Remote learning evolves slowly as students, staff struggle to find balance
Graphic from Oshkosh West Administration
In a recent survey conducted by West administration, 61.7% of students felt they were doing well or very well academically but 67.5% felt they were not doing well emotionally. Remote learning has caused a significant change in schools across the country, and West is no different. That being said, many improvements have been made from last year’s virtual learning and there is still more to explore with this new virtual model.
“As far as using Google Meets for the live lessons, I have found that more students are willing to participate and share their ideas if they’re allowed to on the chat feature,” Principal Erin Kohl said. “Some are more hesitant to speak during a Google Meet but I have definitely been in lessons where lots of kids are talking. I always feel like lessons and discussions go better when students are willing to turn their videos on and you can see each other's faces rather than still icons.”
One of the largest challenges for teachers is the switch to online learning is that they were not trained to teach virtually. Their best method during the pandemic was to try new techniques and see if they stick while still maintaining the same rigor of an in-person class. Kohl remembers analyzing the challenges that occur with virtual learning.
“If we had to go virtual, we wanted to maintain some rigor and integrity in our classes and really focus on what are those essential learning standards to move onto the next level course or post-high school,” she said. “We know the rigor is a lot more than last spring and that’s very intentional. We want our students to be learning; that’s why they’re in school.”
For calculus teacher Doris Bailey, the challenge of remote learning comes with the scale of her classes.
“I think for me the biggest challenge is that I have large classes,” she said. “I have some classes of 30, so when we meet online, I can't see faces to know whether or not they're really understanding and I'm not able to walk by tables and see the work. When I collect homework online it's after the fact so I don't get to intervene as quickly.”
Many teachers at West share the same intentions; they want to be able to interact and work with students. Spanish teacher Justin Hable comments on the effects of minimal face-to-face interaction with students.
“To be physically in the room with your students, having fun, joking around, that dynamic I would say has changed,” he said. “For me not to be able to do those fun games or fun activities and have students interact with each other; that's a personal challenge for me. It's trying to adjust to how you can mimic that even though they’re not in the same room.”
On the other hand, Hable believes that technology has helped to facilitate greater communication with students and between students.
“It's very hard to do the speaking practices because you’re over the camera, but now that Google came up with the breakout rooms I’ve been using those more,” he said. “Students have told me that they actually like doing that because they are in a smaller group, and it makes them seem more like real school because they can actually interact with different people.”
Overall, following a curriculum at a quick pace is a challenge for everyone, especially those in college level courses.
“Mostly for calculus, the pacing makes it difficult,” Bailey said. “I have no free days where I can say ‘let's just slow down and think this over, because we have to keep pace with the college curriculum.”
Teachers and students alike are facing late nights on top of lengthy periods outside of class to prepare for the next day. Chemistry teacher Stacey Markon describes that the environment of online learning is frequently less entertaining.
“I think with online learning, it's a lot of teaching and it's not like any of the fun,” she said. “For science class, we don't have the hands-on lab, so you don't get that type of experience. Not everybody learns well virtually, and so I've seen students who have a hard time experiencing what they're learning because it's very different to do a chemistry experiment yourself versus watching a YouTube video or doing an online lab.”
Sophomore Ashley Kozel holds a similar opinion and has noticed that with the instability of technology, education can become tougher.
“I don't dislike Google Meets, but I don't like them because when I'm doing classes I’ve noticed that it freezes quite a few times and then I have to leave the call and join back in,” she said. “You miss a lot of information but, in general, it does help because it's helping getting into group learning.”
Another difficulty of remote learning comes from the pure number of students. To senior Jonathan Bowers, lack of communication creates problems.
“Getting advice from teachers isn’t the same,” he said. “When I want to ask about something I usually have to wait a lot longer for a response. By that time you’re on something else or you're just trying to tough it out and you forgot you said something.”
In response to the pressure from students, Bailey admits that many teacher’s email inboxes fill up extremely quickly, so keeping up with emails has been a challenge for many teachers. If students ask a question and teachers don't answer it, it most likely got lost in the stream of emails. The most helpful thing for her is clear communication.
“I think asking very specific questions should be emphasized because when we get emails from students that are very vague, I don't know exactly what it was the student was lost on,” she said. “Manage your time so that you can plan ahead and give us options in case you need to meet with us.”
Kohl agrees that clear communication is key, especially with the nature of online learning. That being said, communication among everyone is not the easiest to master.
“For me, the most difficult thing is working with our staff to really try and reach out to the students who are not attending their live lessons or completing their work virtually,” she said. “That’s been a huge challenge and concern. We’re concerned for student’s safety, mental health, and the learning because we want our students to be learning and moving forward to the next level or when they graduate.”
Consequently, Hable decided to work hard to make sure his classes are as similar to in-person as possible. He wants the proper messages to get across to students to help them understand, appreciate, and learn their material.
“I’d like students to know we are working to benefit the students and that we're not trying to overburden you, not trying to give you things to just check off of a list, and not just give a bunch of tasks to do,” he said. “We're trying things, experimenting, and learning along with you, so it's important for the students to let the teachers know the feedback because they will take that and adjust as necessary.”
Jenni Rutkowski, a small business owner on downtown Main Street who closed her store due to COVID-19, now works from home along with three kids who are in elementary, middle, and high school. Lillian, Seamus, and Madeline all provide different challenges.
“With Lillian in elementary school, there’s a different expectation,” she said. “Their primary focus is on reading and math. As far as anything else, I don't even know how much, if anything, they're learning or anything else, so that part is hard.”
For Rutkowski, having Seamus transition into a middle school is difficult and demanding. It’s a completely different experience than what was seen in the past.
“Limiting his distractions has been really difficult,” she said. “Especially getting him to understand that school time is school time and you can't have your phone in your lap or the TV on in the background. As a parent who works, not having someone standing over him saying this is how it needs to be done, I end up having to do all of that again with him later at night.”
Rutkowski’s husband is a restaurant owner and the rest of the family is at home. Making sure there is enough time to check up on her kids, and finding places of quiet continues to create conflict.
“Something has to give because there’s not enough time and that stuff moves to weekends,” she said. “The laundry still needs to be done, the dishes still need to be done, and those things that normally could be your 5 to 8 are not happening because you're going back over schoolwork with the kids.”
Markon has a similar situation as she has her own children, three and five years old. Her family had to be quarantined because someone at their daycare tested positive for COVID, which has offered its own set of challenges.
“It's just nonstop in a way,” she said. “I suppose that that's with everybody, but during my school lunch break is when I have my five year old do her kindergarten work so that I can be with her and watch her while she's doing her work.”
Looking at remote learning from a different perspective, Kohl finds that there are positives that have come from the virtual model.
“I think we’re still discovering some positives but a few things that come to mind are that students are really learning those essential time management skills,” she said. “They have to know how to manage their time to get their other work done. That is a life skill that will stay with them forever.”
Technology can be faulty at times, but for a majority of the time during this virtual experience, Markon thinks that using devices has helped her skills and her classes in some ways. Students can even go back to recordings to watch lectures.
“I think we've been really lucky that our school can support online learning for students,” she said. “We're getting better, more confident, and more practiced in screen sharing, live streaming, and all these things I didn't know I would be doing this year. I also think it’s valuable that I’m recording lectures for the future.”
Graphic from Oshkosh West Administration
A survey sent out by the Oshkosh West administration helped counselors, teachers, social workers, and West leadership get a good sense of the issues that many students were having. From this, they were able to discuss which actions were beneficial, and which needed changes.
“I think for students, the number one academic challenge is staying motivated and figuring out a daily schedule that allows them to attend their live lessons and also complete the other work they have posted for the day,” Kohl said. “I think the whole time-management piece is something that students are really trying to work on and are struggling with.”
Much of the feedback focused on the fact that students felt overwhelmed, and that catching up to their workload was an issue. This was not just a highschool consensus; all schools around the district were receiving distressed feedback from parents and students, prompting the creation of a class-free day when students could catch up. Having another break day in the future is an option that Kohl is open to but it all depends on how necessary it seems and the current feedback they’re getting.
“We also don’t want kids to count on that happening on a regular basis because we have to be very concerned about making sure we’re moving learning forward, and that we have enough days to get through the necessary things in the curriculum as well,” she said.
A common sight for many was great levels of stress among students and teachers alike. To combat this, Hable emphasizes the importance of social interaction and creating a fun atmosphere, even if it’s online.
“I am trying to keep some normalcy so I do some of my W hour things with the group I’ve worked with in the past and hold those on Wednesdays when there are no live sessions, just so that the students can have some time to talk,” he said. “That’s what motivates me. Keep moving and keep a schedule but then also see the students to interact with them not just in an academic way but also to get to know them as individuals.”
Knowing that students have many classes and personal obligations, Markon promotes the idea that taking things day by day and focusing on one thing to accomplish at a time remains important in feeling successful.
“So much of the pandemic is out of our control, so I take comfort in the things that I can control,” she said. “Can I check something off my to-do list or can I go for a walk and get some fresh air? Even one thing can give you a sense of accomplishment and even if it's just a five-minute homework check, it can make you feel like you're moving forward in the right direction.”
In order to help motivate students and get some messages out to help struggling students, Hable and other teachers in a group have been working, reaching out to different groups around the school to ask what motivates them to continue in this model.
“We’ve started doing little focus groups with the students and getting their input and now they've actually been recording short video clips showing what they are using at home or doing, and getting their tips,” he said. “I’m trying to put those into a video that's gonna go out hopefully through school social media to encourage and help students struggling right now for motivation or other things.”
Hable trusts that this motivational project should have greater impact due to the fact that it isn’t just teachers, emails, or administrators giving students advice.
“I think it's more powerful for students to hear from students because you're on the same boat and learning from each other versus adults or teachers saying ‘this is what you should do,’” he said. “If you can get tips from people that are living along with you, I think that's really powerful.”
Though there appear to be many obstacles that students and staff face in this unpredictable time, Kozel believes that everyone is facing these things together. Similarity creates unity.
“It does get very stressful, but I just remember that hopefully this is temporary for now and hopefully we'll be able to get back soon,” she said. “Once we go back it will be a lot easier to do everything and get back into normal. I think this is a Wildcat community that needs to stay strong, and we can all get through it.”
By Javit Thao
October 30th, 2020
Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 2