Can teachers truly connect with students online?–April 24, 2020

 

Can teachers truly connect with students online?

Yes. They absolutely can.

This week saw Philadelphia schools roll out their online teaching resources, a complex and, of course, at times frustrating endeavor. We asked the PCCY team for their thoughts on what they were seeing regarding students learning online and how effective it could be.

We hope you’ll be inspired by what we shared.

Shirlee, Montgomery County Coordinator:

I thought my 15-year-old son Zach’s burgeoning love for speaking French would stall due to the current crisis. But Madame Laura Vargas at Lower Merion High School is keeping her students engaged through “flexible instruction,” including an assignment to discuss their thoughts on the Covid-19 crisis and creating their own interactive kingdoms on an app. In French, naturellement.

Tomea, Education Policy Director:

Mrs. Julia Wheeler at the Abington School District is my sons’s 5th grade teacher. As soon as school closed, she started check-ins with her students asking “how are you doing?” and “how can I help?”. It meant a lot to him that Mrs. Wheeler has continued to nurture the relationship. It meant a lot to me too.

David L, Research Associate:

Siobhan Peterson-Walsh, a STEM teacher in Erie, made an animation (something she teaches her students), titled “Mechanical Distancing (When Robots Have to Quarantine)” to keep her students connected & entertained.

Colleen, Health Policy Director:

Mattie Davis, a veteran first grade teacher at William Dick Elementary, is an exceptional educator because not only has she demonstrated crazy commitment to her 23 young learners since school first let out, but she’s lifting up their parents and caregivers too by providing reassurance and direction for how, together, they can manage this new world order and keep the little learners learning.  

David K, Communications Director:

Jen Merrifield is a 4th grade teacher in Maine whose video productions for her students include costumes, sets, and characters are a full-out charm offensive that delights and engages her students, motivating them to get working. Check it out!

Beth, Special Projects Associate:

Before the pandemic, Amber Spurka and Kayla Rooks, 3rd grade teaches at Southwark School in South Philadelphia, created The Rooks and Spurka Show, bilingual YouTube videos that teach their students math concepts. They just created The Rooks and Spurka Show – Quarantine Edition

Tim, Picasso Project Director:

The team at South Philly’s The Childrens’ Playhouse, where my kids go, stay connected through ClassDojo and email, send activities like read aloud videos and educational scavenger hunts. Rose’s teachers, Jorge Cordova and Rosayra Gomez even dropped off a birthday care kit for one of the students this week, just to remind the student that they care.

Donna, Executive Director:

Ms Jenni is a visual arts teacher for 6-8th graders. Ms. Jenni knows that so many of her students are scared and need positive support.  Now her COVID instructional approach steers her students away from focusing on technique and more on finding ways that what they paint and process of painting helps them “feel safe”.

Marvetta, Elections Early Education Coordinator:

A high-five, educator shout-out to Janet Gilmore a Clara Barton teacher. The die-hard Philly Eagles fan, is an even bigger fan of her Barton Cubs first-graders, and was among the first of the school’s staff, to reach out and post a read-to-me video, as she and other of the school’s educators took to online access to stay connected to their students!

That’s an amazing group of innovative and dedicated educators who are doing everything they can to connect to their students and continue teaching. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Nancy Ironside, a teacher at Science Leadership Academy Middle School, who wrote a fantastic commentary for the Inquirer this week on what we all can do, schools and families, to support our students, including recalibrating what success means during the shutdown.

“As a mom, I feel for families who have to do it all,” Ironside writes. “While my children are now both adults, there were times for each of them when school did not meet all their needs, and we filled in the gaps at home. This is the situation for families across the world right now.”

Do you know of other teachers out there YOU think are deserving of recognition? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or email us at info@childrenfirstpa.org!

Finally, as much as we’d like to, we can’t all be teachers…but we can play one on YouTube! We’ve started a library of read along videos called READ TO ME. If you have a favorite picture book that you’d like to share with kids at home, we invite you to shoot a video of yourself reading so that we can include it alongside the seventeen videos we’ve already compiled. Please contact Tim if you’re interested.

Tell your Congressperson to protect children and provide necessary funding to get toxic lead and other hazards out of their homes. With coast-to-coast shelter in place orders, the significance of home-based health hazards is more important than ever.

ADD YOUR NAME

 

“I see the disinfectant that knocks (COVID-19) out in a minute, one minute. And is there a way we can do something like that by injection inside, or almost a cleaning?” President Trump’s musings prompted the maker of Lysol to confirm their product should not be administered into the human body.

Satirical newspaper The Onion made THIS spooky prediction a month ago.

 

Have you seen our read aloud book series READ TO ME on YouTube? We’re at 17 books already! Please RETWEET and help spread the word. Or contact Tim if you’d like to add your own video to our growing library!

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram

 

“This is just the beginning of what’s going to be a grueling process.” Joyce Wilkerson, president of the Philadelphia Board of Education, on the road ahead for District budgeting in the wake of COVID-19. READ THE WHOLE STORY