top of page

Schools

Spotlight on Learning: Souhegan’s Remote Learning Revolution

By Jeanne Sturges

 

      In 1940, hundreds of private British citizens harnessed their resources and their patriotism to rescue more than 300,000 soldiers off the beaches of Dunkirk. The newly commissioned private vessels navigated by ordinary citizens across the English Channel to save the soldiers from Nazi entrapment in nothing short of a Herculean effort. 

      While we face a very different challenge today, and perhaps the analogy is a bit hyperbolic, educating our students during the current crisis is proving to be the most formidable task educators across the country have faced in at least a generation, perhaps since WWII. Within a matter of days, literally, teachers mobilized to completely transform every aspect of what it means to teach, recommissioning their homes into virtual classrooms, re-engineering their curriculum, and re-tooling their use of technology to maximize their connection with students.

      At Souhegan High School, teachers had three days to gear up for remote learning. On March 11, the staff used its regularly scheduled 90-minute staff meeting to begin preparations in anticipation of what soon became inevitable: schools closed to students beginning the following Monday, March 16th.  Administration then provided flexible professional learning opportunities on March 16th – 17th, both remotely and on campus focused in two primary areas: pedagogy (or virtual teaching strategies) and technology. Teachers quickly brushed up or ramped up on Slack, Screencastify, Google Classroom, Learning Management Systems, Zoom, Google Meets and a variety of other tools suddenly deemed essential. 

      Besides building the capacity themselves for virtual learning, staff had less than 48-hours to bring students up to speed with the essentials of functioning in a remote learning environment. In the two days prior to closing the building, Tech Support worked to ensure that every student had the equipment and the access they would need to go live on March 18th.   

      When virtual classes launched a little over two weeks ago, teachers knew their main goals would be to continue personal connections with students to support their emotional well-being, to provide relevant and meaningful learning, and to keep students engaged so that they would be further along in their skills and understanding, ready to continue with their education upon return, according Souhegan administrators. 

      To that end, teachers have been testing the waters to make the best of a difficult situation. Tom Sawyer’s sophomore American Studies class was treated to a special guest within the first few days of going remote.” I had a student bring her grandfather to class,” Sawyer says. “We are studying WWII and he lived in Japan during the war years.  He was a young boy, but his brother was a pilot in the Japanese Navy.  He told us a story of seeing his brother off as he went to train as a kamikaze pilot never thinking he would see him again. (His brother actually did survive).  He also told us of his memories of living 40 miles away from Hiroshima after the Atomic Bomb was dropped. He was very engaging, and he made the class so much more interesting for the students. We probably would not have had this opportunity had it not been for remote learning.”

Net-Etiquette.gif

Online Etiquette video created by social studies teacher, Dave Jasinski

      Lab-based and hands-on classes face particularly difficult challenges. In pottery, Martha Rives conducted a live demonstration of how to make a paper vessel. Students had a choice of a particular pottery tradition to research, for instance Native American or Ancient Greece. They then sketched their plan and devised their own pottery vessel from household materials and glue. They used everything from newspaper to pasta, to fabric or straws. In Liz Gosselin’s Digital Photography 2 class, students ventured outdoors to photograph the first signs of spring. And 9th graders in Creative Image explored “Virtual Spelunking” to experience the beginning of Art. 

      Teachers also spent time laying the foundation for online learning. 10th grade Social Studies teacher, Dave Jasinski created a video for online etiquette that students viewed and discussed. Advisors have also scrambled to maintain a sense of connection and camaraderie. Tony Doucet’s freshman Advisory used Zoom to play a collaborative drawing game on scribble.io, while Gavin Sturges’ senior Advisory had bring-a-talent, share-a-joke or show-off-your-pet day. “My Zoom crashed midway through, but they carried on without me and had a great time!” Sturges says. “My next idea is for a 2-minute Ninja cooking class.” And, in the spirit of Souhegan’s newly launched school-wide Fang Fest Fridays, Team 10Z created a TGI-Friday video for their students.  

      What do students miss the most? Overwhelmingly, they miss the connection, the human interaction that comes with school. As much time as they may have spent online under normal circumstances, without the balance of real human contact – the multi-sensory environment of school in the real world – students report feeling low energy and lonely, bored, yet easily distracted. Junior Bryce Pierce says, “It feels so different. I really miss the social interaction and seeing everyone. I’m pretty much just here alone.” Carter Riggins says, “I miss talking with teachers face-to-face,” while Maddie Arnold says, “It’s so much harder having to email all the time. It feels troublesome. Getting in touch just takes so much more than it used to, and I don’t want to be a burden to teachers.” What else do students miss? “Driving! Driving to school! Driving anywhere!” says Ally McCall. Although some students find the isolation difficult but bearable, many students are facing profound new stresses – from parents and family members who are working in critical industries and risking exposure, to the uncertainty of sickness, graduation, and a loss of the important rites-of-passage that come with school.

Pottery-at-home.gif

Paper vessel by Martha Rives

      Students say there is a silver lining, though. The later (9:00 am) start time, along with having flex-day every Wednesday are two rewards of the upheaval. “Flex-day gives us a day to talk with our teachers one-to-one and to catch up,” says Ally McCall. Carter Riggins says that the schedule is working well to help him focus on his independent studies in photography and creative writing. “I like it but at the same time, it’s hard to come to terms with the fact that even though this seems like a lot of work, it’s not. I say this because we used to do this much work in class, but we had class time to do it and now we don’t [have that structure]. Because of this, it’s easy to get overwhelmed,” Riggins adds.

      On a dime, public school educators have thoroughly transformed their practice to meet this extraordinary circumstance, many of whom are facing their own unique challenges. Teachers are teaching with their own young children home – who are also in of need supervision, structure and support. Some teachers also have partners or spouses who are working out of the house, in health-care professions, or who may be sick and in need of care. 

      Parents and community members have shown a great deal of understanding, patience and support, despite the stress and difficulty of having to manage such dramatic changes and challenges themselves. “One of the real highlights of this experience has been going on Facebook and seeing the public and parents’ overwhelmingly positive response to teachers’ efforts in making such huge changes in such a short amount of time,” said Laura Putnam, Souhegan alumni parent. 

Jeanne Sturges is the Writing Center Coordinator and Literacy Instructional Coach at Souhegan High School.

bottom of page