With teachers deep into preparations for the Aug. 17 school start, The Star Herald caught up with a few of them to ask how different the process has been as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kosciusko third grade teacher Kim Mitchell said several things have been changed in her classroom. She has spread desks further apart and will be making sure children wear masks and monitor their hand washing as much as possible.
“I’m getting some soaps with lots of different smells and plan to make a game out of it,” Mitchell said. “I normally work with a few students who need extra help in small groups, but will no longer to do that since they can’t be spread out. I’ll work one-on-one with those who need it instead.”
As one of the virtual teachers at Middle Elementary, Mitchell is also responsible for putting daily assignments into the Google Classroom software.
“The distance learning students will be responsible for doing the same assignments that the others do, and it will be due that day,” she said.
To that end, she will make videos in advance that will be posted to the site.
“It is important that they hear my voice and see what we’re doing,” Mitchell said.
Another change will be with Mitchell herself.
“I will be wearing both a face shield and a mask. I don’t have a loud voice that carries well, so I also plan to use a headset and a microphone,” she said. “Basically, the main thing we do is clean, clean, clean. Bleach is our friend. This is uncharted territory and we are all learning.”
Like Mitchell, Kaytee Culpepper, second grade teacher at KME, has spaced out the desks in her classroom and she will need to enforce the mask-wearing rule.
Normally supplies such as pencils and crayons are kept in one central location, but since students can no longer share supplies, each student will have their own containers with necessary items in them. Hand-washing is also important, and hand sanitizer stations will be in the classrooms.
“We are trying to group together smaller amounts of kids. To that end, both breakfast and lunch will be served in the classroom rather than in the cafeteria with a large crowd,” Culpepper said.
As a virtual teacher, Culpepper will also be uploading lessons daily. She also plans to post videos.
“I may even let students in the classroom be in a video with me if I need to demonstrate an activity, without showing their faces,” she said.
Culpepper plans to hold a Zoom meeting with virtual learners on a weekly basis so that those students can get the feel of the classroom.
Virtual students will be assigned a Chromebook at school open house meetings.
Even activity times will be different this year.
“When they go to the library, the books will be laid out for them. They have to select the book that they touch, so we will encourage them to look and not touch until they choose. The books will not go home with the students. They will stay in the classroom. After returning books, they will be sanitized before being checked out again,” Culpepper said of the new library process.
First grade teachers at Lower Elementary Angela Parker and Marie Ford echoed the need to avoid sharing supplies.
“We are making up boxes for each child of manipulatives, and those will be their own for the school year,” said Parker.
They have also spread out student desks and established four different hand sanitizer stations in the classroom.
“Normally I work with small groups of eight, but that is too many to put around the table and maintain a good distance. So I will be working with smaller groups and rotating the groups differently than I have in the past,” said Ford.
Parker was one of several teachers who said they will also be making an effort to combat the effects of students being more confined this year.
“Since we are confined to the classroom more this year, I will try to take them outside more to our outdoor classroom to read,” Parker said.
Although she is not one of the virtual teachers, Parker said plans are for in-class cameras to run all day so that distance learning students can get the same information at the same time as the students in the classroom.
KLE Kindergarten teachers Candace Moore and Joy Terry prepared their classroom by making cubicles at the tables to maintain social distancing. They also had individual sacks containing manipulatives and other items that cannot be shared prepared for each student.
“Since we won’t be leaving the classroom much this year, I plan to have times where they can get out of their seats and jump and down or otherwise get their energy out,” Moore said. “It’s a learning experience for all of us. We love what we do and we love teaching kindergarten.”
Junior high teachers Donna Browning, Sarah Skidmore, Cassie Allen and Susan Ellard also echoed the need for spreading out the desks and having hand sanitizing stations in every classroom. Like at the elementary level, sharing of supplies will not be permitted.
“If a child needs a pencil, he can have it,” said Browning. “I don’t want it back!”
Each student will be assigned a Chromebook, and it will not be shared either.
The teachers plan to use face shields for teaching in front of the class, but will wear masks for one-on-one work. They will also sanitize their classrooms between classes.
Other changes at KJHS include breakfast and lunch.
“Breakfast will be grab-n-go. They will eat it in the classroom,” said Allen.
“The cafeteria will be at only 50% capacity so that students will be distanced,” said Browning.
Both staff and students will have their temperatures checked.
“We will have our temps taken daily, and two teachers will be assigned to take the temps of car riders,” said Allen. The bus riders have their temps taken on the bus.
Students will also not be allowed to use lockers.
“The students are way too close together in the hallways if they stop at their lockers,” said Browning. Students will instead be expected to carry their book bags with all of their materials in them.
As for distance learning, all virtual students who need one will be assigned a Chromebook at the junior high level.
“We will use Google Classroom. We will create video lessons as well as post assignments on line,” Skidmore said. “The students are expected to attend classes between 8:00 and 2:30, and all assignments will have a due date and time.”
Despite all the change and unknowns at the outset of the school year, the teachers we spoke to were all looking forward to Aug. 17.
“We are excited about school starting,” said Ellard.
