Have you heard about the good things that are happening during on-line learning at the Anchorage School District?
We’ve heard a lot about the devastating effects of COVID-19 isolation, but have you heard how students like mine are laughing during Zoom breakouts, playing live math games and collaborating on engineering projects? Has anybody mentioned how severely shy students now have a voice for their first time via Zoom chat? I’ve even witnessed these normally silent sufferers be leaders in breakout sessions.
Students are conducting investigations, doing scavenger hunts and involving their parents in their learning in ways they have never done before.
No, I am not an advocate of online school — in-person learning is critically important. But let’s not kid ourselves — we’re not going back to school as we know it. My students will be confined to a single space, surrounded by plastic guards, seated as far apart as possible. Wearing masks, they won’t see smiles of teachers and peers. Collaboration will be extremely difficult, let alone the socializing they crave. For safety, bathroom breaks, and eating and drinking will be limited; computers, not hands-on materials will still be used for assignments; and teachers will still need to give feedback electronically.
Meanwhile, students who do not feel safe returning may be back to asynchronous learning on their own. Now there is an experiment from last spring we can all agree definitely didn’t work. We will leave students behind.
Yes, isolation is terrible for students. But will they actually feel less isolated in this masked, plastic-wrapped environment? And how will our community feel when just one student or one staff member dies from COVID-19? I just can’t work out that math.
— Lilly Goodman-Allwright
Eagle River
Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.