I have been a teacher for nearly 30 years. In those 30 years I have taught A LOT of different curricula:
Montessori
Reggio Emilia
Early Childhood
Primary Elementary
Public school
Private School
International school (Japan)
Accelerated curricula
Thematic curricula
Hands-on Science programs
ESL/EFL
In addition, in my role of bing MOM, I was the home "Learning Coach" for over 4 years for my two children who attended an online California Public School junior high and senior high programs.
So I know the teacher side of what teachers are going through right now as they try to navigate the murky waters of matching their suddenly online curricula to everything that students and parents are going through in adapting to social isolation in a pandemic.
I also understand the parent side, trying to work jobs that are now in various states of disarray, confusion and online adjustments, trying to support their child's learning while they maintain some semblance of a healthy life amid a sea of stress and fear, or simply just TRYING.
For what it is worth, I have a plan.
It would require schools to step back with empathy, patience and most of all flexibility.
And it would still require parents to step in to support their children's learning.
So.
Here is my plan.
Grade Level Teacher implemented Online Time Teacher Guided Parent Time
Kindergarten 2 thirty minute "meetings" As needed/possible at home
2-3x per week
Kindergarteners need ample time to move--and they need to do so frequently. Online time would be limited to 2 thirty minute meetings 2 or 3 times per week. These online meetings--which could be transformed into smart phone friendly emailed letters/videos to the student or even snail mail letters for those communities that may not have easy technological resources-- would enable the teacher to still be a part of the kindergartener's lives, to let them know they are still being guided by their teacher, still a part of their class. The meetings could be a class chat and then later that day or week a class meeting. Or a class sing along and a class game.
The teachers would also provide parents of Kindergarteners with weekly activities that include a kind of "unschooling" approach--at home activities that reinforce math concepts, reading, art, science, etc. Parents would be able to chose what works for them in the way that works for them.
First Grade 2-3 1 hour meetings per week As needed/possible at home
First graders also need ample activity time. But they also have slightly larger attention spans and would be able to attend to slightly longer online meetings.
Same accessibility caveats as Kindergarten
Second Grade 3 1 hour meetings per week Reading journals/writing journals
Third Grade 2 1.5 hour meetings per week Reading journals/writing journals
As the ages, attention spans, and self motivation of the students increases, the duration of the online meetings can go up slightly--but they must never go longer than a 1.5 hour session. With older students teachers can start to incorporate staggered lessons targeting specific skills in subjects that may be harder for some parents to cover at home--math, social sciences, physical sciences, etc...
The online meetings must always incorporate a check in component so the teacher can assess if anyone may need time offline due to stress, worries, or challenges they are working through themselves, or indirectly via their family.
Also, as the grades go up, students can engage in more self-directed, project or thematic based learning that would put the power of contact in their hands--perhaps delving into learning to cook a special dish and then sharing the process with their teacher/classmates. Or reading a book and then contacting the author to discuss how that book affected them. Or perhaps planting a butterfly garden in some plant pots and tracking how many flowers bloom vs how many butterflies visit.
Once the students reach junior high age, online learning programs are better suited to their attention spans, but teachers need to not take advantage of this fact to load on a regular term's worth of work. The same caution that is taken with younger students needs to be taken for older students as well, who are likely have more family stresses placed upon them.
And for all students, no matter how many times they can attend online class meetings or do home activities, all students must be given a pass for this school year, and have the start of fall classes incorporate ample time for emotional adjustment and academic review.
Is this perfect? Of course not. I'm not a school or district administrator. I can only imagine what would go into making a sweeping change like this. But I'm keeping my eye on the Facebook posts and tweets coming from incredibly stressed out parents, I've read the articles about the low numbers of students logging onto what are turning into HOURS and HOURS of online time that for many children is ending with tears and frustration.
And as for the teachers? They will be doing what they joined this profession to do: opening young eyes to the magic of learning. Guiding students to see that reading is a source of comfort and guidance, that numbers are a source of knowledge and reassurance. Teaching is so much more than curriculum and is FAR more than tests and assessments. Requiring teachers to manhandle in-person curricula into an online environment is a recipe for failure and burnout. Freeing the teachers to be a source of guidance and strength at this time for parents and students is a recipe for success all around.
The bottom line is that no matter how hard educational theorists and hopeful administrators try to create an automatic, online, fully digitized educational system (and they do keep trying), they will never succeed. Why? I'm surprised you have to ask. The answer is all around us--now more than ever. A fully online educational system lacks the very thing we are all missing right now-- human touch and interaction. Hopefully we will be smart enough to remember this whenever we are out of pandemic danger.
