Thank you Downingtown Area School District (DASD) for your efforts to determine an effective and safe means to provide teaching and learning during these trying times. While I’m sure many families have their reasons for choosing cyber, and Cyber Academy specifically, I think DASD needs to consider why so many families are examining virtual learning now versus in-person.  For many, it is because they are concerned for the safety of their children, friends, teachers, family, and staff, and not because they think their child or children are better suited for cyber than in-person learning.  For students who do thrive in cyber, please keep the Cyber Academy as it is currently structured. For those that are concerned about returning their kids to brick and mortar for safety reasons, but would still like a virtual learning option, I suggest the following structure to be adapted as needed for different grades and skill sets.

Sample Elementary 4th grade schedule:

8:50 – virtual homeroom / ELA. Teacher collects attendance (list of participants provided in application). Teacher goes over typical things as they always do during homeroom. Move into ELA for direct instruction and a combination of independent assignments for the students to turn in (turn in via platforms used in spring) or discuss as a class as teacher sees fit. This will also include breakout rooms, as would be deemed beneficial based on the topic, where a smaller group of students are broken into separate groups to collaborate and discuss.  At the end of independent learning or breakout rooms, the students all return to the virtual classroom together and discuss what was taught or what the breakout rooms determined. Update:please note that how this time is used will be determined by the teacher and will be a combination of direct teaching (screen time and seeing and hearing your teacher live), breakout discussion rooms (screen time and direct interaction with classmates), and independent learning time to complete the teacher’s assignments (off screen).

Note: I have personally taught in this format for the past three months – including screen sharing and breakout rooms using Zoom for kids ranging in age from four to twelve.  Zoom is not the only application however. I believe Microsoft Teams and possibly Google Classroom also have these features. They are easy to learn for adults and kids. This structure can be utilized for every subject as the teacher feels is best.

9:50 – next subject same as above

11:00 – next subject same as above

12:00 – lunch. Allow kids to eat independently or to join one of their classes virtually to chat during lunch. This can also be a time when kids can form their own “table” to meet with who they would normally sit with via the application chosen, or whatever way the child and family determine is appropriate.

12:45-1:45 – next subject (could be recess/gym type activity for younger kids)

1:50 – next subject

2:50 – next subject

3:30 – dismissal

Please consider this virtual classroom model for the upcoming school year 2020/2021. Many parents are looking to keep the virtual learning format structured and as similar as possible to what our children are used to in their brick and mortar schools. Thank you.