Lessons from remote learning

Teachers, families now more prepared for instruction outside of the classroom

Remote learning doesn't mean constantly being glued to computer screens.

For fifth-graders in the Coeur d'Alene School District, it also means connecting the present to pieces of local history like the Route of the Hiawatha, Farragut State Park and the Pulaski Trail.

"We did a few field trips, that was my favorite part,” Ramsey Magnet School of Science fifth-grader Karter Engebretsen said Monday. "The Fire of 1910, most of (the Pulaski Trail) had all these monuments built into a rock or something and you can learn a bunch about it and have fun."

In Karter's house, learning became a family affair. He and his parents and little brother ventured out to historical sites in the area to see for themselves the historical locations that lend themselves to applications of reading, writing and math while incorporating those important lessons of the past.

"We went up there and explored to get an idea of what the Great Fire was all about," said Karter's mom, Monica Lang. "We did that with both the big projects they gave to us. The first was about Farragut State Park. We first watched the video his teacher put out, then we worked on the projects and went up to Farragut State Park and took a tour.

"We looked at the monuments and turned it into hands-on, that way the boys could actually see it first person," Lang continued. "From our kindergartner to our fifth-grader to us, the adults, we learned something we didn't even know about the Great Fire and Farragut. As a family, it was really cool to be curious in such crazy times."

"What was kind of cool," said Hayden Meadows fifth-grade teacher Sharyl Rasmussen. "Here's these families, we’re quarantined, not allowed to go out, but the state park was still open and you could still go and enjoy that day there. For some of the families, it was their outlet, their way to do anything. The way it was tied to the kids and their learning was really cool."

Integrating local history into lessons across the disciplines while referencing the present-day pandemic was the quick work of Coeur d'Alene's fifth-grade instructional team. Teachers had to change everything overnight when schools closed. With the guidance of curriculum director Katie Graupman, they worked to create lesson plans that would be memorable for their students. This included the essential question: How do we rebuild after disasters?

"As teachers, we were learning right along with our kids," said Karter's teacher Mandi Ferguson, who serves as a lead on the fifth grade instructional team. "Learning along with them helped with the excitement."

It was bumpy in the beginning as everyone adjusted to the new world of remote instruction. Connectivity was, and continues to be, an issue, especially for students in rural areas.

"I think the hardest thing was, as we were trying to put these together and thinking about families who don't have the technology or internet access," Ferguson said, adding that this conversation happened every day.

Some teachers printed packets and hand-delivered them to students from a safe physical distance to ensure no child was without the necessary worksheets.

"It was a challenge to be learning to use the different technologies," Rasmussen said. "We were all learning so much. For example, how do you Zoom? We’d never met as a class in a Zoom meeting."

Rasmussen, who is finishing her 31st year in the school district, said it has been a priority to keep students engaged while not increasing the burden on families.

"We wanted to be mindful and not overwhelming these parents who were now their children’s teachers," she said.

Ferguson said they called it "having grace for each other."

"There are teachers across our district who are having one-on-one meetings or small group meetings, working on meeting their social-emotional needs,” Ferguson said. "I think it’s been powerful for us to learn how to do this and have grace for these families, these kids. The sky has been the limit on supporting them."

If a second wave of COVID-19 strikes and public education is required to go remote this fall, teachers and families in Coeur d'Alene will be much more prepared.

Lang said she feels like her boys are right where they need to be to be ready for the next grade level. Karter agreed.

"It’s great because our teacher was available from 10 to 12 (noon) every single day of the week to help us with our math or reading or writing,” Karter said. “It just helped me so much. It was so much easier than, 'Here’s a bunch of packs of paper, do this, it’s due by Monday.'"

"This is a big job" Rasmussen said. "You don't know what success looks like, you don't know how to be successful because you've never done it before. We didn’t want to fail for our kids."

"We’re going to be resilient," Ferguson said. "Brand new kids, brand new parents. If we have to do this all over again, that’s what we'll do, and we'll support each other along the way.”