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I& #39;d like to give a different perspective of what COVID has already done to students across America. I& #39;m an 8th Grade science teacher in Arizona, so YMMV.
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Students in enrolled in 2020 are already screwed. The problem isn& #39;t them, their teachers, or distance learning.
The problem is they are all on very different levels.
Kids are put in cohorts, called "grade level." This kid is in fourth grade, that one is in seventh.
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The problem is they are all on very different levels.
Kids are put in cohorts, called "grade level." This kid is in fourth grade, that one is in seventh.
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And in the past, this was a fairly reliable indicator of what the kid has already learned, and what they& #39;re now ready to learn.
You might learn to sound out letters in Kindergarten, and by 3rd grade (at least) you& #39;re reading fluently. Same with the other subjects.
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You might learn to sound out letters in Kindergarten, and by 3rd grade (at least) you& #39;re reading fluently. Same with the other subjects.
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If you& #39;re a teacher looking at a roomful of students you& #39;ve never met before, you still have a pretty good idea of what they& #39;re capable of.
There are always exceptions of course. Maybe a student had a lengthy illness, or was coming from a different state where things...
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There are always exceptions of course. Maybe a student had a lengthy illness, or was coming from a different state where things...
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Are taught in a different order. That& #39;s fine, we& #39;re used to evaluating and remediating "holes" in a student& #39;s resume.
But then we come to Spring 2020.
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But then we come to Spring 2020.
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In my district, the shutdown order happened while we were on Spring Break, the second week of March.
Lots of faculty Zoom meetings later, the plan was hatched to offer online (Zoom) instruction, supplemented by Google Classroom. It actually worked well--for the students
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Lots of faculty Zoom meetings later, the plan was hatched to offer online (Zoom) instruction, supplemented by Google Classroom. It actually worked well--for the students
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Who participated. Hands-on science labs turned into video demonstrations, etc.
For kids with no computer or internet, we prepared paper "packets" of classwork that were sent digitally to the school, printed, and delivered to parents as they pulled up in front of the school.
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For kids with no computer or internet, we prepared paper "packets" of classwork that were sent digitally to the school, printed, and delivered to parents as they pulled up in front of the school.
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The problem is about a third of my 150 students never participated at all. They never logged onto Zoom meetings, nor picked up paper packets at the school. We were required to call all these parents at least weekly. Most never answered. Those that did often were "busy."
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