With the Coronavirus pandemic there have been a lot of changes in education to accommodate for these new learning challenges. One such change has been the development of a synchronous remote learning plan for when challenges such as a Covid-19 outbreak or weather events make it impossible to learn in-person. The school board and administration have had many difficulties in making decisions to make these changes in learning modes as streamlined and as safe as possible. One such decision is related to the time of closure in instances of an outbreak. The current plan when such outbreaks occur is to close for a short period of time, usually around 2-3 days, and then return students back to school as soon as possible. This is used in conjunction with contact tracing. This decision has created a unique learning environment for students and teachers alike. Below, three teachers have been interviewed on this decision and how it affects their teaching and other school activities.
1. How much does switching between remote and in-person learning affect your lesson plans and deadlines/goals for your students?
Mrs. Pedrick: Depending on the activity, some can be done remote or in person. If it is something that can't be done remote, I just shuffle activities around to make it work! I try to keep goals for students consistent and plan remote activities to fill a whole class period. It sometimes requires me to spend a little longer with content when we are remote and change/move quizzes to better suit the needs of students.
Ms. Morris: The transition to remote learning, unfortunately, does greatly affect lesson planning for my classes. Call me “old school” but I firmly believe hard-copy, pencil-to-paper learning is far more effective for student comprehension than online learning. My goals remain unchanged, but the deadlines are a lot more fluid than in the past.
Mr. Gantt: We have had some minor adjustments in deadlines as a result of switching from in person to remote learning, but the students have handled the uncertainty very well. The delivery of the lesson may change, but they are still getting the same content.
2. Would you prefer to stay online for longer chunks of time, or do you prefer the current system?
Mrs. Pedrick: I prefer the current system. My favorite part of teaching is being in person with students so the more we can be in person, the happier I am!
Mrs. Morris: My preference will always be to stay in school as much as possible so the current system is preferable. In terms of online learning, it depends on the amount of “heads-up” teachers are given about its length. When given time to adjust plans, online learning for larger chunks of time can be easier than the current system.
Mr. Gantt: I am a big fan of being in school and in person for as much of the school year as possible. I think the current plan we have in place allows us to do that.
3. Do you think your students would prefer to stay online for longer chunks, or not?
Mrs. Pedrick: No! From my conversations for students, they mostly prefer in person.
Mrs. Morris: From conversations with students over the course of the year, I would argue students would prefer small chunks of online learning. As I am sure you would agree, the social aspect of education is just as important as the academics!
Mr. Gantt: From what I hear, my students enjoy the comforts of home, but when they really reflect on their ability to learn, most have said the best place for them is in school.
4. What do you think is the best benefit of switching between in-person and remote learning?
Mrs. Pedrick: It allows students to continue schooling even if there is a disruption due to a Covid related or snow related shut down.
Mrs. Morris: The primary benefit of switching between the two is the safety of our students and staff. These are unprecedented times, which means the health and safety of all must be taken into consideration.
Mr. Gantt: The biggest benefit to switching when necessary is the continuity of learning. We have been able to continue to move forward in spite of all of the difficulties thrown at us.
5. If you could change one thing about remote or in-person learning to better accommodate your specific subject, what would you change?
Mrs. Pedrick: It would be nice to more easily be able to converse when remote, but with every student having different internet connections and some not as great, it is hard to do much speaking and communicating when remote.
Mrs. Morris: I would like to see Zoom updated or changed to provide better opportunities for group activities. The current “Breakout Room” feature is not conducive for large classes.
Mr. Gantt: The first thing I would change, if I had the ability, would be to increase the strength of everyone's wifi signal at home. This seems to be one of the biggest limiting factors to student learning.
6. How does switching learning modes affect sports or other clubs or activities that you lead? How do you get over these barriers?
Mrs. Pedrick: It is definitely hard this year with clubs. We have mostly put on hold our club fundraisers for now, as it is hard to plan when we don't know if we will be in person and remote.
Mrs. Morris: At the moment, softball season has not officially begun, so this would be a question I could answer better at the end of the season.
Mr. Gantt: Unfortunately, when we are remote due to Covid, we are unable to practice or play any basketball until we resume in person learning. One of the biggest impacts that has had this season is in maintaining our conditioning.
Below, an anonymous senior has been interviewed on their opinion on this, and what challenges or concerns this presents to them.
Anonymous Senior
1. Do you approve or disapprove of this decision? Why?
I don’t see the point in closing down for only a couple days because you're not really preventing anything and people are still going to go to school and get more people sick, and it's less in and out for students. I prefer the structure of a defined learning environment for longer periods.
2. If you participate in after school activities such as sports or clubs, how does this affect that?
That's the positive part of not shutting down for longer, it doesn't affect sports and practices as much. It's not great for the players and the coaches but especially if you have games and stuff it's just better for everyone if you stay home. At games if someone is sick you're transmitting that beyond the Greenwood community. In a way it’s better to close for longer here because it protects lots of other people and communities as well.
3. Which learning mode do you prefer? Why?
It depends on classes that have labs like Biology and Chemistry, which have labs, I prefer to be in person. But honestly, I prefer virtual for most of my other classes because it gives me a lot more freedom in my day, it allows me to sleep for longer and spend more time with my family. It offers a nice break for me personally.
4. If you were the superintendent/ a school board member, would you have made the same decision? Why?
I would’ve made the same decision as them because there is so much pressure from the community, especially with sports such as field hockey, where people would have been really upset if that was shut down for a long time. In general as well, people just want their kids to be in school.
5. Does this decision affect your feeling of safety while at school?
This does. It just makes going to school after a quick break weird, maybe you know people who have it, or know of people who might have been exposed. It's still hard to go back to school and feel safe when people take mask breaks or don't wear their mask properly or even at all. It's hard to go back when it feels like nothing has changed even though obviously it has.
The best way to understand a decision is to talk to someone who helped influence it. Below, you will find an inside view on this decision from the Superintendent, Dr. Guarente, himself.
Dr. Guarente:
1. How was the decision made to switch rapidly between learning modes? Why was this chosen?
The decision to transition between our instructional models is predicated on guidance and expectation from both the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Pennsylvania Department of Education.
2. Do you think students and teachers have adapted well to this change or do they need more time?
I am ecstatic. There is a great deal of flexibility and skill needed to make these changes effective. Our staff, students and families have done an outstanding job in working to keep our strong academic expectations consistent.
3. If you were a student, how do you think this would affect you and your learning?
Honestly, I believe the students of this generation are much better equipped to make the adjustments that are demanded in our current reality. If I were to be honest, it could be a struggle for myself. If you have ever seen that commercial relating to kids becoming their parents…the one opening the PDF would be most applicable. That could illustrate some of the difficulties that could be encountered…navigating a learning management system and consistent Zoom instruction would be challenging.
4. Are there any difficulties or challenges that you see, or expect to see in the future associated with this decision?
It seems apparent that things will evolve from our experiences over the last year. The consistent challenge is navigating the health parameters that will best put our students and staff in a safe environment. Our educational system will be more flexible and our people will be more resilient. Both aspects present wonderful opportunities for systemic growth and improvement.
5. What do you think are the major benefits of this decision?
The ability of our technology team, instructional staff, administration and families to be responsive and productive within different instructional models has afforded the district the best opportunity to balance in-person instruction and remote learning in an effort to make the school year as comprehensive of a development experience for our students as possible.
Author’s Note: Some answers were edited for clarity.