“Online schmonline” … that’s how Jamie Bowsher feels when it comes to teaching her students remotely in the Columbus area.
The Wheeling native enjoys being in the classroom with her special education students. One on one. She believes it makes the difference, and, of course, she’s correct. There’s no replacement.
Today’s reality, though, cannot allow such interaction. It has to be delivered on the web or with packets distributed the same time food is offered. At least until the first day of May. She sits at her desk at home and teaches the best she can, but Jamie misses the kids just as much as she misses her hometown.
Jamie is a Wheeling native who manages the “Memories of Wheeling” page on Facebook, a group that has grown to nearly 22,000 members. Posters share many aspects of history of the city and their impressions of the municipality these days following their homecomings. She keeps a close eye on the page to make sure political or personal battles do not overshadow the true intentions of the platform.
Teaching remotely has you bummed out. Why?
Teaching remotely has robbed me of daily face-to-face interaction with my students and my fellow staff members. I feel like I cannot teach as effectively as I do in my classroom. I have students who do not have technology at home, or they are sharing one device with several siblings. I am a special education teacher. I am still required to provide my students with specially designed instruction for the amount of time specified in their IEPs. I also must continue to hold IEP meetings for my students. Much of what I do for my kids is based on observing them, so monitoring progress is difficult this way.
Tell me about a common day when classes still took place in the classroom.
A common day in my classroom? I co-teach with two general education teachers, We work together to plan lessons and to decide how to accommodate our students with disabilities in the general education setting. We start with “bell work,” which consists of the students independently answering a question about what they have learned or to probe their previous knowledge of a topic we are going to introduce. The general ed teacher and I work together to present the lesson. At times. I may pull a group of students to a table to work with them, or I may move around the room to help individual students. I observe my students as they are working, and I document these observations. I check with them to make sure they are understanding what to do, and I often have to reteach or review with them on the spot.
What about now? As far as teaching is concerned, what is a common day these days?
A common day of distance learning? First, I check my email to see if any students and parents have tried to reach me with questions or concerns. I go to my Google Classroom and check if my students have completed assignments. I also check out the Google Classrooms of other teachers who have my students in their classes to check if my kids are checking in and working on assignments. I send a daily message to my students and parents to keep them updated. Every day I meet with students on Zoom. Sometimes the meeting is to present a lesson, and I have done one on one Zoom meetings with individual students to help them with assignments. I have daily “office hours” on Zoom, where kids can log in and ask questions or just talk. I am the middle special education department head, so I have weekly Zoom meetings with the special ed department. I meet weekly with my middle school special education team, science team, middle school department heads, and district department heads. I create assignments on Google Forms and I modify assignments from other teachers. I am still required to hold IEP meetings and to monitor progress for students’ IEPs, so I work on figuring out how to collect data for each kid’s IEP goals. I am holding IEP meetings over the phone or Zoom. I spend every day at my computer from 8:00-3:00, and often beyond those hours.
Do you believe the children have continued to learn?
It is difficult to assess how much the kids are learning. I am not able to observe them in class and assess their understanding in real time. They are taking assessments online, but I cannot be certain if they are doing these on their own, or if parents are coaching them. It is not really authentic assessment. I have some students who are stressed out at the amount of work being sent. I have talked to some students and parents who are in tears, and I have to work with them on strategies for relieving the stress they are feeling.
When life returns to being safe again, will you come home to Wheeling? If so, what do you plan to do?
I do not know when I will be going to Wheeling again. My brother still lives there, so I imagine that I will be going sometime in the future to visit or to celebrate a family event. I find myself visiting less often now that my parents are gone.
