Liam HalawithMaroon Echoes Editor Sitting at home huddled over a luminescent screen fighting in his mind over whether he should use a semicolon or not. His name is Bob and he’s an average student. Not special in any way except for his wicked flute skills, he has a pretty normal life with two younger siblings and a dog. He doesn’t stress too much. Taking a more laid-back approach at life but that all changed the day his school was canceled due to the current COVID-19 outbreak. His school has moved online and now he has to balance a social life - online, homework, chores, and the care of two siblings because both of his parents are essential workers. He now has so much stress that he has forgotten to shower the last few days and his little siblings haven’t had breakfast yet.
This is the reality for many older students in today’s world, stressed, tired, lacking motivation, and having to navigate never before seen online learning systems for their curriculum. They face the uncertainty of today’s world with an additional burden on their shoulders, online schooling for the first time. Fortunately for the students in Mount Pleasant Community School District, this won’t be happening any time soon. The school board passed a motion last Tuesday stating that the district would provide voluntary continuous learning opportunities to all grades K-12. This came after the governor extended the shutdown of all schools in Iowa from April 10th to April 30th. The Iowa Department of Education then released guidance for voluntary and required continuous learning opportunities for school districts to follow. The governor also stated that schools that don’t do a state-approved required or optional continuous learning program are required to make up all time missed after the shutdown notice. All teachers in the district are required to provide at least three learning opportunities a week for their students involving review, master, enrichment, or practice. The teachers can not cover any new material because they can not require a grade for any of those assignments or projects since it is not required. However, they can provide feedback that can be taken for a grade once school resumes. The district has decided not to move in the direction of required learning due to severe equity issues. The district’s data reflects that 20-30% of students don’t have access to high-speed internet at home, according to MPCSD Director of Instruction Katie Gavin. Another equity concern was voiced by Superintendent of Schools John Henriksen at the Special Session where the directors were debating the choice of instruction, “Do I think that it is fair to families that given the circumstances and given what they might be dealing with on the home side of this; do I think it is fair to say to them that you are now required to participate in this online learning? No, I don’t think that’s fair." In addition, the district’s data, policy, and curriculum infrastructure is not prepared for the rigor and resources required online learning would require. “It’s a very difficult lift. There’s a lot of pieces that we’re not ready for,” said Mr. Henriksen. In the district's endeavor to provide continuous education and support of students they have two main goals: to provide learning opportunities and to maintain a personal connection with students. “We are looking at an extended period of time that would be almost equivalent to a full summer break, we got to keep those brain cells working and moving,” said Mrs. Gavin. Although preventing mental fatigue is only one small part because many times the connection between a student and teacher is an invaluable one. Mr. Henriksen points out, “That’s our biggest hope, that teachers will work hard to connect with students because the most important piece of this is staying connected socially with your students. If we can keep that connection, we can bring some normalcy to a not normal situation."
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November 2020
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