There are approximately seven hours in a typical school day – 420 minutes, 25,000 seconds – and that doesn’t count the time “outside the bell” where our educators are connecting with parents, helping struggling students, or working to prepare lessons. There are countless opportunities within those moments for transformational interactions with students, families and colleagues. In normal circumstances, some of those interactions are public, visible and easy to acknowledge and celebrate.

In our new reality, our educators are displaying unprecedented levels of flexibility, passion and ingenuity around the clock – but behind screens that render much of their hard work invisible. We know that no one goes into teaching for the accolades, but we believe that the work our teachers are undertaking at this moment is incredible and well worthy of praise and celebration.

We know from our on-going conversations with teachers, parents and students that yet again, our Monticello teachers – like teachers everywhere – have this crazy super power to step towards the flames and continue to do whatever it takes to keep our students learning and thriving.

As we move forward in this new reality, we will be featuring some of the ongoing work that our teachers are engaged in, as they (in the words of one of our teacher highlights) “are teaching like our faces are on fire, because that’s exactly how it feels.”

Elisa Mendels, Social Emotional Wellness Facilitator, Cooke Elementary School

Developing social and emotional strength in crisis

Under normal circumstances, Social Emotional Wellness (SEW) Facilitator Elisa Mendels visits each classroom of students at George L. Cooke Elementary School once per week in order to help students learn how to cope with difficult emotions and develop healthy relationships with themselves and with others. They’re important lessons for our students every day, but in the midst of a global pandemic, they’re critically urgent.

Ms. Mendels has been creating videos on topics such as self-care, balancing work and play, stress management, communicating with friends, and getting along with others at the home. The videos, shared with students via the district’s learning management systems and apps, allow for students to reflect and respond to the lesson. This structure has led to an increase in parental engagement, which she hopes to incorporate once students return to a traditional school model.

“I’ve been having a lot of fun with making and posting video lessons and then listening to, watching or reading the responses from the students,” Ms. Mendels said. “They are true gems and make me cry sometimes with their heartfelt responses.”

“I feel like one big benefit from the online learning is that I have more parent contact than ever and they are really getting to see what SEW is about,” Ms. Mendels said. “Parents are helping their children respond and make videos. It makes me realize that we need much more parent contact in regards to social-emotional learning next year, which Ms. Hector and I have been planning.”

Patti Andersen, Lynn Oakley and Debra Sanford, Grade 3, Emma C. Chase Elementary School

Flexibility and fun

Great teachers know that learning must be individualized if all students are to succeed. In times of remote learning, that individualized planning must extend beyond the individual learner to also take into account the needs of the families as well. Some learners, and their families, need structured assignments whereas others need to have more flexibility in order to thrive. Teachers Ms. Andersen and Oakley, along with aide Debra Sanford have risen to the challenge.

The students are primarily working out of math workbooks, with the teachers posting math worksheets each day. As far as ELA work, the pair have included a variety of writing projects that incorporate students’ interests, such as their favorite animal, and different writing prompts each week. One project that was popular with students was the “spring break” project where the teachers asked students to research a vacation spot and create a commercial (and a budget) based upon their research.

The two teachers have teamed up to co-teach both of their sessions, with a well-attended daily live conference via Schoology. Each teacher also has daily office hours for more personalized attention. Some students participate in office hours every day just to chat.

“Our philosophy so far has been to keep it interesting and fun to hopefully hold their attention,” Ms. Andersen said. “We have many more tricks up our sleeve!”

Kristin Mungeer, Inclusion, Robert J. Kaiser Middle School

Routines rock

Kristin Mungeer has created a system of success by keeping students on a routine. From Monday through Thursday, she invites her special education students, and any other struggling students for some one on one attention. On Mondays, she walks students through expectations and helps them to create a check list of tasks. Then, she reviews a skill and leaves students with a task to prepare for Tuesday. On Tuesdays, she begins the time with a check in, and some group reading and discussion and follows the same routine for the remaining core classes on Wednesdays. Thursdays are game days – with students participating in a Kahoot with quiz questions for the week, followed by Scattergories.

“We have amazing students,” she said. “They have taught me so much and bring me so much joy when I am with them. I am so proud of them.”

Karen Collura, English, Monticello High School

Leveraging communication and connection

Monticello High School English Teacher Karen Collura credits communication, connection and consistency with helping students succeed in a remote learning environment. She has created a consistent schedule with meetings on Mondays and Tuesdays and official office hours during class time on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

She has been using a breadth of new platforms to best facilitate the new world of online learning for a variety of needs, such as YouTube videos, online full-text literature, and audio files. She posts work consistently on Schoology, using a variety of formats including reading, text-based writing, creative writing and poetry analysis.

Because she makes it a point to grade routinely, students are held accountable and receive quick feedback on their work. She utilizes Schoology’s editing and chat tools to offer feedback and assessment.

Connection with students is also critical, and she has gone above and beyond in that department, keeping in touch with students through Teams, email, Facebook, Schoology, Instagram, telephone and Snapchat.

“I stopped short of carrier pigeons, because they are really just rats with wings,” she joked.

Structured connection takes place during class meetings, where students not only discuss the subject at hand, but also the state of the world, school and life in general.

“Whenever we end, I always ask if there are any more questions and every single time, one of the beauties will ask when we are coming back,” she said. “Each week, the question is weaker and sadder and my response is more vague and feels fake.”

Emily Woundenberg and Ryan Jasper, Physical Education, Monticello High School

Reimagining physical education in a remote learning environment

Although many people visualize parallel lines of students doing jumping jacks and situps, modern physical education goes beyond heart-pumping workouts to include other educational components. When the schools initially closed, Emily Woundenberg and Ryan Jasper, like many of their colleagues, got a crash course in leading online learning through platforms such as Schoology and Remind.