Currently, SFUSD has put out what they define as the “Continuity of Learning” to address what [at least our district is doing, not so sure across the state] students could be doing and what teachers should be doing.
Before the city-wide lockdown & shelter-in-place, I already anticipated that closure was upon us, especially with the nearby colleges/universities transitioning to online classes [you can read about it in: Log #1]. Many of my course material is already online via Google Classroom. And because so many families were pulling their kids out of school because of the novel coronavirus, I had revisited the unit calendar I share with my kids to provide those at home with a guide to where they should be with the text we were reading. I excused them from any in-class work because they would be missing the discussion portion which is vital to many of my in-class activities.
As soon as the first week of quarantine began I was ready to get online and teach. I was looking up how to stream on Twitch, preparing ideas for videos, and setting up other assignments for my students to continue building off of the ones we had done in February. However, over the course of last week, the situation evolved from a city-wide shut down to the county, to multiple Bay Area counties, then state. Then our superintendent and site administration advised and declared against holding students accountable for new assignments and grading.
So I took a backseat.
I’m still waiting for an executive order more from Governor Newsom than I am my administration. Every other day, the district is sending out updates stating there is no plan to extend school closure beyond Newsom’s executive date, April 7th, but they’re preparing for it just in case. But that preparation for “just in case” doesn’t really help teachers if they’re not a part of this preparation. In log #1 I mentioned how they’re advising us to participate in online PDs/Webinars to learn about online tools. Dozens, if not hundreds of teachers are participating, especially those that might be technology illiterate, but what about the rest of the teachers?
Colleges and universities have taken immediate action to transition professors and provide them tools or a protocol to take for the rest of the semester. But we’ve been waiting around for over a week for an order. Many teachers have taken it upon themselves to continue teaching, hosting lectures. I am following the advice to leave things as optional. I could also say I lucked out that my students are reading a book in both 10th & 11th grade. 10th would have started the essay writing process, but with the “Continuity of Learning,” I do not want to assign anything and have to re-teach it to the other half of the students who either aren’t paying attention from home or don’t have the resources to do so.
So, instead of teaching, I’ve taken it upon myself to just update my students with news and information from our district through videos and quick links. So far it has proven successful and positive feedback from the kids. Many of them have messaged me that they’ve been unaware of what’s going on. And that their other teachers are just bombarding them with assignments—despite the “Continuity of Learning,” protocol.
If it’s any help for you, your students or someone you know, feel free to check out these videos/playlist for any information on what my district is doing during this shelter-in-place or just for news/information on the situation.
Balasbas Says 