Hybrid Teaching: Week 2 In the Books - In the Weeds

If a picture paints a thousand words, then just look at the title picture and I'll save some time writing this post. :)  Not really, I truly want to give some honest and raw, unfiltered responses to the week.  My purpose is to give some ideas of the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat involved in this hybrid teaching environment.  I'm scouting the road, just ahead of some of you, and I hope that my journey will be beneficial to you.  Normally, I am a positive spin person, and I truly am still that person, but to help folks, I'm giving the unfiltered, un positivity washed response.  If you don't like that, you can always say so in the comments, and I can adjust.

After all, everything we are doing at present is adjusting.  So far, this year has been like getting invited to a formal party, sending your RSVP, and heading out to the mall to find the right outfit, only to get an email changing the dates, and the level of formality, sending you right back to the mall to exchange the outfit for something more fitting, only to find that no matter what, you can not return the shoes for the original outfit, and you will still have to wear the bejeweled, silver, high heeled (what were you thinking) shoes with a jean skirt.  Not only will you wear those shoes with the mismatched outfit, but you are also required to carry items for the party in a backpack through the woods to the location, all the while documenting and communicating your location, while being annoyed by those pesky mosquitoes.  Yes, that is an accurate analogy.

However, in the picture above, you will see the heron with his head above the weeds, looking for the next meal.  That is accurate as well.  What you don't see are the blisters on his feet, the lack of sleep he has experienced and the constant inner nagging that he is not where he belongs, but time is ticking.

So, week 2 was marginally better.  That's the great news.  The technology is ever a challenge, students are working to be engaged, teachers are working to be engaging, and technology is working to be somewhat disruptive at the most inconvenient times.   One of my colleagues was relating his woes with tech, and stated that the at home kids were complaining about the digital quality, and one of the campus kids called out, "Come to school and quit complaining!"  We chuckled, and he talked about how he handled it.  (I should point out that many of our "at home" students are also hanging out with our at school students at the mall, at the beach, at their homes every day.  So, that is the genesis of the student who called out in class.  On the other hand, we know there are families with real health concerns and real situations that could prove dangerous to a higher degree should they expose their families to the germs.  So, that is the balance my school has taken.  Parent choice.   I agree with it, but it is also annoying when the parent choice is simply Sally doesn't want to come in every day and we don't do what she doesn't choose.  My hope is that the people with real needs will not lose the choice to have their kids at home because the people who choose to disregard social distancing in every other area of life are staying home for "safety".  While I am harping on the actual difficulty this dual teaching situation brings, I am philosophically for parent choice.  Those kids are a parent's responsibility, and whether I would choose that or not for my kid, I have to respect their family boundaries.)  

The duality of communication, assessment and feedback continues to be a steep challenge.  I started out saying that I would only accept digital work, but I just couldn't do it.  If a kid is there in class, I would have accepted his/her work in years past, so why would I penalize them for my convenience?  I have the digital pile and the physical pile to record in the grade book.  I'm working on the easiest method and will report back when I get it all situated.  Assessment is a whole other ball of wax.  I have tried the following:  At home students are live on the google meet, recording themselves with screencastify submit, webcam and mic on; joined the google meet with a phone, position the phone to I can see their profile and hands on keyboard and screen and an identified proctor for the test who attests that nothing is in sight off camera.   If any of that does not work for them, they will have to come to the school test center.  So, I'm grading the tests today.  I saw no irregularities in the live feed, but I will check the recordings to be certain.  It is a ton of work, but I'm trying to assure the fidelity of the test.  I know I'm going to have to prepare the tests further in  advance to ensure that I have enough versions for each one at home.  I'm concerned that they might copy them for future distribution, so I'm not sure about how I'm going to deal with that.  I may have them delete it from their drive, but then, maybe I'd just plant a bad idea in their mind.  I'm still thinking about that aspect.  We are still experiencing a large amount of delay between questions and answers for the online kids.  I'm considering opening two meets per class, but it's too much hassle for right now.  I'm also considering a mandatory after class meet with each one, once a week to hear them discuss the class work.  Again, I'm just considering before I add more to my plate.  No sense in building a house in the weeds.

Add to that the regular challenge of weeding out the students who are comprehending the work and those who are nodding in the right places has been interesting as well.  I am about 3 days behind my original pace in Personal Finance/Economics, about 2 days behind in Geometry classes and on time with AP Computer Science Principles and my dual enrollment class.  So, pros and cons, right?  Getting the pace right is a challenge.  I usually have a tough time getting kids on my pace in the beginning because of summer sludge, but by now, I'm making the climb.  Because I'm losing a good amount of time in the tech issues, I'm not climbing yet in about half of my classes.  Because we have a block schedule, I feel the pressure more acutely. (not a Geometry pun, promise!)   So, I'm using some of my emergency buffer from my original plan and am moving forward.  Oh, did I mention we had picture day this week?  We had another interruption like that, but since that happened on Monday, which seems like a year ago, I can't remember what it was. :)

One of my students is moving across the country.  (death in the family altered their path.)  His mom wrote me the sweetest letter about the impact I had played in their lives---I have known them for years in different capacities at my school.  (She's very kind, and I feel confident that she reached out to many teachers.  I'm not that exceptional.  She has a great kid.  I feel honored that she would even think of me.)  And, like the heron in the picture, I looked at the weeds around me and saw some beauty.   Whatever we are doing, whatever it looks like, we can always see beauty.  Not all weeds are ugly.

So, advice for the week.  Have a plan.  Be ready to go slower.  Regular teaching can happen.  The kids are becoming more like themselves and are seeming less shell shocked.  Be okay with the changes.  Recognize that you are likely more susceptible to emotions and to hurt feelings and to edginess and make adjustments.  (One of my friends had a conniption over a simple class change.  Not like her at all.  I find myself a little more annoyed with the usual aggravations of dealing with certain people.  I have to work harder at keeping at bay that urge to snap and say what is truly on my mind.  It may be true, but not necessary or kind.)  More deep breaths and counting to ten are necessary in the weeds. 

Weed win for the week:  The CDC approved disinfectant my school uses did not wipe the numbers off my protractors.  YAY!  I have a new system for those kinds of shared items.  Basically I do what businesses do with pens, clean and used.  It works for rulers, protractors and other things of that nature.  If you are teaching hybrid, you need to provide a digital, printable version of everything including tools.  I will try to post up some of those in a resource page that everyone can expand upon.  Right after I update 3 weeks of lesson plans, grade and record work, write digital and written assessments, email students and parents and head to the library to get books for my classes and get groceries purchased and laundry done.  It might be next week. :)

Hang in there.  The weeds can be an okay temporary place.  It will be temporary.  Eventually, we will get back to in class instruction completely.  Have a great first week, or wherever you are in the process.  We will make it!