As cities and towns across the country and across the world discuss and debate the best way to handle returning to school, my district has apparently settled on a hybrid model, but hasn't decided which model to pursue. I will give the administration and the town all the credit in the world; this is not an easy decision to make, and regardless of the result, many people will be unhappy for a variety of reasons. While I try to look at this situation from all angles - teachers, students, administrators, parents, different grade levels - I have to come at it from my own perspective first, that of a teacher.
All three options we've been given break the students into to groups in order to maintain six feet social distancing. I applaud this decision. Prior discussion considered a three-foot separation, which can't work. If at any point two people can extend their arms and touch each other, they're too close. In all options, any day a student is not in school, they are doing remote learning.The first option brings group A in on Monday/Tuesday and group B on Thursday/Friday. The second option brings group A in on Monday/Wednesday and group B on Tuesday/Thursday. The third option is a full week on and aa full week off. Each option has its own plusses and minuses. I have to keep in mind that I'm coming at this as a high school teacher; what works for me might not work for an elementary level teacher.
Given my choice, I will eliminate the week on/week off option. Two primary reasons guide this decision. One is continuity. Students need repetition to reinforce what is learned. Asking them to go a full week without guidance from educators will only serve to undo what is learned when they are in school. Studies have shown evidence of summer learning loss; when students aren't engaged in active learning, they tend to forget significant portions of what they've already learned. I'm worried that will happen at to a lesser degree by being out of the classroom every other week. Of the other options, my first choice was the second option. I'd rather have all the kids on the same page as much as possible instead of teaching half them for two days and then reteaching the same material to the other half three days later. I understand that numerous factors have to be considered and I'm going to have to make the best of a bad situation regardless of the chosen option, but I think we - students and teachers - need to be on the same page as much as possible. That said, the down side to this option is the fact that the buildings will only be sanitized once a week; students in group A will come into a sanitized building only on Monday mornings. Group B will never come into a sanitized building. For this reason, I am forced to look at the first option as the
Another issue we have to face is socialization. School is more than a place to learn; it's a place to learn how to interact with others, both peers and adults. I honestly have no idea how this will work. Students will most likely eat lunch in the classroom, six feet away from anyone else. I don't know how hot lunches will work. I also don't know how students will be able to carry a full schedule of six or seven classes. If only three or four classes meet each day, what will happen to the rest of their schedules? What will those teachers do? I don't profess to have the answers, and I don't envy those who have to find them.
With so many questions still up in the air, I'm trying not to dwell on anything just yet. We have roughly another month to figure more out. While anything can happen in that month, I'm hoping we'll head back in circumstances more conducive to working together, both physically and philosophically.
*graphic from shutterstock
Thanks Mosh- good to get a Teacher’s perspective on this. I think that school should be deferred a month so plans can be worked out for remote learning. I find it crazy that people just want to send there kids back with all the risks to themselves, their families, and their teachers.
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