Third Step: Keeping in the Loop

Again, we have wonderful, bright, compliant, self-motivated students who do not need assistance or interference by their parents to get the job done, and done well. But if you happen to have one of the “other” kinds, the following might be helpful.

And remember, we are all doing the best we can. This is a very unusual situation and we figure this all out as the situation moves along. What we think will work sometimes doesn't and then we fix it. Keep in mind to be compassionate to students, teachers, and yourselves. None of this will be perfect. 

Choose which parent is in charge.Initially you need to assign just one parent to be in charge of all things school, but with the support of the other (e.g., to listen to, to vent to, to cry with, complain to, problem-solve with, and to celebrate with). Having one parent in charge ensures that communication is not lost. Remember, we are all busy and forget to communicate and all have difficulty with follow through. It is almost impossible to stay on top of this COVID-19 homeschool if responsibilities are split between two parents. Choose the person who will be in charge carefully, the one who has the most qualities of attention to detail and structure and reasonable communication skills with others because these skills will be tested, frustrations can mount. Approach all with a problem-solving attitude. 

Know what the teacher(s) expect.Contact each teacher yourself. Do not wait for them to contact you. You need to know WHATis expected by eachof your student’s teachers. This is fairly easy at the elementary level, but it gets much, much more complicated at middle school and high school. Sometimes, teachers use district-wide communication and grading systems, such as Skyward, to post information about requirements for the week for their classes. However, other teachers in the same school will send an email to the student. Some schools will have a standard method of communication that all teachers are asked to follow. You need to know how any one particular teacher prefers to communicate if there is no direction by the district or school. You need to follow through religiously and know what is happening, so contact that teacher and find out how this happens. 

This can be a logistical nightmare.I suggest, if your district does use a district-wide grade and communication system, that you access this each day, ensuring  that you are totally aware of any changes in information in real time by any of the teachers responsible for your student(s). While one teacher may post on Monday, another may post on Wednesday. Accessing this system is fairly easy and just takes a couple of minutes in the morning. If the teacher, especially for middle school or high school, does not use a district-wide system but reaches out to students via email, you need to request to be copied on ANY and ALL emails. This is really important if you have a reluctant learner. In addition, in this age of texts, remember to check your email on a daily basis. Do not be afraid to contact the teacher for explanations, clarifications, and for systems that will work. If all else fails, contact the principal.

How work is graded.Finally, find out if the work is mere suggestions about what the student might do or if the work is graded and is part of the student’s semester grade. Some teachers factor the completed work as participation points, some grade the work, some do not factor the work from home into the semester grade at all. It is important that you know how this work will be considered in the overall scheme, especially for high school students whose credits do count, in order to make good choices about what your student will do during their study time. 

In any case, we are talking about a huge amount of instructional time that cannot be wasted. Yes, we want to be compassionate to your student, to the teachers, and to yourself. But being compassionate does not mean having a six month summer vacation. This is valuable time that cannot be recovered and can be allocated for learning, even if not in school. Think about how to use this time wisely, what is reasonable to expect and what is not. In my opinion as an educator, even if schools do not work well, especially right now, there are multiple avenues for learning and multiple experiences that will advantage your student toward learning and skills and development towards maturity.  We’ll talk about some of these in later posts.

I invite comments, suggestions, ideas. 

If you have questions that I might be able to answer generally, please email me. Please keep in mind that this blog is for suggestions that may or may not work. Here is the disclaimer, professional advice requires much more in-depth information and contact and is beyond the scope of this blog.  email: professorgail2020@gmail.com