School Reopening Community: Learning Beyond COVID-19

It has not been easy. We started the second nine weeks two weeks ago, and I received a brand-new schedule 4 days ago. I lost many of my RtI students due to having to take on students who failed honors ENG 2. I was expected to hit the ground running, but that is not only not feasible, but it's ridiculous! We are teaching both synchronously and asynchronously. We communicate via our LMS, email, text message (Talking Points) or old school phone. Most of the asychronous students are AWOL. On campus students found out that there is an easy way to skip class by just checking in online to be counted present. Students whose parents care about their education are doing well. The rest of them...we are expected to be counselor, parent, coach, mentor, and everything else. We, as a course teams, have weekly meetings during our lunches because we do not have a common planning period even though what we teach is a state tested subject. All assignments are placed in our LMS for both sets of students. We have to create videos teaching the lessons for the online students, but we also teach the lessons during each class. We have to have online tutorials as well as on campus tutorials during the same time, and that does not always lend itself to productivity because students from all of my different courses will check in. Even with all resources available to the online students, they still aren't doing the work. Oh, and the students have the option of taking summative assessments AT HOME.

It is emotionally exhausting, professionally isolating and systemically infuriating. In the spring we taught remotely out of an abundance of precaution and then this summer administration changed a virtual consultation model to an in person teaching model. 3 teachers had the entire state. Now I am teaching in person, but we need to be prepared to teach virtually at any moment. My biggest frustration is the expectation that I have to be professionally flexible and understanding, but administrative expectations remain rigid and unfeeling.

It is very different doing this in this setting because the internet is all locked down with the exception of the learning program that the students use. The remote teachers had their computer and images projected on a wall and the students watched the teacher that way and not on their computer screens. It has been a trying time in this setting with even more stress than is normal here.

We are using the blended format. It seems that the parents have not really bought into this remote/in school, rotating days program. Here it is mid November and there are still students who are not participating in school or remote. How is that beneficial to the student learning process?

This same technology works great for distance learning. I would appreciate your thoughts, questions and comments.<br><br>https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/respect-every-math-student-supporting-pe… a great year!

My school is grades 6-8. We are currently in a yellow zone so our students can not come to school. The teachers and other staff must go to school and teach virtually. I am in my 31at year of teaching. I have NEVER felt so hausted at the end of the day like I do now. Ugh. I just hope our students are learning and not having a horrible experience.