“With each passing day, we are one step closer to
schools on the East Coast reopening while others have already opened and have been forced to change their plans already. Students, teachers,
and staff are faced with the possibility that they are putting their lives in
jeopardy, and teachers are having to learn to educate kids in a way they’ve
never taught before — remotely.
“In
Massachusetts, some teachers are expected to teach their lessons remotely to students
who, from the safety of their own homes, are supposed to learn from teachers
who are in their classrooms––inside the school building–– every day.
“The thought behind having
teachers in their classrooms versus teaching from home? Well, according to Jeff
Riley, Massachusetts’s education commissioner, ‘remote learning
will provide familiarity for students by seeing a classroom environment on
screen, and will help make the transition back to in-person instruction easier
for students.’
“I’m not seeing how a Zoom
background is going to make it easier for kids to transition back into
in-person instruction during a pandemic, when they’ve been out of school since
March, and will return to the classroom with masks, plexiglass barriers and no
lunchtime or peer-to-peer interactions.
“Kids don’t care if their
teacher is in their home office or classroom desk. But they
probably do care about their teacher’s health and wellbeing,
and the lowest risk environment for teachers is in their home, isolated from
other people outside of their quarantine bubble.
“Not only that, but what
many are also failing to realize is that many teachers have children of their
own who may not be returning to classrooms either. Forcing teachers to find
care for their kids so they can sit in an empty classroom just increases the
community spread of the virus, and lengthens this pandemic for everyone.
“When it’s time for
everyone to return to class, teachers can transition back in as well. They are
fully capable of doing that. We have an opportunity for students and teachers
alike to stretch new muscles in their learning and teaching.
“Ryan Stanley, technology
director of Alaska’s Educational Resource Center, states in an EdWeek article, ‘If a school is
trying to do what they did, the way they used to deliver instruction, and pick
it up into the distance classroom, they’re missing the opportunity.’
“As some states remain closed, and
some schools open only to close back down again, many teachers are learning
about what remote learning truly is (and is not), and what works (and does not)
for their students. Students and teachers are learning to bond and communicate
in new ways. There is a learning curve there for everyone.
“It’s not ideal for all children to say the least,
and most teachers will tell you they can’t wait to return to normal, in-person
instruction with their beloved students. But the numbers do not lie, and in many states, the number of positive
COVID-19 cases continue to increase in some way, whether it’s because of
college parties or fall sports training or schools reopening. We are doing
something wrong here including forcing some teachers to teach from empty
classrooms to serve a purpose that cannot be explained.
“The president of
Massachusetts’s Teachers’ Association, Merrie Najimy, helps shed some light on
the issue. ‘Not only is it paternalistic and shows their fundamental lack of
trust for a field that is dominated by women to know how to do their jobs in
the best way — it’s punitive,’ Najimy states in an interview with reporter
Carrie Jung on Edify.
“There are safer options for all and returning to
the classroom as if COVID-19 will just disappear, allows us to all wallow in a
kind of purgatory that we should not be in, and just about guarantees us
another lockdown this fall. If students are learning remotely, their teachers should
not be forced out of quarantine and into the classroom. They deserve safety and
respect, and their virtual lessons can be taught from home” (Facebook).
-Nikkya Hargrove
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.