covid-school - Tumblr blog

covid-school · 3 years

Text

The Student COVID Experience

I followed a YES Prep Southside GIANT for an entire day to see life through the eyes of a student.

At this point in the year, we’ve tried to normalize certain practices and routines, but truth is it’s just not the same. School during C*VID is...weird. I know the teacher and leader side of COVID school and its experience, but I decided to (and kind of had to) engage in a student shadowing activity to see what a student experiences and what first hand thoughts I’d experience. Below is a re-cap and reflection.

A Day in the Life of Angel, an in-person eleventh grade student at YES Prep Southside:

Approximately 8:00 a.m., Angel and I arrive to school. In the car drop-off line, Angel and I both are required to have our temperatures taken.

After we arrive, we stand outside (6 feet a part of course), and wait until 8:30.

The school doors officially open, and we start heading towards the side door where we enter the building. We head towards our classroom where we will spend the rest of our day.

Once in the classroom, Angel and I both sit behind a 4-way plexiglass divider at the long table, she opens her computer to complete her daily health check, which asks her to agree that she hasn’t felt any COVID symptoms or been around a close contact, and she is cleared to stay on campus for the day.

8:30: transition from “Homeroom” time to the first period class. We have physics first, and Mr. Branna is an in-person teacher, so he walks in and we begin to get set up for the day.

Approximately 8:45: we log into Microsoft Teams, and wait for the class call to start. Mr. Branna goes on to teach the lesson for the day. The synchronous part of class goes from 8:45-9:30, and from 9:30-10:10, we have asynchronous time where we are given practice assignments to complete on our own.

The weird thing about COVID-school is “group work is all virtual.” What I noticed is that students prefer to communicate via chat versus outloud or in-person.

Approximately 10:15: We transition to World History. For this class, Ms. Walker is a hybrid teacher, and she teaches in person and remote students in the same Teams Call. We luckily have the luxury of having her in our physical classroom so if we need something, she can show us without sharing her screen. Sync time in this class is from 10:15-11 am. Async time is from 11-11:45.

11:45: We have Advisory until 12:10 and here, we get school and grade level updates. Angel and I had previously scheduled a virtual college tour that we attended starting at 12:00 p.m.

Noon: With the permission of Ms. Moss, our AP English teacher, we stay in the virtual college tour until 12:45. At 12:45, we join Ms, Moss’ Teams call, and engage in the lesson until 1:30, when async time starts and goes until 2:10. Ms. Moss spends async time checking in with students about grades and whatever else is going on in students’ lives. [Ms. Moss was a teacher at Southside for the first two founding years for this same class of students; she transitioned to a different school for two years and decided to come back for the founding class’s last two years. The classroom culture is very comfortable despite COVID restrictions.]

2:15: We transition to our last class, Pre-Calculus, where we stay until 3:45. In this class, we work through async time with Mr. Granger because the equations were challenging, and like Ms. Walker, he is a hybrid teacher and has over 45 students to tend to.

3:40: we start to sanitize our work stations with cleaning and sanitizing wipes, and sanitize our hands. We wait behind our seats to be dismissed. At 3:45 when they dismiss the walkers, we head to the gym where we must have our temperatures taken again. After that, Angel completes an additional health check that clears her for volleyball practice.

At this point, I end my shadowing and reflect on my day as a student of the founding class at Southside. These were the realities...

1. COVID school is LONG.

Students are used to days that are packed with about 6 classes that they physically move to and from. During COVID school, even moving from seat to seat is strictly prohibited. Around lunch, I could see them starting to lose steam. I found this interesting as I also tend to feel more tired in my last two classes. Because of this, it was easier to empathize with them.

2. COVID school is something we STILL have to get used to.

Students still need reminders of routines and procedures such as staying behind their own plexiglass, not sharing food or any materials, not entering other classrooms that are not assigned to their specific cohorts, etc. Although we have been living in this COVID world for over a year, students are transitioning in and out of physical classrooms every day and it causes the sense of normalcy to be almost non-existent.

3. Students need more opportunities to interact!

I noticed that one of the only times students were given the opportunity to interact with each other is when they were having lunch or in some async portions of class. Because of that, engagement was low and during “group” work, students weren’t comfortable interacting with students who they have been in classes with since they were in 6th grade!

When I think of ways I would try and combat these issues as a school leader, first I thought about why the issues are pressing. The main thing that stuck out to me is how crucial character development is for these students! Being eleventh graders means students have one year until they enter post-secondary classrooms or the work force and there are some skills that are mandatory to be successful in those places. One of those skills is social interaction that doesn’t come from a screen. This generation already focuses so heavily on technology and being behind their phones, that I would implement group work at individual work tables. Your table would become your “working group,” and you would verbally collaborate on assignments, discussions, projects and classwork. This not only ensures the growth in development, but gives students a real taste of what the workforce and classrooms will be for them in the near future.

Second, I would make sure my staff understood the importance of empathy and expressing that to students. I asked Angel at the end of our day together how she felt about school and she said she was very tired and drained from the day’s activities every day. I told her even though I’m teaching all day, I feel the same way because its exhausting to watch students struggle and become tired behind their screens in class after class. When I said I feel the same way, I could see Angel’s smile through her mask and she said “wow JW, I didn’t think teachers got tired because at least you guys get to move around from room to room. And while that could be true, overall, this experience has been tiresome for ALL and students need to know they are not alone.

The last thing I would do as a leader, and plan to do before the year is over just as a temperature check is create an assessment that analyzes what realistic suggestions students have for “COVID school.” For example, maybe students could have the opportunity to move seats and sit with friends in their cohort classrooms during lunch as long as they sanitize them upon moving. Small changes like this could help increase energy levels which will lead to higher engagement and participation.

Overall, I was inspired by the tenacity Angel shows by showing up to COVID school every day. While she did express some of her concerns, she also pushes through and helped me realize some pivots I can suggest for my campus in order for us to finish these last six weeks strongly. Thanks Angel :)

1 note · View note