We started the school year with two-thirds of our 6th graders coming to school on a hybrid schedule with the other third fully remote. Our hybrid kids were placed into two cohorts, A and B, and each cohort was halved to make them small enough to keep kids six feet apart (Cohorts A1, A2, B1, and B2 kept groups at 9 to 11 kids). The remote third of our students were Cohort C. With three teachers, one Math Teacher, one ELA/SS Teacher, and me the Science Teacher, we were able to have the Math teacher devote his entire time to the remote kids, whether the fully remote kids, Cohort C, or the hybrid kids when they were at home.
The hybrid schedule we implemented was for the ELA/SS teacher and I to each have one of the hybrid cohorts for a full day. So on Monday I would see A2 all day and my partner would see the A1 kids, then on Tuesday we would switch groups. Wednesdays no kids came to school so that we the teachers could prep digital lessons and record videos for the remote kids (we still had to provide the Cohort C all-remote kids the same lessons and feedback on their work, plus both A and B kids were working from home three days a week!). Thursdays I would see B2 and Friday’s B1. Having groups of kids for one day a week, even for the entire day, was difficult because most kids only did my Science work on the day they were present at school with me. We did that for 12 weeks and it really was like seeing each group 12 times instead of 12 weeks and it feels like most kids only got two-weeks worth of work done.
Right after Thanksgiving, on Nov 30, 2020, we went fully remote for all our students after COVID numbers in our county started to rise. We started off Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings with a daily kick-off Zoom meeting for all 60 6th graders. Wednesdays were still our teacher prep and work day so no official Zooms just office hours to help kids who needed help.
Monday afternoons at 1:30 was Science, Tuesday was ELA/SS, Thursday was Math, and Friday was Passion Project afternoon. It was wonderful getting to work more directly with the Cohort C kids. They were used to working remotely so they didn’t miss a beat. Cohort A and B kids struggled because those who didn’t work the three days they were not at school now had five of not being at school. Something had to change.
For grades K-6, primary and elementary, the district decided to bring kids back five days a week but this time split the smaller cohorts into an AM group and a PM group. That meant losing our Wednesday prep day. We were fully remote for five and a half weeks plus the two weeks of winter break before we returned to a different hybrid schedule on January 21. This was nerve-wracking for us teachers because here we returning with COVID being higher than ever in our county and only weeks away from getting vaccinated. As of the writing of this post we are not even next yet in the priority of those receiving a vaccine so it would still be weeks before I get the first dose.
After three and a half weeks of this new hybrid schedule it’s much better for kids while being quite a bit of work for the teachers. Luckily, and thankfully, since we still have one third of the kids fully remote, Cohort C, we can continue to have our Math teacher focus on the kids who are at home so that we do NOT have to have any kids join us remotely while we are teaching our face-to-face kids. I am so grateful that I haven’t had to teach kids both in class and remotely Zooming or Google Meeting in at the same time.
Now we each see kids for about the same time as before, about five hours per week, but in shorter time chunks. Kids are more focused because they are not getting fatigued like they were when we had them for a full day. I now see Cohort A2 Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:45 am to 11:15 am, then Cohort B2 from 1 pm to 3:25 pm Mondays and Wednesdays. Tuesdays and Thursdays I see Cohort A1 in the AM and B1 in the PM. Fridays my partner and I see each Cohort for half the time (the teachers switch classrooms so the Cohorts do NOT have to mix).
We get our lunch time and planning time from about 11:30 am to 12:50 pm every day. In grades K-5, because the classes are self-contained with one teacher per class, and because there are enough students continuing to be fully remote, each teacher either has one class face-to-face or one class fully remote. The Jr and Sr High School has their own schedule much like what it used to be while my grade level is truly in the middle. We have the same five-day-a-week face-to-face schedule as K-5, but since we each teach a different subject to all 60 6th graders, we are the only grade level were each teacher still has to serve the kids who are face-to-face AND the kids who are fully remote.
I still come in around 7:15 am every day to record my daily videos for Cohort C and start reviewing their work and providing feedback and I finish reviewing their work and providing feedback after school and in the evenings at home (and that’s for Cohorts A, B, and C because both A and B are home for half a day every day). Honestly, the only reason I have not fallen behind on reviewing student work and providing feedback is that not every student turns in their work on time or at all. The amount of work that is coming in to be reviewed is manageable while still taking me a LOT of time to get through it all. And yes, I do have to catch up on weekends so imagine if every kid did their work!! I would be behind ALL the time and working even more than I do now. No way is that sustainable but look at what cost that is coming – we have students who are NOT engaging with our work.
