Due to concerns about the coronavirus, many public school districts have chosen to do their classes over Zoom. However, not all classes have translated well to being online; particularly those with young children.
A tweet from user @GhibliGal, which is now unavailable, describes how her daughter was snapped at by her teacher when her daughter turned around to get her computer charger. GhibliGal, who says she sits in on all her children’s Zoom lessons, said “Go ahead, let the computer die!”, which prompted the teacher to apologize.
In an article by the Washington Post, teacher Sarah Perez says her son was kicked out of a Zoom lesson after he turned off his camera to use the bathroom, and her children have been locked out of classes before after issues with their internet.
“I feel like there’s no acknowledgement of these children as people. We’ve just moved the over-policing of schools to our homes,” she says.
Another parent in the article, Sadie Barnett, says her 9-year-old daughter has classes on Zoom for six and a half hours per day, and is not allowed to turn off her camera during that time until lunch. She also is not allowed to eat or drink on camera, or wear pajamas.
Admittedly, my experiences with Zoom classes have been benign, but I am also only doing one a day. The rest of my classes are either in person or do not meet over Zoom, instead just simply assigning things.
My brothers, three of whom are still of school-age, say they have not had any issues with online learning, though one says his school switched from K12 to Microsoft Teams after a student was arrested for launching a cyberattack against their school’s computer network.
Other students, however, have more to worry about than teachers being controlling during class. They also have to worry about teachers calling the police on them. A sixth-grader in New Jersey was kicked out of his Zoom class, suspended from school, and had police sent to his home after his teacher saw him playing with a Nerf gun during class. A seventh-grader in Colorado faced the same fate on Aug. 27 for the same reason.
An article by the Boston Globe tells several stories about parents who had the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families called on them for a number of disproportionate issues, such as students missing classes or not turning in homework. Several of these parents are minorities or have children with special needs.
One mother, a Spanish-speaking immigrant, had DCF called on her after reaching out to a school therapist to ask for help with her son’s behavior. Another received a call from DCF after school staff reported a “naked adult male” had appeared on her daughter’s Google Meet camera. The “adult male” was her son, a six year old with autism.
The Massachusetts DCF released a tip sheet on June 1, giving teachers a list of questions to ask their students during calls and a guide for when to file a report with DCF. The first two conditions on the guide can be summed up as “the parent is unreachable after multiple documented attempts” and “the student is completely skipping class and ignoring or refusing attempts to provide resources.” One of the guides mentions seeing “weapons within reach.” I could not find a similar tip sheet for teachers in Arkansas.
I want to bring attention to the words “multiple,” “ignoring” and “refusing.” Many of the stories mentioned in this column had the police or DCF contacted on the first offense. The Boston Globe article mentions two parents who were reported to DCF because their children had not been present in online lessons, but they were unable to attend such lessons because, without Facebook and email, they did not receive information about getting laptops and internet access from the school. You can’t “ignore” or “refuse” something you don’t know about.
As for the “weapons within reach” quote, a Nerf gun is not a weapon. It is possible to do harm with them, sure, but that’s because they’re made of hard plastic and springs, not because they’re actual guns. And while I understand that having guns in regular school would be an obvious immediate danger to student health, what is a student learning virtually going to do, shoot their webcam?
Then there is the issue of constant control. In several virtual learning horror stories I have heard, students are expected to sit at a desk, fully dressed or in uniform, paying complete and total attention to the screen. I realize that this is what is expected of students in normal, in-person learning, but teachers need to realize that we lost our “normal” in March. This is the time to experiment with giving students freedom, not cling even tighter to control.
I understand that teachers need to keep some control of their classes, but I believe students will be able to focus if they are able to satisfy their needs. I can’t count the number of times I was unable to focus during in-person learning because I was too focused on being hungry, cold or having to use the bathroom. Now that students are at home and able to access food and comfort, allow them to use it.
Take small breaks during your lessons to allow your students to use the bathroom or get a drink, especially if you have a long class. Allow students to eat or drink during your lessons as long as they’re not being distracting. Don’t require students to have their cameras on at all times, especially if they tell you that they cannot use their cameras due to poor internet connection.
Further research found an article that told students to wear headphones, “look presentable,” “not waste the teacher’s time,” avoid using virtual backgrounds, and “stay out of” the chat feature of your virtual classroom. All of this, to me, is horrible advice. One sentence says, “this is not the time or place to chat about Minecraft or what you had for breakfast.” Again, nonsense.
The classes where I have really felt the most connected to the lecture, where I have “checked in” the most, were the classes where I could use the chat freely to talk to my classmates. Having that side chatter, which is usually related to the lesson, keeps everyone in a good mood and focused. Even if we’re all making jokes or commenting on someone’s Zoom background, we’re looking at the screen instead of our phones, walls or ceilings. Isn’t that the goal?
When I am doing a Zoom class, I am sitting at my desk and may occasionally take notes, but that’s my choice, not a requirement. I do my best to pay attention, but will often get distracted by my posters, or my thoughts, or a snack, because that’s just how I am as a person. I’m usually wearing my pajamas and drinking out of an obnoxious glass. The relaxed attitude of it helps me focus because I’m not worried about being comfortable.
As challenging as learning during COVID is, I think it would be a lot easier for everyone involved if we treat students like people, rather than a herd of cats. Your students will have an easier time learning if they aren’t forced into a box, and you’ll likely have an easier time of teaching if you aren’t so focused on total control.
For extra reading, Chronicle and Mom.com both have good articles on how to best teach virtually, and how to help your child learn virtually, respectively.
Categories: Opinion
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