Fairfield teachers excited to return to in-person classes

FAIRFIELD - The Fairfield Community School District is experiencing something it hasn't done since last school year: all of the students are in the building.

Almost all of them, that is. Some students have opted into the fully online coursework available through the district. But this week is significant in that it's the first time the district has invited all students to return to in-person class in all grades this school year.

'Honestly, it feels good to be back in the classroom with a room full of students,” said Heidi Grunwald, who teaches family and consumer science at Fairfield High School.

Since school began in August, the district has spent most of its time in a hybrid model of education where only half the students were in class while the others did online instruction. Some buildings, like the two elementary schools, went fully in-person in October, but the middle school and high school never made it, because a rise in COVID cases forced the district to reverse course. From mid-November to early December, when COVID cases were spiking, the district went fully online.

Students in the district have done more work online than they ever have before. Luckily, the district had been preparing for online classes even before the pandemic began. Fairfield High School math teacher Michelle Higgins said high school teachers have spent their professional development days the last few years learning how to use the district's portal for online classes known as Canvas. Higgins said she got a leg up by consulting with her grown children, who have used Canvas in college, so she could see how an online class was conducted.

Grunwald said she has been using Canvas for several years, but she's had to rely on it much more this year and leave more detailed instructions since she hasn't always been able to meet with her students in person.

Teachers in the district said some students have responded well to the online coursework, while others have struggled.

'It's a mix,” said Fairfield High School English teacher Fred Hucke. 'I have students who have responded beautifully and are college-ready for online courses. I also have students who find it much easier to avoid me and not get the work done.”

Higgins agreed, saying she's seen a variety of responses from her students, too. She teaches advanced placement calculus, pre-calculus and Algebra 1A. Some students are able to tackle those subjects in a self-directed manner, while others need constant reminders to get the work done.

'Overall, I would say that most of my students have risen to the occasion and have been successful,” Higgins said.

Grunwald said she can see some students can manage with online classes while some need face-to-face instruction to really blossom.

'I would say for most students in my classes, the online learning has been a success for them,” Grunwald said.

One change the high school made this year to limit interactions among students was to adopt a block schedule where each class was 2.5 hours long. This greatly reduced the number of times students were switching classes and being around each other in the hallways. Hucke said it's been a challenge to keep things interesting for the students during such a long class, and on top of that, students work at different rates.

'It's hard to keep it all together,” Hucke said.

The district did not technically return to 100 percent in-person classes since it is keeping Wednesday as an online day. This is a day where teachers can focus on the students doing the fully online option, develop their lessons for the coming week, grade papers and chat with students over Zoom. It's also a day where the district can clean and disinfect all the buildings.

Grunwald said she uses Wednesdays to do general lesson planning and send weekly updates to students and their parents about the progress they've made in class. Higgins said she's been using it to help all of her students who need one-on-one attention.

The Fairfield Education Foundation purchased a document camera for Higgins, which focuses on her handwriting on a piece of paper. It's perfect for showing students how to do math problems.

Having to prepare for both kinds of instruction, in-person and online, has been a burden for teachers. Grunwald said that, since she's been using Canvas for several years, she didn't have to put in as much extra time as other teachers.

Higgins said preparing online classes is time-consuming, and she started working on them in July to be ready for the first day of school. Hucke said so much of his teaching now is dedicated to typing comments online, although he doesn't perceive it as necessarily more work than prior years.

'We've always put as much as possible into our classes,” Hucke said.