This school year has been a hard one to teach in and a hard one in which to learn when teachers and learners are apart.
Isolation, new technology, changing curriculum, lack of time to cover subjects–the list is long of how hard it’s been for students and teachers.
But one of the biggest areas of concern comes in simple participation. Raising hands, asking questions, answering them as well, has been really frustrating and hard for all.
Mr. Michael LaTorre talked about trying to be in two classrooms at once. “There are definitely days when it seems like I’m teaching two classes at the same time.”
He, like most teachers, is having trouble getting his distance learners to participate. According to the Hechinger Report 22 percent of distance learners minimally participated and 4 percent of distance learners did not participate at all, in the state of Connecticut.
Andres Renaldo, a 6th grade distance learner at BMS, summed up his opinion on participation.
“I personally don’t think distance learners as a whole are participating as much as in person. I don’t blame the teachers; they have to concentrate on the students in their class.”
Participation is important because it’s how students demonstrate that they understand the content and are learning, but with some students not in BMS, It is harder to even understand what is even happening in the classroom. “When you’re full distance, you never see the full picture. You never see the full class,” said Andres Renaldo, a 6th grader who has spent the year learning from home through Zoom.
But in the end, Mr. LaTorre thinks it’s a choice to participate, “In the end it really comes down to the students who are at home. They need to put in the effort to get involved with the class. Teachers can try hundreds of strategies, but that can only accomplish so much. It’s really up to the students to participate on some level. Many students are great at keeping themselves involved in the class, but there are definitely some that simply do not participate at all which is really a shame.”