LITTLETOWN, Ohio — As parents have made the transition to homeschooling their children during this coronavirus outbreak, many teachers are doing their best to keep up with the demand of k-12 online lessons.
- Students got a run through of the Google Classroom lessons ahead of time
- Students use apps and email to ask teachers questions as they complete work
- Completed classwork helps the district track attendance
Clear Fork Middle School teacher Stacie White teaches math. In the days leading up to her school closing down she crammed like a college student might for a final exam, vetting resources, apps and platforms to prepare for now.
That was the easy part — but taking her classroom home and setting it up with old hardware was another story.
"I ended up with my iPad attached to an old monitor for my desktop. And now I have my webcams pointed towards the monitors, so I can write on my IPAD just like I always have with my kids,” said White.
But once she got set up, she started recording short lessons for her students to work through from home.
Discovering new platforms for online classes keeps her learning, but the biggest challenge so far has been stress.
"We can get worksheets out. We can get workbooks out. We can get reading materials and math materials out, but being once-removed from those kiddos, those students you're used to seeing every day, that's probably been the most stressful," White said.
Doing her best to fill in the gap of not being in their presence, White reaches out to her students and keeps herself accessible, using different apps and email to answer questions. That's after she's had her regular school conference call meetings, which is quite the balancing act.
"It never leaves your side. Ummm...you've got the remind app open on the Chromebook all of the time. You've got your Google Classroom up all the time. So, if somebody pings in, you can see those alerts and try to get back to them as soon as possible," said White.
She said when the kids watch the videos, it's just like they're sitting in her classroom, even though they can only hear her voice.
As kids do the lessons, she notes that it's a way for the district to keep track of their attendance and their progress.
"If it's a two-day assignment, you get it done. When you turn it in, you've gotten credit for those two days," White said.
Although getting ready for this time away seemed like a whirlwind, White said the best part about it all has been the kids calling to check in on her.
In Clear Fork Local Schools, almost every kid in second grade and up was able to take an iPad or Chromebook home. For those that didn't, teachers took a survey of those without internet and cable to make sure they got the paper form of everything.
As for all White's classes, including special education, she prepared them ahead of time by giving them a lesson just like they would see it at home and got feedback to know what needed to be tweaked.