Some Park Hill School District teachers and parents have found ways to make the online learning experience a positive one during a tough time.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused school districts to stop what they were doing last March and instantly switch from every day in-person learning to an online only experience.
After the school year ended teachers and administrators went to work over the summer developing a plan to teach kids remotely. Sixth grade teacher Nichole Oothoudt told the Platte County Citizen last March it was tough but there were some built-in advantages opposed to starting a new semester in that setting.
“The benefit of going into it last March is we already knew the kids and their families so we had really strong relationships built up with them,” Oothoudt said.
Fourth grade teacher Teresa Dwyer told the Citizen things were going well because those who were choosing online learning were committed to the process. She said the district’s technology department worked hard to set everything up and it was just a matter of figuring out the logistics with parents.
“I feel like in the spring when we were pushed into the online situation it gave us a taste of what it could be like,” Dwyer said. “We’ve been able to carry on for a whole semester so far almost with good learning, good activities and a lot of good routine.”
Dwyer said the key to online success is the routine and finding one that works, which takes some time. In the beginning Dwyer said it was a balance of learning about the kids and their families.
“At home you have to adjust and know they have things happening around them,” Dwyer said. “So understanding what that dynamic is with each family and then creating a schedule that’s attainable for everybody.”
Oothoudt said it’s especially challenging for sixth graders. In a normal setting they’re going to a new building and a different style of learning from elementary school with one teacher with special teachers sprinkled in to a setting with up to nine different teachers.
“In middle school they have a different teacher for every core class,” Oothoudt said. “Sixth grade is hard anyway and it’s a learning curve going to a different setting and how things are run.”
One of Oothoudt’s students is the child of Jenny Hundt. She spoke with the Citizen about the online experience the first semester. Hundt said it’s been a partnership.
“We’re definitely in this together,” Hundt said. “We’re reaching out trying to make sure we’re communicating effectively to make sure we’re doing what’s best for our kids.”
Hundt’s child attends Congress Middle School where Oothoudt is based. Oothoudt teaches online only and hybrid students. Hundt said she’s impressed by Oothoudt and her colleagues’ work thus far.
“Not only are they teaching these kiddos reading, writing, math and other things; they’re also teaching them how to be middle schoolers for the first time and they’re doing it virtually,” Hundt said. “They’re teaching them to have those life skills.”
Hundt said she feels like teachers are working with individual students when they are struggling and they are figuring it out.
Melanie Riley has three different children in the district at all levels including a senior in high school along with an eighth grader and her son Liam is in Dwyer’s fourth grade class at English Landing Elementary.
Riley said the online only experience has been different for each one of her kids but she doesn’t attribute that to a lack of effort on the district’s part. Overall she said her children are having a good experience but she notices the extra effort that’s put in by Dwyer and her colleagues at the elementary level.
“He’s got it down pretty well and his teacher guides him through it,” Riley said of her son Liam. “I would say it’s gone quite well.”
Riley said the experience has allowed her to get inside the classroom setting which has been nice. Riley said she realizes it’s a partnership with the teachers.
“I do really like when I’m near Liam when he’s online with his teacher and getting a feel for how the teacher teaches and what the classroom setting is like,” Riley said. “It kind of helps me to know what I need to do.”
Oothoudt said she’s found herself talking to parents more about strategy than ever before. She said communication has been key.
“At school we can usually take care of a lot of things but at home a lot of that does fall onto the parents,” Oothoudt said.
Dwyer said last spring they had a routine down by April and got through the rest of the school year but starting off a new school year is different. Dwyer said essentially the district was asking elementary age kids to act much older.
“When you’re nine or 10 years old, to be asked to study independently almost like a college student was tough,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said teachers made a lot of progress over the summer in their own strategies.
“I feel like they’re able to do more work independently where in the spring we would be on Zoom for four, five, six hours a day just troubleshooting with kids and helping them because they were just so accustomed to raising their hand in my classroom,” Dwyer said.
Dwyer said the relationship with parents is vital and has been a good one so far. She said at the end of the day they’re on the same team and it’s why she wants to keep doing it.
“They want what’s best for their kids,” Dwyer said. “They were able to work with us and it was successful, which is one of the reasons why I’m doing it again.”
• • •
English Landing Elementary School fourth grade teacher Teresa Dwyer has a classroom set up that includes a big screen with her students on it via Zoom.
One of the biggest positives to come from online learning is the relationships students and their families have been able to build because of the unique setting.
Hundt has a unique perspective because she not only is at home with her children through the pandemic but also spent eight years as an elementary school teacher. Hundt said traditionally teachers will do activities at the beginning of the year so that kids get a chance to know each other and build social relationships.
“You want to establish that sense of community in your classroom,” Hundt said.
Hundt said with her sixth grader she could see teachers using a consistent approach of intentionality. She said teachers had to create situations that naturally occur in a normal setting.
“There was a lot of intention put towards not only establishing relationships and connections with students but also that communication piece,” Hundt said. “A lot of times we don’t realize how much of those things just happen naturally when you’re in-person.”
Hundt said her sixth grader has expressed she knows more about her teachers this year than she has in the past.
“They have things in their background like their favorite teams or pictures of their families,” Hundt said about backdrops teachers use for Zoom meetings. “The kids are able to learn those things about them too.”
Riley said her middle school student is learning more about her teachers as well and vice versa. Riley said teachers are getting to know her child’s personality which helps in the approach.
“I think it’s a benefit for her and her teachers to get to know her and her personality and that she’s always pretty organized and trying hard,” Riley said. “I feel like if the teacher doesn’t have that knowledge of her personality it affects the communication.”
Riley said her fourth grader is definitely getting to know his classmates better and is for sure letting them know about himself. She said those interactions are part of learning.
“I think he has fun showing off his dogs to his classmates,” Riley said. “You want to have some interaction but it’s so vital in grade school.”
Dwyer said the personal relationship building through the online classes has been one of the best parts about the whole experience.
“This on-line platform has really increased communication between teachers and parents which is really neat,” Dwyer said. “The digital classroom really gives you a window into their homes that you normally don’t get.”
Dwyer said many of her students live in multi-generational homes which means she’s gotten to meet grandparents and siblings. On some days kids will get “mystery” items from their homes to share and they also took a holiday tour of homes to see each other’s Christmas trees.
“The kids are excited to share things about their homes,” Dwyer said. “You really do get a better understanding of their home life and the culture that they live in.”
Oothoudt said part of organizing a structure for sixth graders involves making them feel a part of a team which has led to more one-on-one meetings to keep consistently reaching out. The effects of doing so naturally lead to getting to know her students better.
“That intentional reaching out to kids and encouraging them to reach out to us, I think I have learned a lot more about them than I have in the past,” Oothoudt said.
Dwyer said that although she teaches from her classroom she tries to incorporate her personal experiences with her students so they feel closer to normal. She tells students she’s in “their” classroom and shows them the pictures they sent in hanging on the wall.
“I want them to feel like they’re not isolated because we’re all in the same boat here; we’re all doing the same thing,” Dwyer said.
• • •
The first semester for Park Hill students will end next week and the next semester will begin on Jan. 19. The district gave parents an option to switch back to in-person hybrid learning or vice versa.
Hundt said when her family made the choice to go with online learning it was not an easy choice but ultimately decided it was the best fit.
“You’re trying to balance what your kids want with what you think is best,” Hundt said. “There was a lot of choices involved.”
After sitting down and thinking about it Hundt said her family is going to continue with on-line learning next semester.
Like the Hundt family, the Riley family had several factors weighing in the decision to go to online learning. The biggest factor was the family’s situation. Riley said her husband works from home which allowed the family to travel and they were away from home the first two months of school.
Even if the family wasn’t traveling, Riley said they still probably would have chosen distance learning. Her biggest concern was how her children would handle it. Riley said she also felt the anxiety within the community.
“That was my biggest concern; are we going to be on top of it?” Riley said. “We just kind of felt with this pandemic there was so much unknown.”
Unlike the Hundt family, the Rileys are feeling better about the situation at Park Hill schools and will be returning to in-person hybrid learning for the second semester.
“I think we’ve got that figured out a little bit better and it does appear masks are working pretty well so we feel a little more comfortable about them going back,” Riley said. “My kids are pretty excited about it.”
One thing both parents have in common is the ability to see the “silver lining” during the pandemic and both found ways to actually appreciate what was happening.
Hundt said she empathized with teachers being one herself, but also saw it as a new way to connect with her children that would allow her to get back to her professional roots.
“I looked at as an adventure and an opportunity to help them learn and see things in a different way as ‘just a mom,’” Hundt said.
Riley said the pandemic gave her family a chance to slow down and actually have dinner together every night. Riley said it also allowed her to get back to enjoying old hobbies and pastimes.
“We were a very busy family with sports and school and all of that,” Riley said. “I actually got back into some of the things I had to let go of because I got so busy and I found time to do some of those things. Having dinner every night together was wonderful.”