MOUNT VERNON — Each grade level is doing things a bit differently when it comes to distance learning. High school students are more comfortable using online resources while those in younger grades — third grade and under — need more hands-on approaches. Teachers across the board are trying to make distance learning work for each student, often utilizing many different types of resources at the same time. Teachers are also being flexible with their time, often making themselves available in the evenings as well as during school hours.
Most are using different resources through Google and a video conference-based app called Zoom. Facebook is also becoming more popular to use to reach parents who might not have access to WiFi but have a cellular plan.
Mary Davis is a 2nd-grade Title I reading specialist at Highland Elementary School. She normally would see about 40 students a day, teaching them reading skills through small group readings. Her students received a packet of about three weeks worth of lessons along with activities and resources for their parents.
That 8 p.m. video chat is called ‘Before Bedtime With Mrs. Davis’ and she does read-aloud, packet support, interactive phonics and fluency lessons. She does it in the evenings to allow parents to finish up their day and have dinner before helping their child get online. She also utilizes Facebook because not everyone has WiFi but most of the parents have a phone with a signal available to gain access to the group. In the Facebook group, she posts activities, resources and can interact with parents.
But lessons aren’t the only things students are doing all day. In the younger grades, the specials allow them free time from class, especially gym where they can burn off some energy. Heather Barbour is an elementary physical education teacher at Highland who had to find a way to transfer her 42 classes online.
“Each class has its own learning/online platform, so finding out and providing lessons on each of the platforms is a difficult task,” Barbour said. “This is why my initial lessons were given out on paper.”
Some lessons included designing a basketball uniform and questions about basketball for her fourth and fifth graders who were in the middle of their March Madness Tournament. She provided the students with workout calendars and activities to do while indoors. For the next rotation, she’ll be putting more resources online for students and parents such as GoNoodle and Cosmic Kids Yoga.
“I would say the best physical education right now is pure physical activity to enhance moods during this cooped up, uncertain time,” she said, adding that she schedules two hours out of the day to have outdoor time with her family.
At the high school level, most classes already implement the use of online resources. In Lisa Overly’s social studies classes at East Knox, lessons were already put online for those who miss a day.
“My method of writing lesson plans hasn’t changed,” Overly said. “But the types of activities that I include in those lesson plans has changed quite a bit.”
She said she has worked on an agreement with the school’s history textbook publisher to allow the students to gain access to the online material and answer questions directly online. This way, Overly has the means to check the work.
She mainly uses Google Classroom because it offers flexibility for many types of activities. The platform integrates any other Google application as well. This way, she can create assignments for students to work on individually or for assignments where the students can share resources and collaborate.
Miranda Brenneman feels a bit lucky that she uses Google Classroom in her fourth-grade math and social study classes at East Knox. She uses the platform to post resources, lessons, videos and Google Forums for her students to complete.
“The Google Forums have been invaluable during this distance learning because I can provide purposeful feedback to students during this time without them having to wait to turn in a physical paper copy,” Brenneman said.
But she did have to be a bit creative for her students who don’t have access to the internet at home, having to make her lesson plans work both online and on paper.
