Dear Parents,
There is a lot I wish you knew. In March, you saw me and my fellow educators as heroes for quickly converting our face to face lessons into distance learning. We rose to the challenge and did the best we could in a crisis with no skin in the game for students who were already passing. Now many of you seek to demonize us, call us lazy, say we need to get back to the physical classroom so your kids can get back to normal and so much more. What happened? Why are we villains instead of heroes?
As we approach the start of another school year, most of us are filled with anxiety, losing sleep and worrying about whether or not we will get sick. I have read some comments that make me sick to my stomach, by politicians, parents, and even fellow educators. Some of you want us back in the classroom with full class sizes of 36, no social distancing, regular sports and activities and no masks. But how is that safe? Last year I had five classes with an average of 34 students per class. I saw 170+ students per day. My campus has 3,000 students plus 150 staff. It is not safe to have indoor dining or gatherings of more than 10 inside. How is a school safe but a restaurant not?
Some things to think about with a traditional or even hybrid in person schedule. What if a teacher tests positive? What is going to happen if there are not enough substitute teachers? What if the teacher is out for 4-6 weeks, or longer? Is every student with whom that teacher had contact expected to quarantine? What if it is a student? Think about the fact that at high school the 36 students in my 1st period class go on to five more classes during the day and are exposed to hundreds of other students. How can we contact trace all the people who might have been exposed? If a school shuts down due to positive students or teachers, how long will it be closed for? What if it reopens and is promptly shut down again? Where is the stability in the constant unknown of when students will be at home versus on campus?
I have heard about wanting normal for kids. But do you realize that normal is not possible? There will be no working in collaborative groups, no small group discussions, no hanging out with friends during passing period, no hugs from teachers for the little kids and a lot of other things missing from a normal year. As a teacher, I will have to lecture instead of ask students to work together to analyze sources. Instead of being able to have paper copies, everything will be on the computer that they will be assigned. Teachers will stand at the front of the room in their own little space instead of circulating around the room trying to help individual students.
Now do you understand why so many teachers are pushing for online learning to start the school year, and insisting that schools not reopen until things are under control and we see a sharp decline in cases? We want to teach. But we want to be safe. Teachers are making out or updating wills in preparation for the school year. Teaching does not need to stop because we move online. My district has spent a lot of effort to create a robust online learning experience. Do not worry about your child falling behind because every other kid in America is in the same situation. Please stand with us in demanding that physical schools only reopen when it is completely safe to do so. That might be in October, but it might also be in January. Until then, we will show up and create lessons. We will find creative ways to develop a classroom atmosphere online.
We have an opportunity to rethink education for the better, where it can go beyond just the four walls of our classroom. Imagine how powerful it would be for my US History students to collaborate with other students from multiple different states. Maybe a history teacher and English teacher can partner up and design a lesson together. Instead of attacks and anger at teachers, lets work together as partners to help our students continue to learn.
Monday, July 13, 2020
Teaching in the Time of COVID19
Imagine holding class as normal throughout the day, hearing of other districts closing down but not knowing what your is doing? This was the reality on March 13, 2020. It was a minimum day. I think LA Unified has already decided to close and maybe San Diego so we wondered our own fate? We had already been instructed to get students set up on Google Classroom so we had discussed the idea of seeing students online the next week. I remember thinking that maybe I should send students home with the workbooks that go with our text. I did not unfortunately. About 10 minutes before the end of school we got the official word that we would close for three weeks. At the time we did not know if it would be a regular class the following week. So I said goodbye to my 6th period class of seniors, but not in a final goodbye manner.
That afternoon I volunteered in my daughter's 1st grade class and am so thankful I had that opportunity. Part of the time was spent making sure students had logins for Google Classroom and other programs. I wish I had known that it was the end. I would have had my daughter hug her teacher a little harder. I would have taken a few photos of them together.
We were told to be available the following week and after a brief staff meeting were told that it would be an extra week of Spring Break. We already had 2 so April 6th would be the first day back. I remember the day that it was extended to April 30th and the frustrations over losing the opportunity to have staff from the Reagan Library pilot a simulation with my students, the sadness over my daughter losing her field trip and Back to School Night that had been scheduled for March 19th and concerns about preparing my students for the AP US History exam. And then the day came when it was announced we would not return to school for the rest of the year. It was a heartbreaking day, knowing I would never again see my students all together, knowing there was no goodbye to seniors I had taught for both US History and Government. I mourned for the loss of my daughter's experience with a fantastic teacher who she adored.
Online learning started April 6th, but there was a major curve ball thrown at teachers - we had to hold students harmless in their grades. This meant that whatever grade a student had earned based on work before March 13th, they could not go lower even if they never showed up for class again. And there were students, even in my Advanced Placement class, that I never heard from again. There were still 10 weeks left of the semester, an entire 1/4 of the year practically. When people slam educators for the disaster (their words) of distance learning, I wish they knew that what we did was crisis learning. We were thrown into an online environment where students did not have to attend. We went from 5 hours a week in class where we could talk with students and encourage those who were missing work to 3 hours max a week, relying on emails and messages, calls to parents (which exposed our home contact info), Google Meets and help from counselors. DO NOT blame the teachers for the failures of this crisis learning. Students did not show up. Parents did not make them show up. Counselors told students to worry about only those classes they were failing. The system set us up to fail. Most of us still tried to reach and teach our students. AP teachers all over the country successfully helped students prepare for a 45 minute online one question high stakes exam.
Many people including national leaders say we just gave up. But that is not true. I worked harder than ever trying to convert my engaging collaborative lessons into something that could be done online. I had to shrink the content of three different classes to fit the new time constraints of 3 hours per week. I sent emails to students and parents to let them know about changes to the AP exam and praying that they received them because few responses were received. I begged parents of students who were failing to get their child to start showing up and turning in assignments. I worked well past my contractual hours, often times answering emails until 9:00 at night. Therefore, distance learning was not the utter failure that some would like you to believe. There were successes. We were heroes for a brief moment when parents realized how hard it was to teach their kids. And how quickly they have forgotten now that we are being blamed. It is a sad state of affairs.
That afternoon I volunteered in my daughter's 1st grade class and am so thankful I had that opportunity. Part of the time was spent making sure students had logins for Google Classroom and other programs. I wish I had known that it was the end. I would have had my daughter hug her teacher a little harder. I would have taken a few photos of them together.
We were told to be available the following week and after a brief staff meeting were told that it would be an extra week of Spring Break. We already had 2 so April 6th would be the first day back. I remember the day that it was extended to April 30th and the frustrations over losing the opportunity to have staff from the Reagan Library pilot a simulation with my students, the sadness over my daughter losing her field trip and Back to School Night that had been scheduled for March 19th and concerns about preparing my students for the AP US History exam. And then the day came when it was announced we would not return to school for the rest of the year. It was a heartbreaking day, knowing I would never again see my students all together, knowing there was no goodbye to seniors I had taught for both US History and Government. I mourned for the loss of my daughter's experience with a fantastic teacher who she adored.
Online learning started April 6th, but there was a major curve ball thrown at teachers - we had to hold students harmless in their grades. This meant that whatever grade a student had earned based on work before March 13th, they could not go lower even if they never showed up for class again. And there were students, even in my Advanced Placement class, that I never heard from again. There were still 10 weeks left of the semester, an entire 1/4 of the year practically. When people slam educators for the disaster (their words) of distance learning, I wish they knew that what we did was crisis learning. We were thrown into an online environment where students did not have to attend. We went from 5 hours a week in class where we could talk with students and encourage those who were missing work to 3 hours max a week, relying on emails and messages, calls to parents (which exposed our home contact info), Google Meets and help from counselors. DO NOT blame the teachers for the failures of this crisis learning. Students did not show up. Parents did not make them show up. Counselors told students to worry about only those classes they were failing. The system set us up to fail. Most of us still tried to reach and teach our students. AP teachers all over the country successfully helped students prepare for a 45 minute online one question high stakes exam.
Many people including national leaders say we just gave up. But that is not true. I worked harder than ever trying to convert my engaging collaborative lessons into something that could be done online. I had to shrink the content of three different classes to fit the new time constraints of 3 hours per week. I sent emails to students and parents to let them know about changes to the AP exam and praying that they received them because few responses were received. I begged parents of students who were failing to get their child to start showing up and turning in assignments. I worked well past my contractual hours, often times answering emails until 9:00 at night. Therefore, distance learning was not the utter failure that some would like you to believe. There were successes. We were heroes for a brief moment when parents realized how hard it was to teach their kids. And how quickly they have forgotten now that we are being blamed. It is a sad state of affairs.
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