“It’s a whole new ballgame for everyone,” said Bromfield Principal Scott Hoffman, as the school moved into its first week of teaching required curriculum rather than providing review and enrichment materials, in compliance with the Massachusetts Department of Education’s recommendations for distance learning.
Hoffman said the commissioner of education has offered guidelines that continue to prioritize the social- emotional well-being of students. The curriculum needs to move forward in both content and skills to meet state standards, but to do so in a manner that is thoughtful and not stress-inducing. Hoffman said he is consulting with other principals to ensure they are all “on the same page.”
As teachers present new material to students, they will advance the curriculum at a much slower rate than under normal conditions and will not cover all the material they would usually include. As English department leader Janet Brown put it, “We’re not teaching five lessons a week; we’re condensing material into two lessons a week and requiring a product for evaluation.” At this point in the year, said Hoffman, more than half the curriculum has been covered in all disciplines. Going forward, he said, teachers will pick out key standards and teach content and skills that address that standard. At the beginning of the week, every teacher will send an email to parents and students describing the assignments for the week. The students will have some flexibility in how and when they complete the work, though there are some specific due dates.
In order to organize this new way of presenting material, Dean of Students Julie Horton created a virtual meeting schedule—with no conflicts—so that each day students can see what classes they have and when they will meet. The master schedule gives kids reassurance and stability, said Hoffman. “Everyone knows what’s what.”
Half of the academic departments will hold classes on Mondays and Wednesdays and the other half on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Hoffman said Friday is catch-up day. It’s a chance for teachers to have departmental meetings, talk with special educators, or work with colleagues. And it’s a time for teachers to plan; since distance learning is all new, teachers need time to work things out. Hoffman said the teachers are committed to finding “what will help kids the most.” They’re being thoughtful and asking good questions, he added. “I’m really proud of the way people are stepping up.”
Student work will not be graded, but there are expectations; work will be evaluated as complete, incomplete, or missing. Hoffman said the administration trusts the teachers to determine the criteria for “complete” work. Some districts have created rubrics for evaluation, but Hoffmann said he prefers to leave it to teachers’ judgment. Only students whose work has been “complete” will receive credit for the course.
A desire to communicate
Hoffman has been making opportunities to communicate with parents and students alike. He and Associate Principal Robin Benoit used Zoom to hold an administrators’ dessert—“dessert” rather than the usual “coffee,” as the meeting was held at 7 p.m. Hoffman said 140 parents attended; Benoit hosted the meeting and fielded questions for Hoffman. The parents were grateful for the opportunity to meet, and there were some great questions along with some humor, said Hoffman. One of the questions—which had also been raised by students—was “What will happen next year?” Hoffman gave assurance that next year’s teachers will know students are behind where they would normally be, and they will make adjustments.
By the end of Wednesday last week Hoffman and Benoit had met with every grade at Bromfield. They started with middle school student council and high school class officers. Then they held a meeting for every grade level, where Hoffman gave a short talk and he and Benoit took questions. He said it was a great chance to connect with students, and up to 50% of each grade attended. Some teachers were also at the meetings.
In normal conditions, Hoffman gives school announcements on Mondays and Fridays, while they are made during homeroom on other days. Now, though, he thinks it’s important that, as principal, he make a connection with students every day. Hoffman begins the day with a welcoming video of announcements, humor, tidbits of information, and an inspirational quote or verse. He starts with giving the name of the day according to the school’s rotating class schedule—day F, A, etc., and he comments on the actual day. April 13 was windy and rainy, which prompted him to say, “We could always try ‘Singing in the Rain.’” He referred students to their parents for the Gene Kelly version. The word of the day was “fika,” submitted by a sixth-grader. It is Swedish and means to slow down and appreciate things. Next came a series of announcements about course selections, senior scholarship applications, and best news of all to some—no MCAS tests this year. He ended with a couple of quotes, among them, “Success is not measured solely by wins.” Hoffman often tapes the video outside at his house, with Nike Hoffman, a 14-month-old blue merle goldendoodle. In one of Hoffman’s early videos she suddenly appeared behind him, and since then she’s become a celebrity.
Tales of two departments
The Press talked to two department leaders to get a sense of what resources they are using and how they are making decisions about what material is most important to cover in the reduced time.
Deb Pierce, science department leader, said her teachers met before school closed to talk about different websites and webinars they might access to substitute for in-class teaching and lab experiments. And teachers from other districts have shared resources. Many of the sites are interactive, have simulations, animations, give data for students to analyze, and provide activities to assess student learning. Pierce talked about giving her honors biology students an option after they had studied the human digestive system—watch a virtual dissection of a fetal pig. She said the site has a video, animation, and an opportunity to manipulate. Students could put food into the mouth and see if they had assembled the digestive system correctly. She also uses a video of herself narrating a PowerPoint presentation based on a concept in the students’ textbook, and she offers one Zoom hangout once a week to each of her classes. Pierce said that the College Board has made decisions easier for teachers of Advanced Placement classes by describing what topics will and will not be tested on the abbreviated exams being given during May.
Social studies department leader Kathleen Doherty said her teachers are also using a variety of online websites and resources, including some existing resources that come with newer textbooks. Some teachers are making short videos that students can watch at a time that suits their schedules and respond as a homework assignment or in real-time class meetings.
There are a number of ways to have online interactions, and teachers are also holding Zoom sessions for discussions or for “break-out” rooms, where different groups work on different tasks. Doherty said teachers are using different criteria to determine what parts of the curriculum to cover in the reduced teaching time. For some, the guiding essential questions contained in the standards will be the determinant; others will look at what skills are the most important and focus on assignments that can best address skill development. “In all of this we are trying to find the right balance,” said Doherty. “We want as much as possible to keep the learning moving forward, while also recognizing that each student, each family (and each teacher!) has a different experience of this surreal and unprecedented situation.”
