Up-and-Coming Trends About What Next For Schools This Fall?
With Covid-19 forcing schools to teach via remote learning, home is now the new classroom. There are districts that are contemplating education scenarios like “Saturday Academies” or an extension to the up-coming 2020-21 school year. With $16 Billion dollars available through the CARES Act some, K-12 educators are considering using some of the Covid19 relief funds toward summer school.
The challenge is keeping students apart when schools open this fall. One thought being bantered around by Dallas Independent School District is having students who struggle and are behind continue taking classes through the summer. Long Beach Unified is considering having Saturday academies for students who have fallen behind. Regardless of what school districts come up with; the question remains will our students be safe. There are many worries I have as a teacher, how do you keep students apart who haven’t seen each other in a year? How do you prevent K-2 students from hugging their teachers? Last, is what are some precautions that are in place to notify parents when students have come into contact with other students? All of these questions are difficult to answer when these occurrences happen every day in K12 schools.
Rules for Attending Public Schools Will Change
Masks will more than likely be mandatory, temperatures will be taken daily, and hands washed or sanitized quite often. Try telling a first grader who just turned 6 to cover their nose and mouth for over 10 minutes.. To prevent a recurrence of COVID19 students will more than likely be tested for the virus on an ongoing basis. Social distancing means fewer students per classroom (no more than 12-15), desks at least six feet apart in a classroom.
In higher grades like middle and high schools, teachers will be the ones going to different classrooms to teach. Eating lunch in the cafeteria will be replaced with students eating lunch in the classroom. School attendance schedule will change, some students attending Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and then going to school Tuesday and Thursday. Another thought is to have some students attend school in the morning and others attending during the afternoon. It is quite likely that remote learning will continue especially in areas where the Covid-19 hit the hardest.
Pressure for Students to Catch-Up
In some cases, students may have had little or no access to the internet which will add stress to the 2020-2021 school year when schools do reopen. One of the biggest concerns of remote learning is the fact that some students with limited access to Wi-Fi will fall behind in their learning.
Teachers and students alike may feel the pressure to catch-up which is going to make going back to school a stressful time. Thoughtful planning is what has to happen. First, to get the students back on track for learning when the face-to-face setting was all that teachers used. Second, to help students who have fallen behind to catch-up.
One way to help students’ catch-up is to have them do their catch-up work remotely at home after school or on weekends. Another would be to have students attend catch-up classes at school every other day or so. Going back to school is going to be a whole new ballgame by planning now for the transition will help make things go a lot smoother. Are you ready to begin a new year?
Sources
Anya Kamenetz. April 24, 2020. 9 Ways Schools Will Look Different When (And If) They Reopen. NPR.
Linda Jacobson. April 14, 2020. As summer nears, school districts begin ‘scenario planning.’ EducationDrive.
Staff Writers. May 5, 2020. Return To School During COVID19. American Academy Of Pediatrics @healthychildren.org.