room, then different classes, even in the community. So now I try to keep offering that as well as making sure we build in face time for meditation, mindfulness, etc. during our Morning Meetings and at other times when I can. Morning Meeting was revived a few years ago as part of the wellness work with ERC and has become a main event and culture-builder, so we’ve built a virtual Morning Meeting into our daily schedule with students. We’ve tried to provide a version of school that has some of the routines they’re used to, so we offer a schedule with reading, math, arts, and music, and often games or special activities. We’ve noticed distinctly that students who can and do join us for first-thing Morning Meeting generally stay with us throughout the whole day’s activities, more so than students who tune in for later offerings.
“We’re also noticing how some students are more engaged and doing more critical thinking on-line, than when they’re in classrooms. That’s something we’ll need to remember and explore. It’s also been somewhat easier to plan for some of the differentiation needed to support students. We’re getting good help from many parents and I think students are taking advantage of seeing us and each other every day, even if it’s on a screen. I’m trying to take the long view, thinking that this might be a good thing in some ways, and that students can get in touch with themselves in different ways, including how they learn, that will help them be more motivated and confident going forward.”
Elizabeth Melendez
Feinstein Elementary at Broad Street
Providence, RI
“We’re feeling pretty good about our remote learning work. Teachers are stepping up and coaching each other, especially around the technology aspects and how to achieve certain tasks on-line. We’re about 5 weeks in so we’re going to take a pause soon and see what’s going well, what issues need attention. We want to refresh our efforts and prune the ‘busy work’ so we can focus on deeper learning.
Each teacher has daily class blocks in the core areas, from 8-11 a.m. and then again from 11:30-1:00. We’re also noticing that a number of students who in ‘regular school’ are frequently challenging with their behaviors or socially awkward, suddenly stepping up on-line, doing much better and now beginning to help and support their peers. That’s been great to watch and something we want to pay attention to when we get back together –why are many succeeding outside of ‘physical school’?
“We’re reaching out to the parents of students that we know may need support, and we’re really appreciating all the prior relationship-building we had done with families, it has made communication a lot easier and now we have families contacting us to ask for support and advice. In a way, this new reality has improved our relationships with many parents and caregivers.”
Jamie Linscott
Counselor
Amesville Elementary School
Amesville, OH
“We’re a rural district in a part of Appalachia, so internet service, wi-fi, even phone connections can often be few and far between. Its just not something we can count on in many cases, so we’re asking the question, ‘how can we resume schooling as well as possible in the absence of reliable technology?’ One way is that we’re being creative and using our bus drivers as primary deliverers, helped out by teacher volunteers and others to deliver learning packets along with food deliveries. We’re delivering 12 meals a week, so the lessons come along with that. And those drivers and volunteers help us with the ‘eyes on kids’ work, so we can surmise what’s going on out there by who they see and what they hear.
“We are not asking for a lot of academic work back right now. But that doesn’t mean we’re not being thoughtful about learning. We’re paying attention to the quality of the work we send out and the frequency as well, trying to keep students connected and in touch. We also strive to plan activities that can help students stay both mentally and physically active, with lots of ideas to get kids outside.
“I’m spending a lot of time making phone calls, as you can imagine. There are issues and challenges that we help parents with all the time at school that will now fall on their shoulders. We’re teaming up across grades and networks to connect with families. I’m part of several networks and a county-wide counseling coalition so we derive a lot of benefit -connections, information, and new ideas.”
Larry Myatt Wayne Ogden
ERC Co-Founders