Guelph Today (2018. Photo retrieved from https://www.guelphtoday.com/local-news/upper-grand-district-school-board-hiring-32-new-elementary-school-teachers-969965)
APPENDIX A
TEACHER A
For me, my work as a teacher has become much more complex since shifting to online as I have had to learn to manage a variety of different programs that I have never used before and the training is all on the fly. I am primarily using email, MS Teams and Zoom to connect with students and colleagues and using asynchronous lessons which I really do not like. I can’t give the students real time feedback and I don’t get the real time feedback either on what they are learning or struggling with so that is really hard because I can’t take advantage of “teachable moments” like I can in the classroom.
The marking is also significantly harder because we’re restricted with how much feedback we give by the programs, I can’t highlight different standards on a rubric, etc and it is a lot of screen time which is affecting my concentration, etc.. I definitely feel like I lost my classroom community and much prefer the classroom setting as the daily interactions I have with students are where the powerful moments of teaching come from.
That being said, there are some advantages, like not having anything be “no name” anymore because everything is attached to a student’s account, and being able to see who has viewed things, who hasn’t, who’s logged on to the site, etc. I am very much looking forward to when teaching goes back to normal and have learned that I am not cut out to be an online teacher in any way shape or form. I teach Grade 8-10.
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APPENDIX B
TEACHER B
I teach a grade 2/3 split class in SD43. Since the pandemic started, I have reached my students online through parent email, Microsoft Teams, and phone calls. At first, I reached all students through parent’s emails to do a questionnaire to see if online learning will be possible (seeing if they have internet connection and devices) and then I followed up with a phone call to each student to check in and see how they have been dealing with things. Most students seemed fine, however most did say that they missed school and wished they could come back.
Since then, I have started emailing a weekly schedule to parent’s email addresses at the beginning of every week. In the email I attach all supporting documents that go with the schedule (worksheets and stuff like that), and I give YouTube links that go along with lessons in the schedule. We were instructed to give 5 hours of learning per week which included literacy, numeracy, and 2 hours of physical education per week. I also did Microsoft Team video calls with small groups (3-4 students) a few days a week and we did things like sharing/show and tell, scavenger hunts, and bingo relating to what we are learning in math. Most of the students love the video calls and look forward to it every week. Lots of them say they really miss school and seeing their friends and this is a good way to keep that connection. We also communicate through their private channels on Microsoft Teams sometimes and if they did not understand something in one of the lessons, I will do a private video call with them to help explain it. They also get video calls from support teachers at my school who do small reading, writing, and math groups for those who need it. Students with EA’s do video calls with their EA’s for extra help as well. So with all of that, as well as some extra help from parents at home, I think they are getting a great deal of learning done considering this is still a pandemic and everything is a bit chaotic around us still.
Some students really thrive at home because they have more 1-on-1 help from parents, and they are less distracted so they put more effort into their work. Others are the opposite because parents have to work, or the kids just don’t feel like doing school work so they fight with the parents about doing it, and then nothing gets done. There is one student that I have only seen twice on video calls but hasn’t done any work, so that is very unfortunate. I also have a student who moved, so it’s pretty cool that I am able to still teach that student from a distance when I would have not been able to before online learning started. Overall though, students tell me that they miss school, miss their teacher, miss their friends, and miss “normal life”. They always ask when they can come back to school and when things will go “back to normal”.
For me as a teacher, I actually really do enjoy online teaching. I had a very busy class this year, so it was quite stressful before, but now I can see how the kids work with less distractions from their peers. The video calls are very fun but they do take a lot out of me. I am not a huge fan of talking on the phone or FaceTimeing in general, as this is not something that I usually do, which means I get exhausted from it easily. It is easier to teach a lesson in person, however, I did enjoy the fact that I could stay home and still stay connected with my students. I had a lot more time to plan my schedule and collaborate with other teachers. This was a huge help. Usually, teachers at my school get 1 hour every 2 weeks to collaborate with their grade group, but we are now doing it every week, 2 or 3 times a week for about an hour each time and it is extremely helpful for me, especially as a new teacher.
However, now, we have shifted back to optional in-class instruction, and this is so much harder and more work than online learning or full-time in-class teaching ever was. Now, I have 6 students coming on Monday/Tuesday, I teach/plan/reach out to online learners at home on Wednesdays, and I have another group of 4 students on Thursday/Friday. So now I am having to split my time between the in-class learners and the online learners, which is nearly impossible. I feel as though I am neglecting the students who chose to stay home, and am just babysitting the students in the classroom because we are still only required to teach them 5 hours per week (so 1 hour per day) but they are in class from 6 hours.. So what do we do with the other 5 hours every day? It’s tough and I feel as though this will not work very well if this will happen in September. I think either straight online learning works very well, or straight in-class instruction works very well, but not a combination of both. At least not for one classroom teacher to do both at once.
