Teachers Transition to Online Learning

While online learning officially began on March 23, teachers have spent the last two weeks preparing for the transition. We conducted e-mail interviews with six of them—physics teacher Ulugbek Akhmedov, English teacher Maura Dwyer, biology teacher Dr. Maria Nedwidek-Moore, chemistry teacher Dr. Steven O’Malley, social studies teacher Dr. Rosemary Polanco, and math teacher Brian Sterr—to hear about how they prepared for remote learning.

How are you adjusting your lessons as schools transition online? How will your class operate?

“A lot depends on what options we are getting trained on if at all, what the students’ schedules and access [are], and whether they and their teachers are well. I’m concerned about imposing set meeting times under these emergency circumstances and about trying to impose mandatory assessments that can’t be completed.” —Dr. Nedwidek-Moore

“I’m creating video lessons and posting them on YouTube for students to view.” —Dr. O’Malley

“My plan is: we'll read, write and discuss (the pillars of our class in school), all online. Because it seems too unstructured to have everyone respond en masse to one thread on Google Classroom, I'll likely organize students into groups and set them up on a document where they can respond to discussion questions about whatever text we're reading. That will be easier for me to monitor and keep track of and easier for students too hopefully. I'll continue our workshop week model for assignments, having students share their work in progress drafts with me (and each other). That practice is well established in our classes, and everyone is used to commenting on each other's work that way. We're certainly going to keep up our writing, and I intend to give everyone meaningful feedback. I'll be using Google Classroom for all of my classes.” —Dwyer

“At this time, I am keeping it simple: I will post my Powerpoints on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The questions I would normally embed in each presentation will be posted as classwork assignments including the “Do Now,” “Stop and Jot,” and Wrap up Qs. Students will have two days to submit that work. Homework will function pretty much as it did before: chapter readings, supplemental readings and/or images for analysis, and Cornell Notes. Tuesday and Thursdays will be graded discussion threads.” — Dr. Polanco

“I plan to create worksheets that incorporate the notes that I would have presented in the lesson together with practice problems and homework problems. These will be posted on Google Classroom and handed in instead of the usual homework assignments. As usual, I will later post solutions for everything for students to check their work.” —Sterr

“Quickly. Using Google chat and Zoom. Recording Online live classes. Using Google Forms for attendance and quizzes.” —Akhmedov

What changes are you making to your curriculum?

“Hardly any. Students will get notes to read, and I will check in with them, but it will be less intense, and I am not sure how, if at all, to mandate formal assessments. I warned them about this and primed them on resources and self teach last Thursday and Friday.” —Dr. Nedwidek-Moore

“I’m keeping the main goals of the curriculum for now, but will try to focus it and be flexible as we continue to learn remotely together. Plans will undoubtedly change as we experience this new remote learning environment, and we will do the best we can. I have a lot of faith in our students. They are extremely resilient.” —Dr. O’Malley

“Sadly, we won't get to read many of the books I was planning on this semester because they're not available in the public domain. So I'm adjusting for things that are publicly available for all of my classes.” —Dwyer

“I would say that I am not ‘changing’ the curriculum as much as streamlining it. It would be impossible for me to teach the traditional course curriculum in this new delivery system without more time to plan carefully. So my modifications will focus the class on the most pivotal events and documents with an understanding that the support framework that is natural in a classroom setting is fundamentally different online.” —Dr. Polanco

“I plan to teach the same curriculum. With Regents courses like Algebra 2, unless they cancel the Regents, it would be a disservice to leave out topics that may come up on the exam.” —Sterr

“Almost none. Covering the same material. Can't show physics demos. Will use Youtube videos.” —Akhmedov

How do you envision the rest of the school year going with the interference of the virus?

“I think we will lose the year. Mathematically, we are tracking two weeks behind Italy, and they are in deep trouble right now.” —Dr. Nedwidek-Moore

“We will collaborate, adapt, and share our best practices to help our students get through this.” —Dr. O’Malley

“I went into school today, and it hit me that it may be some time before we're all together again. But we have an ethical responsibility to our community and especially our healthcare system, which is going to be overloaded. We must practice social distancing. I have good friends and family who are doctors, and they're bracing for a tremendously difficult situation. We need to think about the community as a whole rather than our individual discomfort. It's a really challenging time for the world, our country, and our city, and I'm looking forward to checking in with everyone online.” —Dwyer

“I think most teachers of older students will transition well to Remote Learning. So many of us do portions of our classes online already. It is really going to test students' time management skills because many may assume Remote Learning is not ‘real’ school and might not take the work seriously. Hopefully, everyone will adapt quickly. I do worry about younger students and students who require the more interpersonal aspects of the classroom to thrive. It may take a bit more time to learn and master strategies that will benefit those students.” —Dr. Polanco

“While the virus is definitely going to affect how the rest of the year plays out, and I will miss the actual interaction with my students, I think we are all going to try to make the best of this situation. I would like to make sure my students are still prepared for courses they will take next year.” —Sterr

“Going day by day. If I live to see the future you are asking about, I will tell you about it.” —Akhmedov