K-12 public school teachers across southeast Iowa make the transition to online teaching

Following Gov. Reynold's decision to extend school closures through April 30 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus outbreak, districts across the state were asked to provide plans for continuous learning opportunities for students.

Of the 327 districts, 285 have chosen to provide voluntary education enrichment opportunities, six have opted to provide required educational services and 36 have chosen to provide a combination of both, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

In southeast Iowa, both Mt. Pleasant Community School District and Fairfield Community School District are providing voluntary enrichment activities through the closures while Washington Community School District is requiring online learning for high school students and providing voluntary activities for all other grade levels.

Although not required for elementary students, second-graders in Washington are not exempt from online learning. Second grade teacher at Stewart Elementary, Liz Goodwin, said staff are working to put out lessons anyway.

Each teacher is putting out lessons that range from reading to math that last about 15 to 30 minutes, she said. Having used a lot of technology in her classroom, this transition was simple for Goodwin, but for the parents who may not be as tech savvy, there may be a learning curve.

The hardest part, she said, is student access to internet, not only because of connection issues but because of parents working. While some students have the advantage of being home with a parent, others have to wait until one comes home before they can begin schoolwork. However, the variety offered online is intended to give the students variety and return a little bit of normalcy to them.

'We want to support them in any way possible whether they want one lesson or different choice words,” she said.

Not reaching all the students is a concern for her as well.

'I have been able to contact everyone in my class via email or phone call. I have dropped off some books at people's houses following social distancing guidelines but those who do not have Wi-Fi or devices will not be able to get the same content as those who do, so that's kind of heartbreaking and sad. We are going to do the best we can with the resources we have and just try to make the best of it,” she said.

Goodwin said online learning began Monday and lessons are prepared for the rest of the week. Being away from the students is hard, she said, and the students think so too.

The class has been connecting via Google Hangouts and the students are benefiting from the social and emotional connections. Connie Svenby, gifted and talented teacher at Washington Middle School said that goes for educators, too.

'You really do miss them,” she said.

Svenby has been planning for online learning since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, but that has not made it any easier. It was overwhelming to try and transition all the lessons to online, she said.

Although middle school students have voluntary learning, high school students are required to be learning during this time. Svenby also teaches a class of 14 at the high school and said preparing lessons for them has been much harder than it would be if she were actually in the classroom.

'In my online class for my high schoolers, I do a video first of what we're going to be learning this week and preview all that so the hope is they watch the video then they can do the assignment,” she said.

Svenby has even offered office hours on Thursdays where students can reach out to her for a period of time if they need help with homework. Not being able to be in the classroom and gage their understanding has been difficult to navigate around.

'It's so much more difficult when you're not seeing them every day to figure out if they're getting what I'm asking them to do,” she said.

Despite the fact that teaching from the computer is not simple and takes a great deal more effort, Svenby said it's worth it if the students are learning.

'I think that unprecedented times take unprecedented measures and we're going to do what's best for the kids at this point,” she said.

Kathleen Gavin, director of instruction at Mt. Pleasant Community School District, said internet access and capabilities were the biggest considerations when deciding whether to move forward with a required learning model.

'Based on the information we have, probably about 20% to 30% of students do not have adequate access to be doing online learning,” she explained, which will continue to be a factor the district will consider should closures extend beyond April 30. For right now, the district is asking teachers to provide three enrichment activities per week in each content area.

For the district as a whole, focus has been on maintaining connections with students and minimizing learning loss, Gavin added. But moving forward, Gavin notes a large part of getting back into schools also will be addressing the social-emotional needs of students, for whom the closures may be a traumatic time.

Ashley Hoyer, a fourth grade teacher at Harlan Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant, echoed that her main concern about the closures is the social and emotional well-being of students.

'I am going to do my best to offer weekly social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health lessons via my YouTube channel or Flipgrid. I have a book that teaches children how to be Superheroes of Self-Control, as well as how to be successful in daily life. I also hope my weekly Fri-YAY kindness activities bring smiles to their faces,” Hoyer said of how she is hoping to address those needs from afar.

As far as voluntary enrichment activities, elementary levels across MPCSD use the iReady program for both math and reading and aim for students to use the online resource for 49-60 minutes per week for digital learning. In addition to iReady, Hoyer has started a YouTube channel for her students and utilizes Zoom meetings and her school's social media accounts to connect with students at home.

Like many teachers, Hoyer is also going through an adjustment period as she and her students learn to navigate online learning.

'I went into teaching because I so much love to be around children, to instill a love of learning inside each of them, and to form long lasting relationships. I miss our high-fives, fist bumps and hugs,” Hoyer said of the challenge of not being able to see her students daily.

The fourth grade teacher added it's been difficult to completely replicate a classroom environment online.

'It's just not the same. So much of their learning happens when they're working collaboratively with me and each other,” Hoyer added.

Colby Newman, the building and trades teacher at MPHS, faces a different sort of challenge when attempting to teach students a hands-on class through the internet.

'It's a little challenging. I've got students who are just begging to come in and asking if they could sign waivers. They've chosen to take my class and learn to assemble something. Typically their preferred learning method is doing,” Newman said.

Though his students are itching to come back, Newman noted that probably won't be happening for a while for the protection of everyone in the district.

Newman said he has been able to assign more lab-like activities such as asking students to measure their room floors or walls as if they were preparing to lay down flooring or paint, however, the trades teacher added it's difficult to replicate lab activities that require tools students do not have access to at home.

'There just isn't any substitute to having a student learn how to feel safe and respect a machine or power tool. There's a level of nervousness that comes along with each student first picking up a power tool before eventually feeling comfortable and confident in operation. We'll probably never be able to replicate online,” Newman added.

Still with the school's new computer numerical control (CNC) machine, Newman is hoping digital learning will be a little easier moving forward. Students will have an opportunity to learn software and build things digitally. While it's not the same as working hands-on with materials, Newman said the software will still give students an opportunity to understand how the parts all come together.

Newman said he hopes he will be able to continue to engage students in a fun way, but also knows many students are facing issues of accessibility to internet and resources as well as more complicated home lives because of impacts due to the coronavirus, a factor faculty and staff are keeping in mind as they move forward with online learning.

'It's hard to know what each student has going on at home. There are older students who are taking on more of a caregiver role as their parents are at work, so it may be hard for them to take advantage of some of these resources,” Newman added.

While the transition to online learning has presented obstacles, the different format has also afforded some teachers space and room to explore new things with their class. Jim Edgeton, the band director at Fairfield High School, said this move to online resources gives his performance-based classes an opportunity to learn about music theory and related music subjects that they do not usually have as much time for.

Because students did not know they would be unable to return to school when buildings closed after March 13, only 15% of Edgeton's students have their instruments with them at home. To address that issue, Edgeton has tapped different websites that focus on music history and expose students to professional playing, in addition to providing performance based sites.

'For band, this has been kind of a fun opportunity,” Edgeton said.

The band director added that since the opportunities are voluntary, the challenge for many teachers is presenting activities that spark students' interests, as well as fun and motivating.

'We're trying to give them exposure to new things they wouldn't necessarily be watching or doing themselves,” he said.

Moving forward, Edgeton anticipates there will be plenty of catch-up time when classes do resume and said it may be several years before schools across the state are back to their usual curriculum.

'If we don't come back and students are not playing from March on, they'll definitely be skills and strengths that go away. In all classes, we'll be adjusting for what they missed in these three months. It could be a year or two before we'll all back up to speed and back to the usual curriculum,” Edgeton said.