A box of Crayola crayons, a three-ring binder, a plastic folder with two pockets, some #2 pencils, a hand-held pencil sharpener, and a small pair of scissors (blunt or pointed, depending on grade level). That’s a fairly familiar list of school supplies, even to people whose school days are far behind them. But it’s just the beginning of the supplies that children returning—or staying home—for classes at Hildreth Elementary School will need this fall, according to a list the school sent to families.
Because of COVID-19, school supplies that were once shared within a classroom, handed out by the teacher and passed around by the kids, must now be used by just one student. So, for kids who are going to classes at school, families must label all the items above—plus glue sticks, markers, rulers, and more—with the child’s name. Fully remote students, who will be doing all their learning at home, will need most of the same supplies, but they can at least skip the name labels (although labels might prevent some conflict with siblings).
Middle school math teacher Michael Desarro is at his desk after a Google Classroom training session. He will teach both online and in class starting next week. Class sizes will be reduced to allow for social distancing with half the class learning remotely. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
And then there are the supplies that are unique to this year’s needs. In-school students in all grades must each have a mask to wear and an extra one to keep in their backpack. And everyone must have wired headphones—no earbuds, at least not for HES students—to use for online lessons and remote learning.
At the Bromfield School, teachers are also planning how to get textbooks and supplies to students who will be learning from home. For example, science department leader Deborah Pierce has put together 40 take-home kits to allow remote students in her biology class to do a hands-on experiment about diffusion; the kits include glucose sticks, cups, tubing, and instructions.
“I feel like a first-year teacher again,” says Pierce, who has taught for 33 years.
Asked how she and other science teachers will do labs, Pierce says she’ll improvise ways for some labs to be done at home with everyday materials. And the district has licensed online simulations and virtual labs that are available free from the nonprofit CK-12 Foundation. Pierce is also grateful to the Harvard Schools Trust for funding two other educational platforms that offer supplemental hands-on simulations and lab experimentation—Explore Learning for Science and Math; and Pivot for Physics and Chemistry. But, Pierce says, this year’s biology classes will probably omit the traditional fetal pig dissection.
At first glance, history and psychology classes might seem easier to adapt to online learning than a lab science. But social studies department leader Kathleen Doherty says, “It’s still a big work in progress,” and lessons take much more preparation time than in other years.
Remarkable tools
Doherty calls the tools available for remote learning “remarkable.” With all the work teachers have put in over the summer, she says, remote learning this fall will be far different from last spring’s experience. As one example, she can take a video that she would usually show in class and, with an educational program called Edpuzzle, break the video into segments followed by questions. A student watching the video at home must answer the questions after each segment to be able to move on to the next. Doherty sees the answers, so she can be sure kids are sticking with their online assignments.
The in-person classes present challenges of their own. Face masks may make it harder for teachers and students to hear one another. So teachers are experimenting with regularly using the microphone system designed to help students with impaired hearing. Doherty said the mics definitely help, but they may not work as well for students who are watching the class from home; that question was still under study at the time she spoke with the Press.
Among the many deprivations COVID-19 has inflicted on students this year, one that will loom large at Bromfield is the lack of Chef Paul Correnty’s hearty, nutritious breakfasts and lunches. Students will have a break with snacks from home, outside when possible, and will go home for lunch.
Chef Paul says the school will continue to provide bag lunches for students who qualify for the free and reduced-price lunch program. “Other than that,” he writes in an email, “the district has put everything else on hold until we get through the opening weeks.”
Nor will Chef Paul’s soups be available to his many devoted customers for the foreseeable future. But he will still be at work in his kitchen at home: “You bet cider season is almost here!” he writes. “We’ll need gallons of the good stuff to get us through.”
Teachers are doing the impossible, says School Committee chair
At the Aug. 27 convocation for teachers and staff, School Committee Chair SusanMary Redinger recognized the challenges and the anxiety that everyone in the school community is facing. Here is a part of her speech:
“You are being asked to do the impossible, while also having to learn how to do it as you go. I know for sure that none of the education classes you took was entitled ‘How to Teach During a Pandemic.’ …
“We do not take it lightly that you will be taking a risk on behalf of the opportunity of providing the best possible educational experience for your students. You are, and have always been, our heroes—you are the ones who directly shape and guide the future leaders of our world. There is nothing more precious than our children—and we are entrusting them to you during what is undeniably an uncomfortable, scary, and unknowable time.
“Nobody likes it. There are truly no good options. And yet, here we are, on Day One, holding our breaths, wearing our masks, and taking a leap of faith together. …
“I hope, at some point in the spring, we can all take a moment, without a mask on, to breathe in deeply and say, We did it. And not only did we do the impossible, we did it together. Thank you.”
