Teaching During Covid-19 --Blackwell, O'Halloran, and Rolando

 

          July 13: Rotary Connects: A virtual gathering. Grab a beverage and Zoom in at 4:30.

 

          July 20: Luncheon, noon on Zoom.  Honor our four (yes, four) Saling Scholars.

 

   

          Aug. 3: Luncheon, noon on Zoom. Speaker, Emily Grankowski with the organization "Cancer Can't."

 

          Rotary in the age of Covid 19: President Steve Bergman said our club’s usual venue does not plan to open until the local pandemic moves to Stage 3, allowing larger groups.  Club officers and directors continue to seek other possible live meetings, perhaps including the patio at the Kendall Yards Nectar facility.  Box lunches also might be an option.

 

          Scholars honored: Please zoom in at noon July 20 to meet the four Saling scholarship winners.  Committee Chair Brian Hipperson led the search which found an outstanding group of scholars.  Winners came from North Central, Shadle Park, Rogers and The Community School.

 

          Position needed: One more officer is needed to fill the board roster – a President-elect.

 

          KUDOS to Ron Noble:   “As the State Coordinator of the Washington Applied Math Council we are still tasked with providing a "week long" virtual conference for the teachers in Washington.  It will occur the week of July 20th - 24th.  We have been holding this conference for over 25 years, but never virtually.”  We are so impressed with Ron’s dedication to education and wish him the greatest success with the new virtual conference!!!

 

          Holmes Projects for 2020-2021:  we continue to hope that we will be able to support the projects at Holmes for another year.  School supplies have been ordered, and we hope to have delivery at Holmes on Monday, August 24^th – with all that is happening with Covid-19 how we will store the supplies and have the lunch which Sandy has provided are up for review – watch for detailsJ!

 

Just so you know how Holmes values these school supplies: Sandy has talked with Stephanie at Holmes and regardless of whether school opens or they continue online learning this fall, they will use the school supplies which we furnish.  Last year, in March, they made up packages of the school supplies and distributed them to the students for at home use.  If school does not reopen, they will do the same again so that students will have access to the supplies they need for fall studies.

 

 

 

          While every job and every family has been affected by the Covid 19 pandemic, there are special challenges at schools.

 

          At the July 6 zoom club meeting, three elementary teachers shared their experiences.  They included Rebecca “Becky” Blackwell, a kindergarten teacher from Holmes; Renee Rolando, a second grade teacher from Jefferson, a Tim O’Halloran, a fourth grade teacher from Ridgeview.  Past-President Melinda Keberle, the Ridgeview principal, moderated the session.

 

          The teachers worked through a myriad of computer programs and platforms to keep a semblance of learning lessons. They said some students already were proficient with computer skills, while others lacked laptops at home and strived to keep up.

Some students’ attention spans waned when the initial excitement of the computer-at-home regimen went to boredom or “I don’t want to do this anymore,” the teachers said.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Becky Blackwell said “the kindergartners come with a clean slate, but some had to learn how to maneuver a (computer) mouse.”  

“Because they are 5 years old, they still need help and if the parents aren’t there, that’s a problem,” Becky said, adding, “some of the parents couldn’t help.”            

       

 

O’Halloran said “We started in a manic mode on how to do things, but after a few weeks, using multiple platforms, most of the 9 and 10 year olds learned how to navigate the technology.”

 

Using his team members, he worked with local businesses to help, including “Trivia Mondays,” with prizes of Italian sodas at the nearby Bistro Café on Rowan.                                                           

 

Tim said the more the students used the technology and the topics, the more engaged the youngsters did.  But he worries that “some students are more hesitant to talk up, and they are not getting it.”

 

          

 

          Rolando said it seemed “everyone at Jefferson was doing different platforms” for a while.  She made sure that “everyone who needed a laptop got one, even if that meant four or five computers for big families.”

 

          Renee said there was “high frustration” among some parents and after many weeks of the computer classes up to 10 of 24 students in her class “zoomed out -- not so much of tired school, but tired of the whole Covid thing.”

 

          Asked about the need for socialization, Renee said “I feel some kids got depressed and that worries me.”  

 

          When asked about some statewide suggestions that in-person classes by limited to two days a week, she and the others prefer five-day school weeks.

 

          “The relationships need time,” Renee said.

 

          And they all welcome the return to some school life normalcy.