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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, APRIL 12, 2020
HOME SCHOOLING
How school teachers are navigating online learning
BY ROSE ADAMS
As classrooms move
online to prevent the
spread of the novel coronavirus,
elementary
school teachers have
scrambled to find ways
to engage students — a
challenge they face even
in the classroom.
Educators had only
one week to cobble together
online lesson
plans after the mayor and
Schools Chancellor Richard
Carranza announced
on March 13 that city’s
1,600 schools would close
to stop the spread of the
virus. Schools will likely
remain closed through
the end of the school year,
Mayor Bill de Blasio said
ten days later.
Every public school,
including preschools,
must institute some type
of remote learning during
the closures, although
schools are free to decide
how to implement it.
To help make sure that
the city’s 300,000 students
without reliable internet
access at home remain
connected during this
time, the Department of
Education has been providing
LTE-enabled iPads
to children in need,
a spokesperson for the
agency said.
But even for the students
with access to internet,
the switch to online
classes hasn’t been
easy — especially for
younger children who
need constant direction
to remain engaged.
One third grade
teacher in Coney Island
said she uses a wide
range of online resources
to recreate the lessons
and activities students
complete at school, but
with added downtime.
“We’re trying to
loosely mirror the schedule
we would have in a
normal day, but we incorporate
a lot of breaks,”
said Dichaba McGinty, a
teacher at PS 90. “There
are alternating 20 and 25
minute breaks.”
McGinty’s 24 students
start the day chatting in
a video conference before
completing assignments
posted for them on Google
Classroom. The assignments
often redirect students
to McGinty’s prerecorded
presentations,
math problems on Kahn
Academy, or reading
material on ReadWorks.
Meanwhile, McGinty remains
online to answer
the students’ questions
— many of which revolve
around technical difficulties.
“There’s been a learning
curve for the students
and for me,” she said. “A
lot of of what our communications
have been
about are the sort of unprecedented
things the
kids don’t know how to
navigate.”
Sarah Mallory, an art
teacher at a Cobble Hill
charter school, also uses
a range of devices to connect
with her students.
Every week, she posts a
weekly “art challenge”
online, and calls a set
number of students on
FaceTime every day to
check in on their progress.
“I’ll ask them questions
about what they’re
making, give them a compliment,
suggest ways
that their project can
go,” said Mallory, who
teaches kindergarten
through fourth grade at
Success Academy. “Then
kids send me their drawing
projects over the
week.”
Mallory posts the students’
projects every
week on Instagram so
that other students can
see them and respond
to them — just as they
would in normal, in-person
art class.
To lessen the burden of
remote learning, Governor
Andrew Cuomo officially
called off standardized
testing statewide on
March 20. While teachers
still worry about their
students falling behind,
many say that the online
shift has allowed for a
new type of learning and
deeper connections with
their students.
“Students are so excited
to be on FaceTime.
It’s honestly like seeing
an old friend or a family
member,” Mallory said.
“I’ve also had a couple
parents who are working
with their kids on the art
projects. It’s been really
fun to get to know everyone.”
Aiden Nolasco (left) shows off his Pokemon drawing and Mona Dillon (right) points to her camel.
Photo by Success Academy
Cops cuff woman for socail distance killing
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Police arrested the 32-year-old
woman on April 2 suspected of killing
an 86-year-old woman at Woodhull
Hospital for not practicing
proper social distancing.
Cops charged Crown Heights resident
Cassandra Lundy with manslaughter
and assault for allegedly
shoving Williamsburg senior Janie
Marshall to the ground at the Broadway
medical facility on March 28.
Marshall was walking in the
emergency room and stopped to hold
onto the suspect’s intravenous pole
when the younger woman got mad at
her for not keeping a safe distance of
six feet, causing her to shove the elder
woman to the ground, knocking
her unconscious.
After medical staff pronounced
her dead later that same day, cops arrested
Lundy on the slew of charges,
according to a police spokesman. The 86-year-old woman died at Woodhull
Hospital. Google
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