Every student in OA knows that the approach to both afternoon work and Wednesday classes varies widely from teacher to teacher. Because of the relatively new nature of this form of learning, many teachers are adjusting to it in different ways, some making the students meet each week and some not at all. Below are some of the differing opinions and techniques that teachers are using to adjust to this different style of learning.
For afternoon work, all of the teachers I talked to emphasized the importance of assigning only 5-10 minutes of work per class, as there are 7 classes that have to fit into a short span of time.
Some teachers think of it like a reinforcement of what was done in school, like the French teacher Mr. Sharkey, who believes “that frequent and consistent practice is the best way to improve, so I do have activities that I believe are valuable reinforcement at home.” Others, like Mrs. Binney, treat it like “a brief extension of class,” and use it to summarize material or give instructions.
With limited class time, teachers are forced to get creative with how to fit all of the coursework into just over half an hour. Textbook problems, Edpuzzles, and Google Forms are popular ways of asynchronous teaching.
But some teachers, like science teacher Mr. Pomella, are “trying to give most of [their] notes as videos that the students watch at home for their afternoon work.” Instead, he uses class period for math problems so he can give clarification to students who need it.
The approach to Wednesdays varies the most. It seems that every single teacher in the building is utilizing the time in a different way in addition to the required assignment. Mr. Sharkey usually gives assessments on that day so he isn’t using class time and he keeps the Meet open to “allow students to check in with me if they have any questions.”
Mr Pomella, however, uses it to meet 1 on 1 with students, although “as the year goes on there will be Wednesdays where I require my whole classes to meet with me.”
Mrs. Binney also uses it for extra writing help, as well as “an optional extension of a Socratic Seminar we had the previous week so that students who had technology trouble or just wanted a chance to share more of their ideas had a space to do so.”
With the lack of precedent for this kind of teaching, it seems that teachers have taken the Wednesday guidelines in a number of different directions. If the hybrid/ remote model continues into next school year though, it is possible that Wednesdays will become more uniform.