Page 55 - DistanceLearning

If you had told us three years ago that we Phase II: The First Two Weeks
would have to transition from live, in-person
teaching to fully integrated, online instruction,
we would have questioned its possibility. How-
ever, three short years later, when we were informed that within a
week we may have to indeed make such a transition, we nodded
our heads and immediately began planning for Phase I.
So what changed in three years’ time? Our collective mindset.
Little did we know we were preparing for the unknown when we
were implementing technology-driven initiatives including online
curricula, digital student resources, parent portals, and on-de-
mand professional development. As a 1:1 district and advocate of
Google Classroom, we sought to conquer the “digital divide” by
equipping teachers with the necessary skills to leverage blended
learning techniques.
An organic, bottom-up approach to online programming began
with a responsive ear from administration, attuned to teachers’
wants and needs, and followed closely with tremendous buy-in
from staff. It was indeed a successful, all-for-one mindshift, evi-
denced by the present fruit of past labor.
The Distance Learning Plan Phase I: The Planning Stages
From the beginning, we understood teaming was vital. Friday,
March 13, 2020, was our last physical day in the buildings for staff
and students. The weeks before, Central Office and school building
administration had met to discuss the vision moving forward. Al-
though most of our staff had been unknowingly preparing for such a
transition, the adjustment and complete conversion from physical to
online instruction had to be mitigated as much as possible. After all,
there were several variables at play, not least of which a range of
at-home student learning supports and WiFi capabilities.
After many late nights for administrative departments including
Curriculum and Instruction, Special Services, and Information
Technology, and with key support from our academic coaches and
teaching staff, we were prepared to exit the physical walls of Cen-
tral Office with a cohesive plan for entering virtual learning.
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At first, comprehensive lessons that did not necessarily require the
use of the internet were developed and provided to families. Tech-
nology needs were surveyed to identify families without internet
access in order to be provided with hotspots. While creating eq-
uitable access for students to participate in a virtual environment,
teachers were simultaneously preparing for online instruction in
case the distance learning plan was to be extended.
During this time, a Distance Learning Committee was enacted, with
many of our distance learning initiatives being filtered and stream-
lined through key members. An informative Google Site was devel-
oped with the Belleville community in mind, to include remote learn-
ing resources and tutorials for the families of students. Teachers
were invited to join district-led “Distance Learning” Google Class-
rooms, by grade band, to provide tiered professional development
on Zoom, Google Meets, and Screencastify to name a few.
Although the majority of our teachers were already using Google
Classroom before we transitioned to online learning, by Week 3,
every teacher in our district, including our Early Childhood and
Specials teams, had their own Google Classrooms, and students
were engaged in various modes of online instruction from flipped
classrooms and enhanced software integration, to live show and
tells and small-group conferences.
Phase III: Going the Distance
When it became apparent that students would not be returning to
their physical classrooms anytime soon, we knew it was impera-
tive to return to the scope-and-sequence as best we could, given
the circumstances.
Schedules and minimums were refined to provide teachers with
enough flexibility to meet with their students throughout the week
and have opportunities for common planning time and articulation.
Teachers continue to deliver pre-recorded mini lessons and live
sessions that are developmentally appropriate for their students.
Additionally, reasonable measures are in place to monitor active
student participation and also their well-being. We updated our
grading policy to accommodate the current instructional modes