nothin Teaching Will Be Remote, But Interactive | New Haven Independent

Teaching Will Be Remote, But Interactive

Zoom

Superintendent Iline Tracey with assistant superintendent of curriculum, Ivelise Velazquez.

New Haven elementary schoolers will start off the school year with a home science experiment: What happens when they try to move a tissue with their breath while wearing a mask?

The experiment is designed to teach children why face masks help prevent the spread of Covid-19.

And it is one example of the more interactive lessons New Haven Public Schools is planning for the fall as educators try to reengage students who stopped logging on when the novel coronavirus shuttered schools in the spring.

If kids are with you and you’re just standing up there talking, there’s going to be trouble,” said New Haven Public Schools Science Supervisor Richard Therrien.

Remote-Hybrid Flow

Board member Larry Conaway: We’re going to have to flow between hybrid and remote learning.

Whether students will be physically or virtually with teachers is still up in the air.

The Board of Education thought the state would settle the question on Tuesday when the board met with a panel of state officials on NHPS’ request to start school remotely. Instead, the state encouraged the board to rethink its position and offered help in clearing up New Haven’s safety concerns.

Board member Larry Conaway reported at the board’s Teaching and Learning Committee meeting on Wednesday afternoon that conversations with the state had begun. However, he did not expect to start the school year with in-person classes.

We’re probably going to open with remote learning. But we really want to get teachers back in the building and students back into learning as quick as we can,” Conaway said.

Once teachers, students and paraprofessionals are back in school buildings, they might have to switch back to classes by video if New Haven Covid-19 cases spike. Smooth transitions between fully remote learning, fully in-person classes and a hybrid of the two will be key, Conaway said.

I think the new normal will be flowing in and out,” Conaway said.

The district’s new curriculum-focused assistant superintendent, Ivelise Velazquez, said that the schedules for distance learning and the hybrid model will mirror each other to make transitions easier.

For example, Wednesday will be a short day where students log in from home in both the hybrid and remote model. This allows the district to deep clean the schools mid-week between students’ in-person class days.

More Engaging Classes

Science Supervisor Richard Therrien: Teachers can’t lecture during live class.

New Haven has a significant engagement gap to close this fall.

The district reported to the state that roughly 70 percent of their students logged on inconsistently or not at all after schools closed this spring. This is one of the highest rates in the state (although each rate was self-reported and subject to interpretation by school districts).

New Haven Public Schools is closing one of the sources of that gap by ensuring every student will have their own laptop or tablet to study on this fall.

Velazquez and her team hope that live, interactive instruction will be another solution.

We’re going to be organized about hands-on experiences. Teachers will be doing demonstrations in front of the kids,” Therrien said. That’s the piece we missed most with remote learning and that we’re going to try to beef up the most.”

Students will have set blocks each day for their remote classes. They will be expected to log on at a certain time to see each teacher, who will lead the day’s labs, small group discussion or world language conversation practice.

Teachers are not supposed to lecture or oversee independent work during this time.

This kind of two-way video was not allowed in the spring, despite parent requests for it. The district’s summer school piloted two-way video this July, and students reported being much more excited about their classes than they had been in the spring.

Teachers are also trying to incorporate more relevant material into their classes to keep students’ attention — another strategy that worked out well for NHPS summer school.

Science classes will talk about the science of Covid-19 and public safety measures. Conversations in Spanish class will have prompts about Black Lives Matter protests and how students are doing emotionally.

Conaway said that the work Velazquez and her team had done between the last Teaching and Learning meeting and Wednesday was apparent.

I hear a different type of energy, a different type of excitement,” Conaway said.

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