Grading the start of a challenging school year

LACONIA — Remote instruction has created challenges for attendance, student performance and socialization, teachers and administrators said this week as they looked back on three months of instruction colored by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

A total of 150 students at Laconia High School failed classes last spring after classes went remote, Superintendent Steve Tucker said. Initially, 20 percent of students weren’t logging in, prompting a major outreach effort by teachers and administrators.

Remediation efforts were available, including summer school, and it appears these failures didn’t greatly affect the graduation rate. A relatively low number of students graduated, 97, but that was related to an unusually small class size more than any other factor, Tucker said.

On some days, attendance now is well above 90 percent, but there’s also some students who have fallen off the academic radar screen.

“There’s a handful of families we are not in communication with and we also have some kids who have attendance issues,” Tucker said.

With students on a hybrid schedule — one day remote and the next in class — teachers struggle to find a way to keep young people engaged and busy even when they are not in school.

Good intentions

The worsening of the pandemic has prevented the district from offering as much in-person instruction as had been hoped.

“We feel like the best case scenario is for kids to be in school with us,” Tucker said. “That’s when kids do their best.”

Every effort is being made to make contact with children who are absent, but attendance is just part of the educational challenge in the time of COVID-19.

“I would say that just because a kid is getting the work done, even taking Advanced Placement courses online, that doesn't mean they are doing well,” Tucker said. “There is a great value of kids having that social experience at school with peers.

“If you look back to your own experiences in the school community, and your own memories, learning is a social experience. I think something is lost when it’s not face to face.”

School anxiety 

Jessica Conrad, student assistance counselor at the high school, said young people have to be self starters on the days when they are working from home. There are Zoom meetings, but the key is for students not to regard this as a day off.

The students face other challenges as well.

“I definitely think there is a little more stress than usual,” she said. “There’s anxiety about being in the building.”

Some young people are also worried that their parents or grandparents might get COVID-19.

On the positive side, disciplinary problems are down. Also, this pandemic may make students more appreciative of the regular high school routine when things return to normal, Conrad said. 

In-person popular

Gilford School Superintendent Kirk Beitler said that at the district’s high school, 80 students are in remote learning and about 400 are attending in person. At the middle school, about 45 are attending remotely and 290 are in person. At the elementary school, 50 are in remote learning and 280 are in person.

Attendance has been 90 percent or higher. Classes have had to go remote at some times, but through November, there were 51 days of in-person instruction.

Beitler said in-person instruction makes one aspect of teaching easier — it's more apparent when a student grasps a concept. 

“You can check for that understanding. You can see it in their face if they are struggling. If we are all remote, students may be able to hide misunderstanding or confusion a little easier,” Beitler said.

Social aspect

“Also, being in person in the school with teachers and with other students, there are learning experiences we go through and shape the way we carry ourselves. You interact with people and there are important moments as well.”

He said this year has been like a roller coaster.

“It's tough work. I know teachers are working hard along with students, families. Everything is just a little more challenging this year.

“I'm happy with where things are at educationally, but I know people are getting tired, and I think all of it weighs heavy at certain times.”

Early grade remote

Rebecca Bedard is a kindergarten and first grade remote teacher at Gilford Elementary School who says parents are active partners in the educational process.

“I am prepping ahead of time, and families are coming and picking up packets of work,” she said.

“There’s a huge responsibility on the parents behalf, especially because the children are so young, they can't get on to Google Classrooms and read. Parents are a huge part of what I'm doing. I’m lucky to have great families involved who are supportive of me and their kids have been awesome.

The goal is to let the children learn to be responsible, to instill independence and get them thinking for themselves.

All this would be easier in a school setting.

“It’s always better if they are here immersed in the school culture,” she said. “There’s the social aspect, hands on, playing outside, learning how to be part of a group, but at this time the health of some children is an issue. For some families, this is the best choice for them.”

The kids are on a computer screen for 30 to 45 minutes at a time, or upwards of four hours a day. She tries to mix things up and give them adequate breaks.

One thing that hasn’t changed is a teacher reading to students.

Recently, she read them the always popular folk tale, “The Gingerbread Man.” Books by Jan Brett are also a hit.

“We’re doing lots of theme things around being grateful.”