By: David Devereaux
Changing Our Narrative
In early March, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a stay at home quarantine to try and stave off the onslaught of COVID-19. A week later, schools were closed to protect our most important commodity, children. It quickly became apparent that this would be an ongoing situation that would require students to be home through the remainder of the spring semester and online or distance learning be implemented and become the norm.
At that moment, I am sure many parents asked, how is this going to possibly work? Well, school districts have been doing this for many years now, but never to the level that is required today. It requires access to technology that may not be available to all students due to school district financials, socioeconomics and availability. More importantly, parents are concerned that their child may fall behind and not be allowed to fully participate in this type of learning. Many will surely experience some academic regression.
Once the technological issues had been worked out, it became a scheduling nightmare to establish connectivity with all the students on a teacher’s roster, not to mention the issue of system failures and the inability to question the teacher one on one, which many students need.
I have read comments online where parents question their own ability to support and guide their kids during this time as well. It becomes apparent that teachers are invaluable partners daily in not only delivering educational services, but also dealing with disruptions that take place. Parents have apologized to teachers for doubting their ability to deal with their child and see the many disruptions that plague public education classrooms daily. The ability to focus students and maintain an environment conducive to learning is a talent that not everyone can master.
Being a parent and being a teacher have met at a crossroad and the result is a bit shocking. It is hard to deliver instruction, work on social emotional norms and keep a child’s attention long enough to focus. It is suggested that parents continue with regular daily routines, as well as allow kids to be kids by having some down time to do what they like. I would take it one step further by suggesting limiting video games and social media activities as an outlet, and encourage reading and journal writing to keep up their skills because information is lost when the mind is idle.
As we work through these new norms as a society, it would be really great to thank those teachers who so valiantly deliver instruction daily and maintain positive relationships with both students and parents. Our work is not done, it’s actually just beginning, but headed in the right direction as this is all so new and sudden. Most important to keep in mind, this too shall pass and some level of normality will return and with hope, we will all be better from this experience.
