‘Like virtual but better’
Some teachers interviewed by Keystone Crossroads were more upbeat about the hybrid model, saying they have been able to provide the in-person instruction their most vulnerable learners need without cutting corners for the students who have remained virtual.
“Hybrid learning is like virtual learning but better,” said Nickarena Gilpen, a second grade teacher at Bywood Elementary School in Upper Darby. “You can still do all the same things you were doing virtually, but for the kids in front of you. For example, they are not clicking off to a YouTube video, because you are right there.”
Gilpen and two of her colleagues said they have been pleasantly surprised by how smooth and successful their transition to hybrid learning has been since it began Jan. 19.
The teachers cite the district’s extensive training on its new technology as one reason for that success. Cameras were installed in classrooms last November, and teachers started practicing with them in their classrooms right away.
They also like that the district set up cameras to show virtual learners both the teacher and the classroom students.
“Our online kids can interact with our in-person kids,” said Amanda George, who teaches third grade at Bywood. “So it really feels like that classroom environment.”
Nicole Miller, the William Penn School District kindergarten teacher, said she too has had moments where she has broken through to her in-persons students in a way that is not always possible through a computer screen.
“Holding a pencil, fine motor skills, tracking print in text: all those things are best taught in person,” Miller said. “And those who come in, we can really get down to the business of kindergarten together!”
For forty minutes each hybrid day, Miller gives her remote students independent assignments and focuses on the few that are in the classroom.
That is something Hakimah Jabbar is grateful for. Her six-year-old son Qasim is in Miller’s class, and has been returning to the school building since hybrid began.
“I feel like he’s getting a private tutor,” said Jabbar, who lives in Yeadon and works from home as a billing specialist at a law firm.
Qasim is a bundle of energy, his mom said, constantly bouncing off the furniture and crawling under the dining room table. Until last month, Jabbar had been balancing her demanding job with monitoring her son’s schooling, all while her three other school-age children did remote learning in the house at the same time. It did not always go well.
“I can’t do two things at once,” Jabbar said. “It has proven really difficult for me.”
Now all of Jabbar’s children are scheduled to go to school every Wednesday.
She’s happy they are getting some classroom time and direct support from their teachers.
She’s also happy, after 11 months, finally to be getting some kid-free time.
“The mornings are quite hectic,” Jabbar said. “But the rest of the day I am able to focus on work a little bit better.”