Share a positive example of the effects of research on children and/or families: Perhaps you can provide real-life examples of research benefits to children and/or families; maybe you are familiar with stories of people who have been positively affected by research; or you came across a published research article concerning children or families which you find exciting and would like to share with your colleagues.
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In today's crisis of the Coronavirus-19 pandemic, I came across an article that caught my attention regarding how schools will provide special education services to children. I found this to be interesting because schools are currently closed until March 27 in the county I work, however, the time may be extended. Therefore, special educators and programs are missing mandatory state deadlines, evaluation deadlines, compliance, and progress reports etc.
The article called "How will schools provide special education during the Coronavirus Crisis?" by Corey Mitchell discusses the factors that schools face during this time including unclear of the state laws, not enough guidance from the U.S. Department of Education, unwilling to excuse some of these meetings due to the state of emergency and not being able to fully conduct online learning due to state and federal mandates ( Mitchell, 2020).
So classmates, what is your state or county having educators do during this week to support children and their families?
We are being asked to send children and their families packets of work to reinforce the curriculum and to check in with them to ask questions about their assignments and to assist them if needed. I have to document what was sent home to each family in order to prove that some work was done by children during this time out of school.
I am hoping that the Maryland Department of Education will waive some days due to the state of emergency and the crisis that is occurring everywhere.
Mitchell, C. (2020). How Will Schools Provide Special Education During the Coronavirus Crisis? Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/19/are-we-going-to-get-ourselves-in.html
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting and sad time that we are going through. The county I live in have children doing online work at least up until March 31st. I have been fortunate to be able to be at home with my children during this time, however I know it is difficult for parents that still are working. Online work for students can be very difficult and with out help it is worse. I am in the process of getting my child service through school so we have been able to set up Zoom conferences. The teachers also set up weekly meetings with the students to review and teach lessons. Is your county using Zoom or any other online video method? I pray daily this pandemic hurries and comes to an end.
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this. It's very interesting considering everything that we are going through as a country right now. I also teach in PG county here in Maryland. Our last day of school we sent home large work packets for our students, and I also created "grab bags" for them. These bags included pencils, crayons, markers, and three or four books from my own classroom library. I've been communicating with a few parents through our class dojo platform, but sadly I did not have all parents sign up with me. I am nervous for the outcomes of my students. Do you think that we will get a platform for online learning that reaches across all grade levels? I'm hoping that they will work for ALL students.
Hi Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI was just talking about this with a few of my Sorority sisters who are special educators. The have been told to provide work packets for their students as well but it is difficult to provide services. One of my sorors is an occupational therapist. There is only so much she can do with her students because her service is hands-on. Both of my sorors are also having issues with conducting IEP meetings. My other soror is conducting video chats with her students and recording each session as her proof that she serviced her students. I teach in PG County as well. I sent home hard copies of their packets as well as uploaded it to Google Classroom. I have kept in conctact with parents via Google Classroom and ClassDojo. I utilized Google Meet to try to physically see my students. IF they extend this closure further, I'm concerned how it will affect them when they return to school, if they return to school this year.
Hi Jamie, I enjoyed reading your post. It reflected the situation that is we are facing currently. I am worried about how it is going to affect children across the world. I work at Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center and classes are still taking place. The teachers have been labeled essential and must report to work as usual. The classrooms are small and the number of students usually range between 8 to 12 students. They are not able to follow social distance because the school is very small.
ReplyDeleteHello Jamie,
ReplyDeleteThis is a good resource and discussion on what is happening in our education world today. One point is that just as much as parents and children are having to adjust to the change so is the teacher and the other entities that are trying to make sure children are receiving the serves they need. It is new to us all.