Distance Learning Days at Marian High School
By Claudine Denha
I remember my first day, years ago, walking into Faculty Orientation at Marian High School and being approached by a woman named Tina. She stopped me and brightly stated, “You must be Claudine!” I replied, “Yes, I am.” Then, she pulled me in a tight hug and said, “Welcome to the family! You’ll just love it here.” First thought: whoa, lady I don’t know you! Second thought: are they all like this? Third thought: wow she must love this place. After starting with prayer and being introduced to my new co-workers, I knew I was home. Fast forward thirteen wonderful years and I am the Computers and Business teacher, as well as the facilitator and moderator of the Chaldean Curriculum Project, the Junior Class, and BEAM&R (Business club). I pride myself on being the first and only Chaldean teacher. My 13 years at Marian have flown by and I cannot wait to spend the rest of my career with the wonderful faculty, staff, administration, and students.
This is one of the many stories I can share, because what I love most about Marian High School is the tight knit community and strong relationships we have built. Even during this difficult time, members of the faculty and staff have been brainstorming ways to keep our students involved. So far, we have planned a virtual spirit week, live meditation, daily Morning Prayer and announcements, a Marian 2020 Instagram page to spotlight our amazing seniors, an activities class for students to stay fit, co-curricular group Zoom meetings and videos, daily e-mail updates, and so much more. In fact, I am currently working with my junior team to begin planning next year’s Senior Football gear.
When people ask me what a normal life in the day of a teacher is like, I always respond with, every single day is different. Each morning, I wake up and head to work. Depending on what’s assigned that day or what our all-school activity is determines the volume of the hallways during passing time. At Marian, I’m known as Ms. D or “Queen of the Classroom” as the sign in my classroom says. Students, whether they are in my class or not, often like to come to my room and “spill the tea” i.e. catch me up on gossip, check in to see if I’m all caught up on the latest show we’re watching, or to just talk; I am considered someone they can confide in when they are stressed or need a shoulder to lean on. When I get home I am exhausted, but it is a good exhausted. Then the next day it all begins again. This is what I miss the most while in quarantine.
Since being in quarantine, people have said: A) you must love being home all day; B) this must feel like summer vacation for you; C) you’re not working so you must be relaxing all day. My answer is D) None of the above. This is not a vacation. I am still working, and teaching from home is not easy. I still have to communicate my content to teens who are distraught by the pandemic, yet I don’t get the reward of being able to see them in person. Also, teaching during quarantine is boring compared to a normal day in the life in my classroom. I cannot tell you how much I miss the noise, the chatter, the laughter, the venting…even the uniform violations.
What is life really like for a Marian High School teacher during quarantine you may ask? Education is extremely important to our students and to our school. Marian has implemented a schedule to try to continue as “normal” a school year as possible. A weekly classroom schedule has been executed for students to continue their classroom learning with their teachers. Teachers have an open office hour each morning, followed by students attending two half hour Zoom classes each day. Some sessions include guest speakers, break out groups, games, activities, discussions, and more to boost engagement and continue learning. Classes are still in session and while lessons are considered less intense compared to the usual, students are being educated. For the past year, Marian has been employing Distance Learning Days in case of unforeseen circumstances, so our faculty and students have had a taste of what it feels like to learn from home. Between emergency meetings on March 13 and March 22 while students were on Spring Break, teachers began preparing lessons, creating weekly videos, updating class pages with detailed schedules of assignments, and more - so that when the morning of March 23 hit, we hit the ground running. With this, I can confidently say that our students will be prepared to move forward next year.
Behind the scenes, nothing about our support system or dedication to our students has changed. Our administration is working tirelessly to ensure students’ academic as well as emotional needs are being met. Our guidance department is offering emotional support as well as educational support, preparing class schedules for next year, and getting the seniors ready for college. Weekly virtual staff meetings, completing professional development and meeting and working in our departments are all on the schedule to help us round out and prepare for the next school year.
How will students and teachers at Marian be affected next school year? That’s a great question. Students will not be penalized due to the COVID pandemic and will be enrolled in the next level class that they would be taking had the school year ended as it normally would. Seniors will be graduating and moving onto their next great adventure. My prediction is at the beginning of the next school year that teachers will spend time reviewing lessons; school spirit will increase; we are truly prepared in case God-forbid something like this happens again; and Marian will “Set This Place Apart” as it always does. Smiles will be bigger, relationships will be stronger, students will truly know how much we are dedicated to them and their education and teachers will continue to love and nurture every single young woman into “Strong Women of Mind and Heart.”