A different way of learning and teaching

For Courtney Hahn, her duties recently expanded from mother and respiratory therapist to include teaching her young children what they won’t be able to learn in school for at least the next month.
The Colman-Egan mom is helping Landrie, a first-grade student, and Lo, who is in kindergarten, practice their reading and other lessons provided in packets each week from their school district. She joins parents across the state who have been thrust into “homeschooling” their children until at least May 1, the minimum date Gov. Kristi Noem says schools will remain closed because of the threat of COVID-19.
“Once I figured out how each teacher was delivering the class material, it became easier. They did a very nice job of laying it out in a checklist/day-by-day format, which was easy to follow,” Hahn said. “The hardest part is definitely finding the time.”
As respiratory therapist, Hahn works three days a week and expects to become even busier because Covid-19 is a respiratory illness. She counts the days she works as weekends for her girls and uses Saturday and Sunday as school days.
“I do have to say, though, I think teachers are aware of time being an issue for all parents and understand that most of us are not teachers by trade. They have done a great job of keeping up communication and helping us out with questions, even late at night,” she said. “The next challenging part I have found is just simply the age of my children.”
Her girls are not old enough to do the work without guidance. “I physically have to be sitting next to them to make sure they are clicking the right links and following the directions the correct way or reading the words correctly while reading,” she said.

Teachers prepare
For parents and teachers, learning from home with remote instruction and lessons in packets of worksheets is a new experience. Teachers were asked to put their plans together to send home in a short time instead of spending a summer or the previous semester planning for online learning.

But the option is better than kids not having any instruction when school is closed, said Megan Severtson, a fifth and sixth grade math teacher in Flandreau.
“Teachers are continuing to meet standards by following our curriculum and state guidelines – nothing has really changed there,” she said. “As far as keeping students engaged, it was important to me that they could still see me and hear me, so I’ve been recording myself doing their daily review problems -- a routine we had prior to school being closed. This way they still have a connection to their teacher and some normalcy.”
Some students have technology available at home, while others don’t.
Kristi Fischer, curriculum director, said staff have ways to reach all of the students and are keeping the connection that they’ve made this year. Teachers are contacting students by phone, email, text or online meeting platforms, such as Zoom, a video chat that allows several to be connected at once.
“We are trying to take advantage of technology tools for our students that have access to them while at the same time providing access to materials and support information for those students who don’t,” she said. “We want to continue to use the standards to direct our instruction and activities while being considerate of the challenges this new set of circumstances poses for our students and their families.”
Some of the homework includes asking students to document their experience in this current situation through journaling, artwork, video or other means so they have their own, “When I was a kid….” stories, Fischer said.
“This experience is certain to be a generational bookmark for all of our students -- and our teachers, as well,” she added.
While the district started with allowing high school students to take their computers home, the school will expand that to allow middle school students to have their Chromebooks, with the time away from school being extended to six weeks of online learning, said Superintendent Rick Weber.
The legislature is addressing waiving the requirement that teachers have to have a specific minimum number of contact hours with students. All schools will need that waiver to complete the year, he said.
The Flandreau district hasn’t decided what it will do about the planned graduation ceremony on May 15 because the situation with the virus keeps changing. “If May stays the same, then we’re still hoping to keep it on May 15. Who knows where this is going to go,” Weber said.
The situation isn’t perfect. Some homes may not have an internet connection or service may be poor. In addition, some older students have responsibilities to care for younger siblings while their parents work during the day.
Severtson tried using Zoom, an application that allows everyone to see each other on the screen. She allowed the first session to be a time of sharing because students and teachers are missing each other.
“I think we are making the best out of a not-great situation, but it’s really tough. I miss the interaction with students and being able to converse about topics that are non-school related,” she said.
Fischer does, too.
“I know that I am not alone when I say how much I miss seeing our students face-to-face every day and how much I am looking forward to when we are able to return to the classroom,” she said.