If we ever let kids come back to school, our district has adopted a hybrid model that combines the worst of in-person schooling and Zoom schooling.
Students are divided into 3 cohorts: A, B, and C. Cohorts A and B will get some in-person schooling, C will stay at home and receive only Zoom schooling.
Here's how it would work:
Monday morning: Cohort A comes to school and has Periods 1, 2, and 3 for 50 min each.
Monday afternoon: I reteach Periods 1-3 to Cohorts B and C via Zoom.
Tuesday morning: Cohort A returns to school for Periods 4, 5, and 6 for 50 min each.
Tuesday afternoon: I reteach Periods 4-6 to Cohorts B and C via Zoom.
Wednesday: no school at all. The school undergoes a "deep cleaning".
Thursday morning: Cohort B comes to school and has Periods 1, 2, and 3 for 50 min each.
Thursday afternoon: I reteach Periods 4-6 to Cohorts A and C via Zoom.
Friday: Just like Tuesday, only with Cohort B at school and A/C via Zoom.
I currently get 2 90-min class periods per week with students. Under this hybrid system, I get 2 50-min periods per week, and the students have a 2nd 50-min period (when I'm teaching but they're not in my class) to work on assignments. For example, Monday morning, when I'm teaching Cohort A, Cohorts B and C should be working on whatever work I've assigned.
The bottom line is that I have even less time to teach. I know it's popular to talk about how hard Zoom learning is, and I get that, but in theory I've already accounted for that by cutting down how much I teach and cutting down the number and length of assignments and assessments. Now I'm supposed to cut it down even more. I'll have about 1/3 the time of "regular" school to teach, which means I can only teach about 1/3 as much--how does that work in a math class, when the next class requires the knowledge gained from previous classes?
Here's what my classes would have looked like today:
1st period: 3 students in person in the morning, 24 at home in the afternoon via Zoom.
2nd period: 7 students in person in the morning, 27 at home in the afternoon via Zoom.
3rd period: 9 students in person in the morning, 16 at home in the afternoon via Zoom.
To be honest, I'd rather continue with Zoom schooling (for all its faults) than go to hybrid school. Of course, I'd rather return to real school--but this is the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Kalifornia), and there's no way we're cutting back on any 'rona restrictions any time soon. Government knows best, don'tcha know.
4 comments:
You're absolutely correct. The thing that goes unsaid about the hybrid model is that it ensures a half-assed experience for all. Unfortunately, with Gavin Newsome offering his financial incentives (what's up with that, I thought CTA owned him!), this model will continue.
Having retired and thankfully dodged this bullet, I do not envy you a bit. My neighbor is a special ed Language Arts teacher for intermediate levels. She's having to teach both in class AND online at the same time. That's insane for any class, but especially for a class filled with students who have special needs. How can any student's needs be met in such a situation? When you consider the legal issues surrounding SpEd and IEP's this situation is frustrating for all concerned. Teachers in my old department are teaching high school art studio classes online. No adaptation in the schedules are ongoing so administrators believe "all" students are actively engaged for 90 minutes while online. Studies have been done that even adults can seldom stay engaged longer than 45 minutes. Maybe make classes smaller and self-contained in elementary to avoid chances of infection. Perhaps consider concentrating classes in a way similar to college Minimesters and have students just do two class for six weeks and then move to two more classes-all in person, but with limited exposure for everyone concerned.
I have said from the beginning that as much as I think schools should be open, the hard truth is that hybrid school is a waste of time and money. Parents are showing this as well, I think, but not opting in for hybrid.
I'd vote for remote over hybrid. And I think remote is an abomination.
Agreed.
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