Feedback from Chappaqua Central School District parents about their experiences with iLearning during what may be a much longer stretch of cyber-schooling than anyone could ever have predicted.
Comments received April 1 – April 2, 2020
“I am an educator and parent of a student in the first grade at Grafflin. I am so pleased with the lessons that his teachers provide including all core subjects and specials such as gym, music, and art. The platform is easy to use and very interactive. You feel as if your teachers are there with you as they have video recorded the lessons and clear directions. The directions and lessons can easily be played multiple times if a student needs extra support. The lessons are multi-sensory, not just all online and the child can submit answers through a chosen method. For example, they are asked to build things and take pictures of what they have built, engage in scavenger hunts; they record themselves singing, and dancing. As my son needs a lot of writing practice, rather than typing, during his writers’ workshop projects, he can use a drawing tool to write his paragraph and illustrate it all on paper. He can choose to just take a picture of his work and submit it or he can even do a video showing his story and reading it to the teacher. It’s very easy. Having options for “type of response” is a very useful tool in supporting all types of learners. Additionally, the supplemental activities provided are websites and passwords set up on very worthwhile educational sites. Lastly, his teacher has started Zoom hang outs where the kids are just so excited to see their wonderful teacher Ms. Schassler and each other. She gives each student a time to share and read a story to them. Lastly, the teacher is available all the time through email and allows students to pace themselves through the work. I could go on and on, actually. I’m very pleased and feel very grateful to live in such a wonderful community. We are very fortunate as it is not like this throughout the country and the world. Thank goodness kids are resilient!” — Karalyne Sperling
“I have two boys – a sophomore and a 8th grader. They both have positive feedback regarding it. According to my sophomore (his words): “With all the things that are happening, a few glitches in iLearning is insignificant.” It has been a learning curve for both the students and the teacher and the experience has been really good for both my kids.” — Madhumita Guha Thakurta
“My son has been doing iLearning and I couldn’t be more impressed. He and I both have been able to independently communicate with his teacher whenever we need to, and he is currently working on a group project online that looks like it’s done by middle school kids (he’s in the third grade). I think this particular teacher has incorporated technology throughout the year, so the transition was much more seamless than I would have expected.” — Jessica Postrygacz
Comments received between March 30th and April 1, 2020:
“The first few days of iLearning were by far the most stressful. We were in a transition and my kids, mainly my spunky 7 year old, highly resisted it. There was a lot of fighting with her in the beginning. The older kids complied with the process more easily but quickly became frustrated when several assignments they thought they had submitted didn’t go through. There were misunderstandings about this and the two of them (separately as they are in different grades) became very stressed about having grades penalized because of misunderstood technical difficulties. Meanwhile, my priority as a parent has been to keep the “vibe” in the house as calm and positive as possible during these strange and stressful days. The way I see it, these kids just had their entire world turned upside down; suddenly they weren’t allowed to see their friends (only virtually), their activities had come to an abrupt halt and they could most definitely sense the stress my husband was feeling about the state of the economy and everything else going on out there.I wanted to shield my kids from any further stress. I was trying to look at the bigger picture and prioritize their mental wellness over grades. At the end of the first week of iLearning I emailed several teachers asking them to be mindful that the kids were going through a lot of changes and might not be able to get all assignments in on time. I told them that my kids were experiencing a lot of stress around being penalized for late assignments. The teachers and administration responded reasonably to my email. I also have had the “pass/fail or grades” discussion with many people; this seems to be a big question out there right now. I personally prefer the pass/fail grading for the rest of this school year because I am prioritizing my family’s mental health and stress management, but I realize there are many opinions on this. As of last week grades were still being given out by some (not all) of my kids teachers. From my perspective full compliance with the official policy* (below) would smooth things out. I am hoping the issues we have had are because we have all been in a transition and the big bumps in the road are now behind us. iLearning does seem to get better day-by-day.”— Sabra Staudenmaier
“The curriculum for middle school is great- it’s just the right amount of work. My first grader who needs the most has over 90 assignments this week; granted they don’t take too long but I do have to sit with her to do them, and then, my 4th grader who is less motivated, requires me to also be on top of her. While the iLearning initiative is great, it still can’t replace the talented teachers we have in the district.” — Stacey Pfeffer
“I have two kids – a 5th grader at Seven Bridges (7B) and a 9th grader at Greeley. I think it’s going okay for them. They’re occupied pretty much all day with work they’ve been assigned. I think the teachers have been working hard to follow their curriculums, although I’ve been disappointed at the lack of live instructional time for my 7B student. So far, only one teacher is using Zoom daily to meet with the students as a group, and it has worked very well to keep the class connected, engaged, and learning in a classroom-like setting. I think more teachers will need to do group face to face instruction if they’re doing remote learning the rest of the school year. My high schooler seems to be having an easier time engaging on a regular basis with her teachers and classmates. Canvas is a fine LMS, but it’s a horrible remote learning system, and it’s made worse by how the teachers use it inconsistently. The notices posted in different areas, the assignments that don’t show up on the calendars, Zoom for conferences, flip grid for videos, YouTube for other videos, etc. It’s a nightmare, and I would be happy to blow Canvas up entirely. LMS software in general is a really user-unfriendly landscape for which many schools pay significant sums though, so I don’t fault the district on this one. There aren’t significantly better platforms yet. I know from previous experience that remote/iLearning/online learning is a very difficult environment for students to feel engaged. It’s also an incredible amount of work for instructors, so I feel for these teachers and appreciate their effort. Overall, I’m impressed with how quickly the District was able to move to this model. Moving forward, I’d like to see the District put in place a week of remote learning every year to keep this emergency plan tuned up and ready to roll out at any time.” — Kate Brady
“This is a challenging and isolating situation for our teachers and children. I think that greatest gift the teachers could give their students is to make sure that the kids are connecting with them and each other. I think this program will be considered a success if the teachers do everything in their power to continue to make learning interactive every class day.” — Deb Notis, co-owner of GAMECHANGER
“I have a son in Freshman year and honestly iLearning for us has been great. Before i get into my opinion I do want to say these are crazy times…we are in unchartered territory here…no one prepared for this. Given this, I think the teachers are doing as good of a job as they can. My son is decently busy, is learning and most importantly, he is busy. The school work is also making him interact with his friends which is predominantly on video calls. This has helped deal with isolation so he doesn’t miss his friends as much. The teachers for most part have been great. I know there have been zoom calls with teachers to talk through any issues/ concerns. The funniest is the PE (physical education) homework…I almost didn’t believe it that the PE teachers are also taking this so seriously. My son has to send in every Friday what he did. I am truly grateful to the teachers and the district.” –– Swati Bhargava
In case you missed it, our interview too with Chappaqua’s School Superinendent, Christine Ackerman: https://www.theinsidepress.com/learning-how-the-kids-are-doing-with-ilearning/
2. Go (back) to the theater. In our last issue, we listed some of the great upcoming performances on the stage in Armonk. The next couple months will give you even more chances to check out your local theaters. Hudson Stage Company’s “Animals Out of Paper,” a love story about a high school teacher and an origami artist, runs until May 14 at Whippoorwill Hall Theatre at the North Castle Library. The following weekend, on May 20 and 21, Lighthouse Youth Theatre will perform “Urinetown” (LYT will perform “Legally Blonde” the following month, June 10-12). From June 3 to 11, you can catch The Armonk Players performance of “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged),” as three actors put on the Bard’s 37 plays in 97 laughter-filled minutes. Finally, catch Spotlight Theatre Company’s production of “The Producers” June 17-26.
