Schools around the state will be closed through at least May 15, but students in Macon County are still doing classwork even though the details of that work are being worked out.
For Franklin High School students, most of the work is being done online via tablets that were distributed to them at the beginning of the year. Some of these students may find themselves limited by a lack of internet access at home as they try to finish assignments, but each of the schools in the county is acting as a wireless hotspot.
Macon County Schools Superintendent Chris Baldwin said that the schools won’t set deadlines on when the packets need to be completed. Teachers will have the option to send parents answer sheets to grade their child’s work and report back their results or wait to check it themselves, and those grades will eventually be used at the end of the school year as evidence in favor of promotion (but not as evidence for retention).
However, Baldwin said that teachers will be flexible with when they want the packets finished.
“Student accountability is not our primary focus during this crisis,” Baldwin said. “We are certainly hoping to maintain student learning throughout this event, but it is also important for families to have something that they can do together with so many other activities being inaccessible. … Deadlines have no place during a crisis.”
Students aren’t able to come into the building, but they can access the internet from the parking lot to download instructional materials for later use if they need to.
For younger students, the work is all in the physical packets that are given out weekly through the same distribution sites and bus routes that are supplying families with school meals.
Depending on the teacher, some students will be able to go on to school-affiliated websites to find instructional videos and activities provided by their teachers that they can complete with their parents.
South Macon Elementary School principal Allison Guynn said it’s an effective way to maintain a classroom atmosphere while classes aren’t in session.
“They’ll be able to get their work done with their packets, but if their teachers are also giving them something to do online, that’s a fun way to help them stay connected to the class,” Guynn said.
Teachers adjust
It’s been a challenging adjustment for local educators. Keeping kids on track with their studies without being able to work with them face-to-face would be difficult even if there were ample time to prepare. On such short notice, teachers and staff have stayed extremely busy exploring new options to enhance the distance learning experience.
“I never thought I would be more busy without 650 11-year-olds in the building than I was with them here, but so far I have been,” Mountain View Intermediate School principal Kristen Lynch said.
They’re doing their best to keep things as normal for students as possible. At Mountain View, some teachers are supplementing their lessons by holding meetings twice a week on Google Meet. This allows students to log in over the course of a meeting, ask some questions about homework, spend some time with their friends and teachers and share their feelings on how the situation is unfolding.
Teacher Virginia Berg said it’s as much a therapeutic experience as an educational one.
“We’ve had a lot of parents reach out and tell us how their kids appreciate it because they not only get to see us but they also get to spend time with their peers,” Berg said. “And it’s good for us, too. We all miss our kids and we would much rather they be here.”
Students adapt
Teachers aren’t the only ones struggling to get used to remote learning. With children at home for several weeks and many of them too young to stay by themselves, a large number of Macon County parents have had to become home teachers on the fly, something that has tested both their abilities to fill in the blanks for their permanent teachers and the time they can afford to spend on their own careers. One Macon County Schools parent, Zack Hedden, remarked on how hectic remote learning makes things for families when both parents need to go out and earn an income.
“I think it can be difficult in situations where both parents are working,” Hedden said. “I think it puts a little bit of extra stress on the whole family.”
Students are also still getting accustomed to the shift in style for school. Maitlyn Rewis, a senior at Franklin High, said she’s used to working in groups with other students in her advanced placement classes. With less direct connection with her peers, said she feels that not every assignment feels optimized for remote learning.
“I’d say that homework has definitely been impacted just because now everything is homework,” Rewis said. “There’s a lot more things you just need to do on your own.”
However, Rewis also said that there are positive sides to learning from a distance. Her teachers have been dutiful in keeping up with her questions online and having more time at home has given her a refreshing sense of flexibility.
“I like that I can spend more time with my family this way,” Rewis said. “And I like that I can get all of my work done in the morning and be done for the day without having to spend eight hours at school.”
In any case, distance learning is going to remain a reality until schools reopen. Families are doing their best to adjust to changes as the school system does and keep the learning experience as stable as possible for their kids.
“It’s going to be difficult, and it’s going to be a big change, but we’ll get through it just fine,” said Freda Striewski, a grandparent of a student.