Long-distance learning links students
Lodi Unified teacher develops resources for migrant students
For the second year in a row, teacher Madeline Britt watched some of her seventh- and eighthgraders from migrant families leave her English-language development class at Morada Middle School halfway through the academic year, to go Mexico with their families.
Between eight and 10 of Britt’s 57 students left in December 2017 and returned to Stockton in March 2018, she said.
Britt wanted a way for them to stay up-to-date on their assignments while they were out of class. When migrant students return in the spring, she said, they can feel pressured to catch up to the rest of their classmates, especially with their English skills.
“I hate when they come back in the spring and (have) missed anywhere from one to two quarters of school. They come back tired, confused and missing out on all the experiences that their classmates had in the classroom,” she said. “I think that’s the most difficult part, they lose everything they gained. It’s the momentum they capture in class, and when they’re not in class, their progression slows.”
To help prevent this problem, Britt is using Google Classroom, an application she compared to “an educational Facebook.” The app lets her post assignments that her students can access, complete and discuss from devices that have access to the internet, no matter where they are, she said.
Many Morada teachers already use the application for their regular classes, Britt said, but she has created a separate page for her migrant students.
“I wanted them to have a space that’s just for them, where they can find assignments that they can do. I had to figure out how to get them the materials they need and give them alternative assignments without having a textbook,” she said.
She asked her students to send the access codes to their traveling classmates. Only three of the students were able to successfully access it this year, she said, because she developed the idea at the last minute in November.
Other teachers tried to do something similar, she added, but were
“I wanted (migrant students) to have a space that’s just for them, where they can find assignments that they can do. I had to figure out how to get them the materials they need and give them alternative assignments without having a textbook.” MADELINE BRITT ENGLISH-LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT TEACHER, MORADA MIDDLE SCHOOL
unsuccessful due to the short notice — but that hasn’t discouraged them.
Many of Britt’s fellow teachers have already expressed interest in joining next year.
She has also received support from Morada’s administration, and she has begun planning to expand the program, she said.
“This is my brainchild. This is where I want to be for the rest of my life,” she said. “I want to develop a migrant education system so that those kids can have the tools they need. My administration is super supportive; we’ve been talking about how to get the resources students need.”
She plans to ask her students and their families what she and other teachers can do to make the system better next time.
“I still need to open it up to the migrant community to see what their thoughts are and what drawbacks they see. I want this to be perfect by the time it rolls out (next year),” Britt said.