No ‘one size fits all’ solution
Geeta Citygirl-Chopra
Theater person
Thank you for putting a spotlight on this pressing issue of how schools could/should safely reopen and how to move through this time as parents, educators, students and global citizens.
Ubuntu is an African philosophy that means, “I am because we are”. That’s how I feel about this COVID-19 pandemic as well as the uprising about the injustices to our black brethren. We are better when we recognize our oneness – seeing ourselves in others.
The etymology of the word “school” traces back to Greek scholē, which has a meaning that surprised me —”leisure.” To the Greeks, leisure meant we would spend time thinking and finding out about things. I vibe with the idea of leisure and the pursuit of knowledge as a springboard in reimagining our schools. There is no “one size fits all” solution that will work for everyone.
As a queer woman, single parent, life-long learner and kindness activist, I feel the struggles we face — the various injustices, micro-aggressions, implicit bias, etc… As part of South Asians for Black Lives Matter, I have worked with other groups to organize, rally and find ways of educating and speaking up about the history of systemic racism. It’s been hard when parents (in places where they feel SAFE from this) don’t want to talk to their children about the real-life issues in an age-appropriate way.
We support groups, people and schools that are being creative in ways of engaging. Our Spanish All Year Escuelita, EPIC martial arts, Soccer Shots, Westbury Children’s Library, and many museums and arts organizations are all showing us new ways to move through this challenging time.
My daughter, Avana Grace, has completed 2nd Grade and we will be ZOOMing into 3rd Grade this Fall. We are at the Progressive School of Long Island under the leadership of director, Mr. Eric Jacobson. And in March, they got prepared with “distance learning” less than a week after the shutdown. We struggled without time to plan for this new way of learning, teaching and connecting. Add the heartache of racial and economic inequalities as we had to accept moments of terror with grief. We found gratitude in the small things, while we mourned the global trauma, illness, pain and death.
We have a long list of questions and recognize that we have to be patient and take the “wait-and-see” approach while each school figures out the best ways to care for our community. This is a global pandemic and what’s more important is teaching empathy, and allowing our communities to support each other through the challenges of this historical time.
Geeta Citygirl-Chopra with daughter Avana Grace.
Minimal in-person attendance
–Rashmi Sinha
HR Professional
As with any parent, Prabhat and I are extremely concerned about our children’s safety. We are eagerly waiting to review a reopening plan approved for Hicksville School District. Prabhat and I are impressed with the social distancing measures that are being taken for Fall semester opening of Stony Brook University (where our elder son is in final year) – the classrooms have been re-engineered for safety.
We hope that Hicksville High School will receive sufficient state funds to re-engineer its classrooms as well and until we are over with this pandemic, we hope that the requirement for in-person attendance will be for minimal, essential, safe operations only and we would feel comfortable with this arrangement. With properly designed virtual classroom lessons following a time schedule for each classroom, we think students will be able to stay focused even in learning-at-home environment. We hope that the government will learn a lesson from this pandemic crisis to gear towards preparing K-12 schools for 100% on-line learning, requiring students virtual classroom attendance when it is not safe for school to remain open due to a local/global health crisis. We hope that at least all Public Schools in Nassau County will have equality in terms of virtual classroom learning so that the students’ learning is not affected at least because of lack of funding for a particular school district.
Prabhat Sinha with his son Rohit, who is in high school.
Must open with precautions in place
–Kim Themistocleous
Teacher, East Meadow High School
I teach Earth Science Honors and Regents, as well as a college level Marine Biology. I have been with East Meadow School for the past 22 years. I absolutely think schools should open – with precautions. I do think we all need to wear masks and sanitize in between classes with desk wipes. Socially and emotionally, children need to be in school. They are not challenged on the computers at home like you would challenge them in class. The students who need extra help are not receiving it as in school. Those who need an additional challenge are not receiving it to be competitive out there. Lastly, not everyone has access to computers at home.
During last few weeks of teaching online, it was evident depression was creeping up in some of my students and I would try to encourage them, but I could see it was happening because they were locked down in the house. Isolated and not as physical at home. Doing facetime on computer wasn’t as good as teaching in a classroom where I supplement with handouts, books, activities, labs, and the use of a smart board. They are much more challenged and have more resources in the building.
The Regents were canceled for New York State this year, but the AP exams still went on, and I saw the students had to go online. It was multiple choice, it wasn’t as intense as it usually is. A few students could not upload the results; they had to take the exam again. The opportunity to cheat is there because they are not in school, they are not watched. I don’t think that’s good because self-esteem comes from what you can achieve.
The idea of a mix of online and in-person has also been floated. If you are coming into the classroom, you are contaminating it. We should check temperatures and everybody has to wear masks. I think if you do all of that, we should be fine. I myself have shopped for my family using precautions because I have an elderly mother and a husband with health issues at home.
Children have a very, very low probability of becoming ill, so it’s actually more the teachers who have to be concerned. But if teachers take precautions like using shields that cover the eyes and entire face, they should be okay. And if you are protecting each other, then kids don’t bring the virus home to their parents and grandparents.
With tutoring online, I also found that families which have multiple kids may have one or two computers/devices, so how well can you teach all at the same time? I also found that some of the kids would shut off their camera, and I wouldn’t know if they were still there.
So online is no substitute for school, where you are asking questions, interacting with others, and learning from what others asked.
In school, I engage my science students with hands on activities, demonstrations, and experiences that cannot be replaced at home. Lastly, teaching is more than the subject being taught. Techers extend experiences and life lessons beyond the subject matter. In conclusion, life is a risk and all we can do is mitigate the best we can.
