Hosting a Spirit Week, Rejiggering a Physics Lesson, Grappling With Attendance: How NYC Teachers Are Adjusting to Week 1 of Remote Learning in the Nation’s Largest School District
This week, New York City embarked on the largest remote learning initiative in the country due to the coronavirus pandemic. The city’s 1.1 million students and 75,000 teachers have transitioned to online platforms, which is likely to continue for the remainder of the school year.
Leading up to this transition, educators in NYC had limited time for professional development and remote planning, with only three days allocated for training. Many teachers are unfamiliar with online tools such as Google Classroom, and some students are still waiting for devices to use at home.
According to interviews conducted by , the process of remote learning is expected to be a continuous cycle, with each school and teacher facing unique challenges. Susan Cohen McAulay, a special education teacher at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem, expressed how overwhelming it has been to adjust to this new method of teaching. Suraj Gopal, who teaches multiple subjects at the Special Music School, said he is taking things one day at a time and seeking feedback to improve his approach.
The experiences of teachers during this week have varied based on factors such as their technological skills, grade level, students’ socioeconomic status, and parental involvement. Gopal was encouraged to see most of his high school students engaging in online classes, but he had to revise his teaching method after many students struggled with a physics assignment. McAulay is working hard to ensure her students with disabilities can participate online, while a tech-savvy teacher in Brooklyn is organizing a spirit week to bring a sense of normalcy to elementary students. In contrast, an educator in the Bronx, who teaches low-income preschoolers, is struggling to involve parents, who play a crucial role in remote teaching.
This new reality is expected to persist for the foreseeable future. Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged that students are unlikely to return to school this year, despite initial hopes of reopening on April 20. Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza emphasized the importance of flexibility and patience for teachers, parents, and the wider community.
Individual teachers across the district are experiencing Week 1 of remote learning as follows:
– Scott Dyer, a second-grade teacher at P.S. 251 in Brooklyn, had concerns about students’ ability to login and follow along. Dyer and his co-teacher were already familiar with using Google Classroom and had provided guidance to parents beforehand. They ensured that all students had access to devices. However, the week started slowly, with only 11 out of 23 students participating in Monday’s math assignment. The number increased to 18 on Tuesday, and Dyer’s goal is to make students and parents comfortable with the online tools by the end of the week. Dyer has also been assisting other educators with technical issues and is organizing a spirit week to maintain a sense of normalcy for his young students.
Reestablishing a sense of normalcy is a top priority for a pre-K teacher in the Bronx. However, she wishes to remain anonymous as she is not tenured. In an effort to keep her students engaged, she recorded a video of their daily morning meeting, which typically involves activities like naming the day of the week and singing a song. Additionally, she shared a video of herself reading a story called "Not a Box" on Google Classroom to encourage creativity among her young students.
Unfortunately, only a few of her students’ parents signed them on to the online platform on Monday, and only one more did so on Tuesday. The extent to which her students engage in remote learning is reliant on the availability and willingness of their parents to take on a homeschooling role. Many of her students come from low-income households and some are raised by their grandparents. If the child has older siblings and the family has limited resources and devices, she is concerned that their education will not be prioritized.
For the remainder of the week, the teacher plans to continue reaching out to her students’ parents and caregivers, urging them to participate in online learning. She has provided all the necessary information and fears that some parents may not care enough to continue their child’s education during this time.
Susan Cohen McAulay, a special education teacher at A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem, is facing similar challenges. She oversees five classes, primarily teaching English to sophomores. Two of her classes are specifically designed for special education students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
Teaching students with special needs remotely is presenting a daunting task for her. She emphasizes the importance of direct communication and instructions for students who struggle with directions. McAulay is particularly concerned about one student who requires dedicated attention but is still waiting for a device to access online learning.
McAulay is feeling overwhelmed with problems that were not initially anticipated during the planning stages. As a result, she has decided to add a daily morning assignment to track online participation. She has also included the school’s speech therapist in her Google Classroom page but is unsure about their level of engagement with students requiring specialized services.
There is an expectation for schools to develop a remote learning plan that accommodates students with IEPs in this new online setting. However, McAulay is unsure whose responsibility this falls under and how it will be fulfilled. She believes there has been a lack of planning from the Department of Education as a whole.
Suraj Gopal, a high school teacher at the Special Music School on the Upper West Side, faces his own set of challenges. Teaching various subjects including AP computer science, physics, chemistry, geometry, and global history, Gopal has opted not to conduct live lessons initially in consideration of families who may not have enough devices for each child. Instead, his students access Google Classroom to find Google Slide decks, sample problems, and video resources for demonstrations and problem-solving discussions.
Gopal is encouraged by the high level of online participation from his students this week. They have been attending virtual office hours and asking detailed questions, which indicates their engagement with the material. The school, which serves K-12 students but operates in separate buildings for K-8 and high school, has a high-performing record and a student population that consists of over 40 percent white students.
Gopal, who served as a summer intern for in 2016, expressed that there are still many complex aspects of the course that he hasn’t quite figured out how to effectively communicate. He plans to enhance his instructional methods by creating a more comprehensive design. Additionally, he intends to make an instructional video where he will go through the Google slides and provide examples of key takeaways.
When it comes to considering make-up assignments in the future, Gopal expresses concerns about student accountability. Although he generally believes in the good intentions and diligence of his students, he occasionally wonders if leniency in accepting incomplete or subpar work might encourage poor work habits. It’s a challenging situation that requires careful consideration.
Adam Feinberg, a social studies teacher at City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology in Brooklyn, shares a similar focus on fostering a strong online work ethic. He plans to assign more creative writing tasks such as journaling and independent research on topics that align with the study unit. These assignments make it easier to gauge the level of effort put in by the students.
Feinberg is especially concerned about the post-pandemic period when all students return to school. He wonders what they have truly learned and what work habits they have developed during this challenging time. The well-being and progress of his students are paramount concerns for him.
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