This is Not Distance Learning; it’s Crisis Schooling
BY CRYSTAL KASSAB JABIRO
On a Wednesday after school, the teachers in West Bloomfield received an email from the district telling us that we were canceling school on Friday so that we can plan for a shutdown in case we need it. Our jaws dropped. For me, I had not watched the news the night before to even know there was one case of Covid-19 in Oakland County and that Governor Gretchen Whitmer had already declared a state of emergency.
That Friday, the teachers and curriculum specialists in West Bloomfield planned two “Cloud Learning” weeks out, like rock stars. Our administrators and support staff also made sure that every family who needed a Chromebook would get one, and that every child who needed a meal would be provided with one. We felt confident about our plans and were ready to begin Monday. Right when it was time to leave, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency.
The first week of online schooling was challenging in a couple of ways. Not only am I a middle-school teacher, but also I am a mom of two middle-schoolers. I had to tend to 140 students from 9-3, and I also had to make sure my own two kids were engaged in learning and producing top-notch work without bickering. I had to cook and clean as usual and keep up with my doctoral courses. The Detroit Free Press even came to my house to interview us and take pictures to introduce the distance learning concept. All three of us were seated at the kitchen table in a warm house, each with our own quality laptops connected to high-speed internet.
Unfortunately, it was not like that for every student in Michigan.
In West Bloomfield where I teach and where my son attends, we are blessed with resources, and with a median income of more than $80,000, most of the families in the district also have the means to provide for online learning and other needs, like food and heat. Other nearby districts were not so fortunate. While West Bloomfield was lauded for its efforts, it also helped to highlight the inequities in Michigan’s educational system.
The students in affluent districts could absorb a couple of weeks off of school and they will likely be fine; students in disadvantaged areas would likely not fare as well. This would only widen the opportunity gaps that already exist.
Technology can be costly for people who are low-income. Even though people have iPhones, they might have to buy minutes so their time and money is limited. And not everyone has the Internet- or even a reliable connection. Forty percent of Detroit’s families, for example, do not have internet. Some areas of Menominee in the Upper Peninsula do not have good reception anyways, so a fraction of their students will be using a “paper and pencil” plan.
On April 2, Governor Whitmer shut schools down for the rest of the academic year. We recognized the need to simplify the rest of the semester. For secondary students, teachers are doing a one-hour live Zoom a day that can be used and split-up at their discretion, and we only have to meet with each class once a week on a designated day. We will continue to use Google Classroom and students will be graded pass/fail at the end. Other districts are enacting similar plans.
This is no longer distance learning. This is crisis schooling. This is not normal for anyone.
Contrary to popular belief, kids WANT to go to school, if not for anything but for the socialization. Riding the bus, seeing their friends, making TikToks in the morning, and eating lunch together-- these are the cool things about middle school. However, they also want to be in the classroom, interacting with their teachers and classmates.
Students need to be independent now, and they have to effectively manage their time. They want to learn. They want to succeed. They want their teachers to know they can do this. And they want it more when their parents encourage it.
We all are lamenting in our own ways because we are not doing the usual things we do, like going to school and to work or to the gym or to Nana’s. We watch a live mass on YouTube and stay in our cars for adoration. We leave the house in masks and gloves and we clean all the groceries with Clorox wipes.
With that, the kids also have to learn to control their emotions. They are actually grieving. Most of them have not hugged their grandparents and other loved ones in weeks. They have not been able to go outside and play with their friends. They have not all had enough food or heat or books or love. It is especially difficult for kids who do not have many confidantes or whose parents are restless and violent.
One thing that we have to show our kids and their families is empathy. The social/emotional learning of the child and the mental health of the family is very important. We do not know what is happening in each home, and that affects student achievement whether we meet online or in person. Kids could be grappling with parents who are not home because they are in the medical field or they are other essential workers. They could be fighting with their siblings. Or maybe they are dealing with the death of a loved one. We need to take the pressure off everyone a bit, especially for parents who are still working and do not have the energy to review their kids’ assignments. Even I barely check.
I love what I do but I don’t like what this is. Neither do most educators and kids. It’s heartbreaking actually. It is overwhelming at times for me as the teacher and the single mom while I cope with everything else. But we have to have faith and we have to care for others and do our part. A little grace will go a long way.