Monday, March 23, 2020

Schools are shut, so how will kids learn amid the covid-19 pandemic? - The Washington Post

Schools are shut, so how will kids learn amid the covid-19 pandemic? - The Washington Post

Schools are shut, so how will kids learn amid the covid-19 pandemic?



Schools may be shuttered and families hunkered down, but teacher Tim Rodman is keeping his Maryland classroom going during the coronavirus pandemic — ever the energetic voice of AP Macroeconomics as he hosts a video call with students who live 40 miles away.
“It’s a little bit of normalcy during a crisis,” said Rodman, a teacher at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda.


A week into school closings across the Washington region, Rodman’s 45-minute daily sessions on Zoom — one in economics, one in government — are more a glimpse of what is possible than a real-time reality for hundreds of thousands of public school students.
School systems in the region are moving toward distance learning, but the ramp-up has been gradual in many cases, posing an array of challenges.
It is complicated by uncertainties about whether schools are closed for two weeks, a month — or, some worry, until the school year ends in June. The District just extended school closings until late April.
In Virginia, public school students do not have required assignments or grades for the next few weeks, following guidance from state officials.
Fairfax County Superintendent Scott Brabrand said that’s because school leaders “cannot ensure equity in access” to resources, including computers and Internet service.
“We . . . know our families are concerned about instruction and learning for our students,” Brabrand wrote in a message to families in the 188,000-student system. “Please know our teachers care and want to support their students.”
If the closure extends beyond mid-April, Fairfax will offer instruction through online exer­cises or hard-copy packets, he said. Teachers will begin “distance learning training” to prepare for that possibility over the next two weeks.

at