Learning swerve
City schools hustle to gear up for online lessons
City teachers are on a steep learning curve for remote learning.
The process began Tuesday, with experienced online learning teachers bringing colleagues up to speed and the contacting of hundreds of thousands of students to assess potential roadblocks.
“Today that’s all we’ve been doing,” said Damaris Mercado, a teacher at Bronx International High School.
“Where our problem comes into play is our kids in shelters or who don’t have Wi-Fi access,” added Mercado, who runs the school’s work-based learning programs. “We can provide them with iPads, but if they don’t have Wi-Fi, it’s just a device.”
Across the city, public school teachers gathered to map out plans of attack for at least four weeks of remote learning, with city schools closed to stem the coronavirus spread until at least April 20. City schools also gave out 53,000 meals on Tuesday, up from 14,000 on Monday, Schools Chancellor
Richard Carranza (photo) said.
As they shift their teaching online, schools will be responsible for developing daily and weekly schedules for students, taking attendance and creating grading policies, according to guidance from the Education Department.
Teachers are encouraged to conduct live online teaching during their normally scheduled class periods and post videos for students to view on their own time, the guidance said.
But officials have acknowledged precise plans will look vastly different for individual schools and students.
The freedom is both empowering and scary, said Daniel Gannon, a high school history teacher in the South Bronx. He said he already uses Google Classroom, the online platform that allows teachers to centrally post videos and assignments and chat with students.
That puts Gannon’s school ahead of many others that don’t already use the platform or have little experience with online learning.
“We don’t feel like we’re in a dangerous place,” he said. “Fortunately, many of our students are familiar” with Google Classroom.
At their meetings, teachers met in small groups with colleagues who offered to lead training sessions, while administrators, guidance counselors, social workers and parent coordinator began reaching out to every student to get updated contact information and assess their ability to get online at home, Gannon said.
The Education Department is purchasing and distributing up to 300,000 iPads for students without devices, officials said. Some internet providers have offered free Wi-Fi access during the school shutdown.
Mercado, who’s “pretty new” to the online platforms, said her school is testing out Zoom, Google Hangouts, and WebEx to see which works for group video chats.
Patrick Sprinkle, a high school history teacher in Manhattan, is “heavily adapting” his normal assignments for Google Classroom.
“The challenge for me is finding materials (videos, images, and etc) which will support all students and help to support their learning,” he wrote in an email.
Some teachers were concerned that meeting in person for the training might put them at risk of potential exposure to the fastspreading coronavirus, and many schools kept educators spaced apart
Gannon called the feeling of gathering without students “strange.”
“Yes, we wanted to get schools closed,” he said. “But when you hear the mayor say [schools could stay closed] until September, those are strange things to hear. We don’t do this job not to have kids.”