Sheia Stubbs remembers the day well when her primary school-aged daughter attempted to ask for assistance with her computer and seeing the tears streaming down her daughter’s face as she tried to figure out why she was unable to sign in for school on her computer. Stubbs, a teacher, had already logged on for the day and could not move at that point to assist her daughter. She remembers feeling terrible about that.
Since then, she has had to explain to her students that with three of her children in classes at home with her presently, she may have times when she may have to be excused to assist her children. Thankfully, she said that does not happen often, and her administrators, guidance counsellor, or fellow teachers may join her class at various points during the day and oblige her if she has to be excused for a moment.
Stubbs, a fifth-grade generalist teacher at Queen’s College, and mother of four, who, like every other educator around the country, who is also a parent, found herself in a quandary when schools closed to in-person learning after the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in The Bahamas on March 15, and having to take to the virtual classroom to teach, while also having to cope with their children who were also at home and on the online platform.
“It was a major adjustment to teach from home,” said Stubbs. “I recall ‘setting up’ in four different areas at home trying to find a suitable background, where there would be few interruptions, and proper lighting – all without being seen or heard in my children’s virtual classes. We would signal each other when we were about to unmute our mics, so there would be less background noises. What a task!”
At the onset of the shutdown, Stubbs had a 17-year-old senior, a 14-year-old ninth grader, 13-year-old seventh grader, and a nine-year-old was a fourth grader.
“Like many, we were not prepared for this transition and I certainly did not have sufficient compatible devices for everyone, so all discarded laptops were resurrected.”
Stubbs quickly realized that organization and keeping track of all the assignments given was overwhelming for her children. Her goal then became to provide her children with the support to get their assignments completed and turned in on time and she decided to post her own version of a Kanban board on the wall to track assignments.
“Once the assignment was given, it was posted on a sticky note in the “TO DO” column. When it was being worked on, it was moved on to the “PROCESSING” column; the goal was to get it to the third and final column, “SUBMITTED.” However, this school year is quite different since we are all in our classes live. For the most part, I am still only available to my children in the evenings to help with studying and checking homework.”
Once school is out for the day, she begins marking and planning for the next day’s lesson. And she also, at times, has to factor in meetings she has to attend.
“While my teenagers avoid interrupting me during the school day, my daughter in primary school attempts to dialogue with me or ask for assistance with her computer.”
On the other hand, she said there are days when she can take advantage of being at home with them even though she’s also teaching.
“The other day, one of her teachers asked to speak with parents. She came to me wearing her wide smile to let me know, and I was happy to be able to do so. However, the reality is that I am still not available for my children until after school, even though I am at home with them. I may, sometimes, do a quick check in on them during my break, but that is not always feasible. When we were face-to-face, I would check their homework diaries, and now that we have transitioned to virtual learning, I can check my emails and virtual classrooms to continue to support them at home. This is now the primary means of communication between home and school.”
The 23-year veteran educator said when she pursued a degree in education, she could never have imagined in her wildest dream that she would be teaching in a pandemic and reaching students via the online platform.
“When I pursued my degree in education, it was to be able to physically interact with children,” said Stubbs. “My career choices were child psychologist, pediatrician, or an educator. I don’t think anyone could have envisioned what we are experiencing today as educators.”
And the transition she said was challenging early on, with the limited time to implement a new learning system.
“It surely forced me out of my comfort zone,” said the generalist who teaches mathematics, grammar, reading comprehension, creative writing, hand writing, science, social studies and religious education.
“Before the pandemic, I had gained a little insight into the G Suite Program when it was piloted with my class last year. This made me a bit less apprehensive about the program. I transitioned from initially assigning lessons, to recording the lessons, and then finally teaching live lessons. For me, the content is what presents the range of ease or difficulty in teaching the lesson. For example, field trips were the perfect complement to the social studies lessons, and they are ideal for cementing facts about the places we read and teach about in our Bahamian history. So far, we have not been able to explore this avenue for the school year. However, given the way things are trending, I imagine that virtual tours of Bahamian historical sites will soon be an option.”
One of the most difficult parts of the virtual process for Stubbs she said has been not being able to see right away when her assistance is required from students.
“Teachers hardly sit, and are constantly observing their students. Through this process alone, we can immediately detect when our students need help. This is not the case on the virtual platform. Also, in this virtual process, finding ways to deliver the lesson that is engaging and also interactive, can be challenging. Over the past months, I have availed myself to many YouTube videos, and have attended several webinars, all in an effort to familiarize myself with educational technology tools that can assist me as a virtual teacher. However, with the many options to choose from, I have concluded that it is best to take it one virtual learning tool at a time. Find which best complements your style and build from there.”
In preparation for the 2020-2021 academic year, the educator said she had to ensure that her children had a compatible device to support the learning systems (Microsoft 365 for Education and G Suite for Education). She also purchased a new printer and said they all have a portable wireless internet device.
“At this point, I think we have embraced the fact that for the time being, virtual learning is our reality. For the most part, presently, my children sign in on time in the mornings, attend all of their classes, and submit their work on time. I encourage them to sign in earlier, so that if technology issues arise, I may be able to assist before I sign on with my class for the day. I suppose we will truly know for sure how we fared this semester once report cards are in. As far as the adjustment period is concerned, it is less intense now, but has to be ongoing.”
In what has become the new normal she said she has found she has learnt some things too, one of which has been the importance of creating a balance between home and school hours.
“School has to end at some point. It is quite easy to mark, plan lessons and respond to emails late into the evening and on weekends. Striking that balance between home life and school was also difficult. I had to learn that just because I am working from home, does not mean that I should always be at home working. I value family time.”
And while the virtual platform had its initial challenges and adjustments, Stubbs said she actually likes it, because it also has its advantages.
“Truthfully, I do like the fact that not only do I get to sleep a little later, I don’t have to battle the traffic to drop my daughter off to school before heading to work with my other children. It also gives me the opportunity to observe my own children in their academic habitat and their various learning styles. That being said, I am eager to return to the classroom and get to know my students better and give hugs and high fives. In my opinion, God designed us whereby we thrive from social and physical interaction. Virtual learning cannot replace that.”
She is also grateful that she’s been able to lean on her fellow educators during the process.
“The one thing you don’t want to be in this virtual learning process is alone. My fellow colleagues are willing to assist however they can. Inevitably, we share among ourselves websites and other tools that can assist in the delivery of our lessons. Even before the virtual learning became our reality, we synergized with each other for ideas and suggestions. There are those among us who are very skilled when it comes to technology … I am not one of them – so we draw on each other’s knowledge base and strengths.”
The post When the educator is also a parent and the virtual classroom experience appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/when-the-educator-is-also-a-parent-and-the-virtual-classroom-experience/
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