JOHN MCCAFFREY: I think kids are way more
flexible and able to adjust to new scenarios and routines,
more so than adults.
So I've been pretty surprised, but pleased with how well the
kids have been able to adjust.
MICHAEL LIND: You find that some students
take to this very easily.
Some don't.
At the end of day, these kids--
this is how they communicate.
The second school is over, they go on FaceTime,
and that's how they talk to each other.
So it's very new to them.
And a lot of them, I think they find
it as like a cool way to be interacting
with their teachers.
We've been a school that from day one,
everyone has their own Chromebook.
And everything, you know, Google Classrooms being utilized.
A lot of focus on that, so that transition of working remotely
isn't brand new to them.
And any scholars that had Wi-Fi issues or connection issues,
we were able to work them all to make sure they have
what they need.
JOHN MCCAFFREY: We've had individualized check-ins
with certain students that just aren't showing up online,
or showing up on my roster.
And not just me--
all the teachers at our school are sort of trying to reach out
to the student first, you know, via email,
and then maybe the student and the parent.
NATE JEZAK: So I have about 60% of my students engaged.
But that blows my mind, because that's 40% that
are out in the wind somewhere.
For those kids, typically the ones
who don't have the internet, have provided packets for them,
so they can do things kind of the old fashioned way.
Just because you're trying to get the equity of education--
that's a real stalemate, is that getting equity of education
for the kids who are--
have the financial means and have the technology
and the ones who don't.
MICHAEL LIND: We have office hours every single day
between 3:00 and 4:00.
We encourage them to join on.
Whether it's academic or social or just a conversation,
the more comfortable they feel with this,
the better it's been.
JOHN MCCAFFREY: I tell the kids I'm available at any time.
And we use Google Classroom too, so they can post, and sort
of use that as a message board.
So far, because the site we're using has video for lessons,
like built into the site, it tied directly to the questions
that we get.
I posted those and let them run a week,
and let the kids work at their own pace,
and reach out to me if they have more questions on it.
It wouldn't be fair to move on with new material,
because there's definitely students that
need accommodations, that need some of the extra resources
and help that they get when they're
at school, that they wouldn't be able to get
now that we're at home.
MICHAEL LIND: We're doing everything from--
for example, you know, one of the contests of my class
was giving a house tour with me, so just things
that you can't do with students being in a classroom.
You're finding other ways to become involved,
whether that's show and tell, whether every single day
during lunch our elected teachers run a program,
whether that's like a wellness 20-minute segment,
or like an art show.
Whatever it is, they're trying to bring
as much positive and engagement as they can.
NATE JEZAK: I'm really encouraging my students
to obviously not go out and be with people, but go outside
and get some fresh air in the backyard.
Make sure you're opening the windows.
Don't just stay cooped up in the house.
Encouraging them to try some new things,
show them stuff like me baking muffins.
I'm also highly into the arts.
So I would share some of either how I write a song,
or how I make a piece of art.
JOHN MCCAFFREY: Probably something I would take with me
back in the school in September-- hoping
that we go back in September--
I think it would make me want to be even
more on top of that the way--
my use of my time, and the way I put the lessons out
there to kids, and sort of map out the curriculum,
and how I'm going to cover it.
NATE JEZAK: What I'm really hoping is that not only does
it-- do we-- do we push forward into remote learning with
regular learning, but then also work on community
relationships, where kids now work in nursing homes,
or with fields that they might be interested in--
start getting that experience towards more of a career path.