A message for our readers

The Galena Gazette is providing all of its news stories and photos of the COVID-19 pandemic with no payment required as a public service and in an effort so you can be totally knowledgeable as to how the pandemic affects you. Please consider a print or online subscription to support this vital reporting by a locally owned business .

E-learning continues into the summer: In the Galena School District, innovation and cooperation between teachers, students and parents is key

Posted

GALENA–While regular session e-learning is finished for the summer, the extended school year (ESY) program for Galena School District students has just begun.

Five teachers are teaching around 20 special education students remotely. The lessons are individualized and take one hour a week for eight weeks. Special education coordinator Heidi O’Shea said ESY students were kept with their regular school year teachers in order to smooth the transition a little better.

“No one minded. Everyone was flexible,” O’Shea said. “It takes a lot of front-end preparation.”

It’s already difficult to keep students’ attention during the summer, and e-learning only exacerbated this issue. Galena teachers got creative with technology, as they realized most of their students just want to see their friends and feel like they are in the classroom.

“School is such a social thing, so the caseworkers are trying to combine social skills with academics the best they can on a virtual platform,” O’Shea said.

ESY preschool teacher Melissa Romer has biweekly Zoom meetings with her eight students. She said it’s been challenging to work on socialization virtually, but she tries to make the meetings fun.

“We do small groups, and that works,” Romer said. “We play ‘show and tell’ and other games.”

Romer also made packets with activities for letter/number recognition and general motor skills. She does not give any worksheets and instead creates scavenger hunts and gives parents extra supplemental activities.

Dusty Berning has taught ESY every year and said this summer has definitely been a learning experience. He teaches special education and life skills and currently has four students.

Advertisement Advertisement

Berning uses Google Classroom often and plans to implement it into his lessons even when in-person classes resume.

“It was nice to have nine weeks of regular session e-learning to prepare. I just continued what I was already doing with my students,” Berning said.

O’Shea, Romer and Berning all agree that ESY e-learning puts significant pressure on parents. With no bus to catch, students have trouble waking up for class. Parents are forced to work around their own busy schedules to help their children log on to Zoom, check Google Classroom and complete activities.

ESY parent Laura Moyer is feeling that pressure first-hand. She helps her son, Ben, with all of his e-learning, which sometimes means logging on at 8 p.m. when she’s home from work.

“You have to budget your time,” Moyer said. “I have a great support system with my daughter and my husband, but not every ESY parent has that.”

Moyer also credits the teachers with their flexibility and willingness to coordinate. They work beyond typical school day hours in order to better suit students and families.

“I feel bad for the teachers. This is not the greatest way to do it, but they are doing the best they can,” Moyer said.

Ben is pretty social and enjoys FaceTiming his teacher and friends. He also does scavenger hunts around the house, which makes e-learning a little more personal because his teacher can see the things he has at home.

It is clear there is no replacing the benefits of in-person instruction. Moyer already knows e-learning is going to set Ben back, but she has learned more about what he does at school and how to teach him. Socialization is such an integral part of a child’s education, and ESY teachers are taking a hit as well.

“I miss my students so much,” Romer said. “We didn’t have preschool graduation, and I’ve taught some of these children for two years. I’ve spent nights in tears because I couldn’t say goodbye.”