Students Continue to Learn Through School Closure

With the school closure due to the coronavirus pandemic now in its fourth week, we wanted to take a look at the modified learning process at Broadus Schools.

While some schools across the state and nation have gone to an online only learning format, that solution wasn’t practical for Broadus. The lack of high-speed internet access in more rural areas of the county make for difficulties in reaching all students, especially when it comes to tasks which require more bandwidth, such as video conferencing.

On top of the internet speed issues, some families don’t have internet access at all. In order to help with that particular issue, Range has recently started a program which will offer free internet installation and service for K-12 students, as well as college students, through June 12th.

According to Broadus Schools Counselor Dori Phillips, the best solution for the school was to offer hard copies of all work for students. In some classes, both at the high school and the elementary level, internet work was then meshed into the class, along with the hard copy print outs.

Initially, the closure was set for two weeks, with parents picking up two week’s worth of work soon after the closure was announced. When the closure was extended until April 10th, with evidence pointing towards a longer closure, the administration and school board made a move to provide the school work until May 1. At that time, students who have been deemed proficient in their work (that is, with a D or above in a particular class), will receive credit for their work. Students who need to improve their grades will continue until the end of the regular school year, and if they still are not passing they may need to attend summer school or potentially repeat the class.

The potential for an “early out” has proven to be a strong motivation for completion of quality work for some students. Sommer Schaffer has two daughters in Broadus Schools: 9th grader Oliveah, and 8th grader, Zeason. Sommer told us that her daughters see the early completion date as a strong incentive to complete quality work, on time.

In order to complete their work on time, Sommer said the girls have had to be self-disciplined, and have kept to a regimented schedule, waking up at a reasonable time and working for at least three hours every morning of the school week on their work. As a working mom, Sommer isn’t available to help her daughters with their assignments during the day, and instead spends time during the evening helping to ensure the girls understand their tasks.

During the day, students have been encouraged to contact their classmates and teachers when they have questions with the work, which seems to be going well for the parents and teachers we contacted.

Some teachers have set up times when students are able to chat directly with the teacher, as well as each other, which helps not only with the school work but also with the social aspects of school. With kids practicing social distancing by staying at home, the normally close bonds of public school now feel very distant.

Broadus 6th grade Teacher Caroline Johnson holds a video call on Google Hangout with her students on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She said this time has been used for answering questions, as well as discussing the book the class is currently reading, A Wrinkle in Time. Perhaps one of the most important aspects of the chat session is simply being able to interact with one another, as she said the kids have asked to stay on even after the sessions are over to talk with another.

Caroline noted that the new teaching method has been a big learning curve for everyone involved, but she is seeing great support from the parents. She has learned a great deal about teaching remotely over the past few weeks, and is encouraged about how the new technology may help with the learning process even after the schools open back up for in person teaching.

Wanda Smith, High School Science Teacher, is also embracing the new technology. In her high school chemistry class, Wanda is using a document camera to draw out lessons on the screen, which she then sends to students as lessons. The videos are reminiscent of Khan Academy learning videos, and help to provide a visual and audio reference for students - a decided improvement over simply learning from a book, especially when it comes to figuring out a complicated matter such as a Lewis electron dot diagram.

While the remote learning setup has worked well for some students, other students have found the work from home more difficult. We spoke to parents whose children are having some difficulties with the work from home learning style. The complete change in environment and learning format have proven to be a challenge, but some of those same students have also had fun working from home, learning and working on projects outside the normal realm of school work, such as cooking with mom, or helping dad work on farming equipment.

We also heard about some students who have not been turning their work in on time, whether due to working in jobs of their own, simply being behind on their work, or other unknown reasons.

For students who may have difficulties with their work, suggestions offered by teachers included: setting up a regular daily school work schedule, enforcing wake up times and bed times, and creating a location within the home where the students go to learn – essentially a work space specifically for school work, which allows the student to “turn on” their learning process. Regular exercise is also very important, especially when spending additional time at home looking at a screen. Another important aspect is time off. Kids need time away from school work, but they also need time away from chores, ranch work, and other tasks – time where they can simply be kids.

Some classes might be generally thought of as being done only in school – for instance music, PE, or shop class. Students in music classes have been provided a list of songs to listen to at home, which they then interpret and write down their thoughts. High school PE students have done health class type work, while PE students at the high school as well as the elementary are encouraged to stay active, spending at least 30 minutes a day engaged in physical activity. Shop students are completing projects at home, then sending in videos of the building process and completed projects.

All of the teachers to which we spoke encouraged the parents and students to contact them if they have any questions.

For some students, the additional time at home with their parents and siblings has been quite enjoyable. Stacy Hagedorn told us that her 2nd grade daughter, Anna, was tasked with coming up with a list of positive aspects of the current situation. Anna enjoyed the additional family time, especially going out to feed cows with her dad and grandpa.

As of Tuesday morning, we had not received guidance about whether the school closure would be extended, and if so, for how long. Regardless of the schedule, it seems that the students, parents, and teachers at Broadus Schools are prepared for the rest of the school year, and with some hard work, proper motivation, and help from one another, they will see each through this trying situation.

 

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