Online school

teachers are doing things to make the experience richer and prepare the kids for a future where this is normal and expected.”

Miranda Satterfield, a fourth grade teacher at Little River Elementary in Cherokee County implores parents to keep a cool head.

“This is a learning curve. Parents may feel overwhelmed and teachers are teaching in a way we’ve never done before,” she said. “We’ll get through this just fine if everyone remembers that we’re all new to this.”

A week into it, Jones, of Fulton County Schools, said his district’s biggest challenge is supporting the parents who have suddenly found themselves as the primary teachers to their housebound children. The district of about 94,000 students is seeing about 35,000 of its 45,000 students with district-issued devices logging into its online learning system daily. More than 6,000 learning packets have been handed out, too.

Fulton County’s remote learning strategy includes online resources through

Launchpad, where students sign in to work on class lessons left for them by their teachers. According to the district’s Remote Learning web page, schools will communicate assignments to parents and students via email and the district’s website, and assignments are due at least two weeks after returning to school. With school districts across the country now faced with the idea of finishing the school year remotely, that could change.

“We have a hotline for technical issues that has been staffed since Monday morning,” Jones said. “We’ve seen call volume double from Monday to yesterday. What it’s about is logging in and supporting the parents, supporting this new normal. We’re making sure we’re all flexible and that every day is different.”

During the school building shutdown, the DeKalb County School District uses the digital learning system Verge, with teachers uploading lesson plans that include reading assignments and assessments as well as videos and clickable worksheets. On the student interface, they are shown learning targets, what they are expected to know when a lesson is completed.

Interactive assessments will send alerts when a student gets the wrong answer, sending them to review materials to make sure students understand what they got incorrect.

Stacy Stepney, DeKalb’s chief academic officer, said the district has dealt with connectivity issues, trying to get about 99,000 students online while other school districts are logging on across the country, as well as other school systems across the globe. Last Monday, parents said Verge was spinning and shaky, that their children were at times unable to get assignments.

“The learning for us is this product is not just used in Georgia, or the United States,” she said.

Sherica Freeman said she has not connected with students in one of her American Literature classes since March 12, the day Georgia schools were told to close school buildings to curb the spread of COVID-19.

Freeman, from Stone Mountain High School, said there was no instruction manual for when classroom instruction moves online. As a result, staffers at her school have been working collaboratively to make the transition easier, building resource pages and troubleshooting the various platforms to pass along hacks.

“The best thing I’ve seen is (instructional) coaches and department chairs, librarians ... try to create order and provide resources,” she said. “They’re making (the systems) available, usable and accessible. When people are creating success, they’re sharing what they did. Just the how-tos on these things, as a lot of that was not in place.”

For every lesson, Stepney said, there’s a moment for celebration. The video from a 3-year-old boy’s mom showing them going over the lesson plan, with him correcting her when she does not do it like his teacher. Or the video lesson from two Flat Rock Elementary School physical education teachers showing students the exercises they should perform for the week.

“Our teachers are connecting with our parents and students,” Stepney said. “From the parent answers we’ve received, we’re working to help provide a balanced learning environment. Students are also adjusting to being home all day.”