As everyone knows, teachers and school administrators have joined America’s ‘work from home’ workforce in recent weeks, as schools shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.
Those folks are finding themselves charged with not only educating their students remotely, but caring for (and sometimes home-schooling) their own families at the same time as the country has entered the stay-at-home phase of the fight against the virus.
The News talked to two of O’Neill High School’s staff this week about how they’re handling their ‘new’ lives.
Bridget Smith
O’Neill special education and English teacher Bridget Smith was in the midst of an online faculty meeting last Tuesday when her two-year-old daughter Gretchen strolled into the range of the camera and announced to all of Smith’s coworkers that she’d “pooped in the potty”.
She got a great response, Smith said, and then noted that’s why she’s working hard to remember that flexibility is going to be key over the weeks ahead.
Smith has twins, Gretchen and Jack. Smith’s husband works for a major utility company, and has also been mandated to work from home, but his is a job where he’s having to keep traditional hours, tied to a computer.
In other words, Smith is having to handle parenting herself during the day. She said she’s organized some “structured centers” for the twins to do during the day, but admits they spent some time watching television this week as she participated in online staff meetings with her co-workers from O’Neill.
“In the evening when my husband is done with work, and after the twins go to bed, I’ve been working on lesson plans, videotaping lessons, creating Google docs for my students and getting ready for online learning to start.”
She said she’s also using her kids’ nap time to do her school work, and will try to make use of some of that time for interactive sessions with her students.
“But I’m going into it knowing there will be times when my kids make an appearance,” she said. Smith said she’ll be working on her own patience in the weeks ahead, and she’s going to urge her students to be patient with each other and with all their teachers as this progresses.
Smith is enjoying spending more time with her own children — “Gretchen does call me Beth sometimes,” she laughed, noting that’s her daycare provider’s name — but she misses her kids at school too.
“So much of our job as teachers is reading the faces of our students as they come into our class every day,” she said. “You can’t do that online.”
Smith is also sad for her 12th grade students — “they’re missing so many rights of passage this year.” She said the JIO special education teachers are working on some social and emotional support for their students.
“This is stressful for everyone,” Smith said. “Teachers are home worried about their own families, but also worried about how their students are doing at home, and what their futures look like.”
Debbie Brand
O’Neill’s principal Debbie Brand, the mother of a middle school daughter, says there are both benefits and drawbacks to working from home while also overseeing home-schooling for her own child.
“I really appreciate the extra time I get to spend with my family,” Brand said this week. “Although it’s easier to get distracted by different occurrences around the house, I try to set clear boundaries for myself and my family when I am doing work or when I am helping with home instruction. That can be difficult, especially if there are many needs to be met at the same time.”
She knows that she, her teachers, her students, and the parents of her students will struggle some in the weeks ahead.
“Home-schooling is just hard,” she said. “Young people are much more inclined to give up on challenging school work or solitary activities when they have the temptations of social media, streaming television shows and other distractions.”
In her house, they’ve tried to set up a schedule that allows for many breaks during the day and a good deal of independence when choosing activities.
“In other words, my husband and I try not to make it so that we do all the decision making about what comes next. Giving my daughter a sense of autonomy about the work she does and how it gets done is important for her sanity and motivation,” Brand said.
They are also trying to give her some “virtual” social time, via FaceTime and other online services. She’s even keeping up with her dance classes virtually.
Brand has some “non-negotiables” though.
“Schoolwork needs to be done before computer or phone time,” she said. “We also try to make sure that she gets plenty of fresh air and sunshine.”
Brand has some advice for her JIO students and their families.
“Find what fits for you,” she said. “First and foremost, be attentive to your kids and their growth. They want the structure they get from school, but maybe in a modified form. This can be hard to do as a parent. I know that some people have chosen to let their children do whatever they want because they do not want to ‘fight’ with them when they are home. Just like any good parenting choice, sometimes we have to help our children make good decisions.”
She said help is available if it is needed in the weeks ahead. “I encourage families to reach out to the schools if they need guidance. We’ll do our best to help during this difficult time.”
“Our educators want you to help them maintain what the students have gained to this point in the school year,” she said. “We have worked very hard to create manageable, virtual lessons that can be completed at home so that families do not feel alone in this endeavor.”
Her final comment? A thank you …
“We truly appreciate the hard work parents and families are putting into making this unusual circumstance manageable. We know that our students will move on from this experience with greater resiliency and possibly a new outlook on life.”
