Technology is our friend…when used appropriately. We have seen how technology has enabled students access at home to their education during a pandemic when it was not safe for them to be in-person. Another way technology can be our friend is in teaching children social-emotional learning. Now it is not a requirement to purchase social-emotional learning curriculum. If you are constrained with a budget, there are many great free resources on the internet. I created a Padlet last year when our school district transitioned to remote learning but I still needed to continue with my counseling services for students I worked with. Videos were curated from different sites including YouTube. I will be adding more, as I go. Feel free to use it and share.
Finding the Positives During a Pandemic
Although students are not being taught in the traditional form during this national pandemic, students are still receiving support, but in a nontraditional way. It has been a learning curve for students, parents, and staff on how to transition from an at school to an online learning educational atmosphere. As a School Psychologist, during crisis situations, we play a role to collaborate and support staff, students, and parents. Now that it has been almost three months since the school closures, it gives me time to reflect on my observations during this time. As I facilitate my counseling groups, I like to discuss positives before the negatives or challenges presented, so I will follow that, and start with the positives. How can we see positives during a pandemic? Let’s try.
Publicly Smart to Privately Normal
Our country boasts itself on our “equal education for all” constitutional right, yet it’s no hidden secret that our educational system in this country has an extreme gap in equality. Private schools are known to have higher quality education than public schools, as you have to pay tuition to attend rather than paid for by the government, but what about public to public schools?
I remember watching a documentary clip in one of my college psychology classes comparing the resources and educational experience of two public schools, one in a lower-economic status community and the other in a middle-to-upper-class neighborhood. The contrasts were dramatic. The school in the lower-economic status community hardly had any books available in the library for students to read. Their textbooks were outdated, and a PE teacher who seemed to have no grasp on the concepts the students were to learn led their science classes. Not only were resources limited along with the teacher’s knowledge of the subject, but also the students seemed to be less motivated to excel because of the lack of support in the school. In contrast, the school in the middle to upper class community had an array of books, in good condition, available in the library.
The students were learning higher concepts in their science class including hands on experiments. They also were able to go on school trips to the aquarium, zoo, etc. that the students at the other school didn’t have the funding to do. They seemed much more interactive in the classroom and prepared to continue on the higher education route. I asked a friend to write about her educational experience. Below Melody* anecdotes some of the challenges she faced when transitioning from a public school to a private school:
As an only child, with two very supportive, hands-on parents, I was continuously encouraged and told how great I was with everything I wanted to do whether I failed or succeeded. When I was in 2nd grade, I went to a well-ranked public school in the LAUSD. There were 25 kids to a class, a teacher and a teacher’s assistant, a 25:2 ratio. I was classified as "gifted" and placed in to a "Gifted Program". For a couple hours a day we would have one teacher give us special attention and we would work on more advanced subjects- maybe that of 3rd or a 4th grade skill level rather than 2nd grade. After the 3rd grade, our family relocated and I was enrolled in to a small private school. Even though I was in the “gifted program” in the previous school, when I started classes at the new school I became overwhelmed by the more challenging curriculum and workload. I remember one particular time; there was a Spelling Book that we had to complete a chapter in every week. It had a number of activities to learn to spell, and use correct grammar and punctuation. It was at such an advanced level that even the gifted program hadn't prepared me. I grew so frustrated that I couldn't complete the activities on time, they were too hard, I didn't understand the instructions, and I started to throw tantrums. Every morning my parents would literally have to drag me to school as I cried. My Dad later told me that during that time I had written a letter to the tooth fairy that said, "I am very sad and something bad is going to happen..." That would worry any parent. It got so bad that my teacher had to meet with my parents because she was so concerned. She said I had dark circles under my eyes and I wasn't making any friends. However, after I started to get personalized hands on extra help from my parents, tutors, and my teacher I grew more confident and happy. I started to make friends, keep up with the workload, and the rest was history. I was always a good student; I didn't have to try very hard to get A's, B's and the occasional C. I didn't take AP's in high school, but I still managed to do well continually through college. That one transitional period from public to private really threw me off for half of a year. I was always told how smart and capable I was and when I got to a place where I was the norm, things grew difficult. I thought everyone was extremely gifted at my private school, but I soon learned that though the syllabus was at a higher caliber than public school, people still struggled with different learning disabilities just the same.
Melody was able to overcome some of her challenges by having supportive and encouraging parents and also a supportive group of teachers and tutors. But what about those students who don’t have that supportive family and academic resources to lean on, how will they overcome their challenges? This is why funding for public schools, after-school programs, and ensuring teachers are quality-educated is important.
*Name changed