Name Carolyn Gassmann

EPPSP Group 39
Butler University

The Experiential Program for Preparing School Principals

STANDARD:
3: Develop and employ an innovative curricular/instructional idea and evaluate its effectiveness
– Based on data analysis and research of best practice, conceptualize a new
curricular/instructional practice. Develop appropriate strategies for their implementation. Once
the practice has been fully implemented, evaluate the outcome of the idea.

Summary:
It is no secret that Covid-19 has played a major role in shaping the 2020-2021 school year since
its inception in August. When the decisions were made about how students would be returning
to school, Lawrence Township made it clear that students at the elementary level would be
given the choice as to whether they would be returning in person or virtually. From that data, the
district gave each school autonomy as to how they would like to structure their virtual
instruction. Based on need, some schools chose to designate a teacher fully to the virtual
students in a grade level. Other schools chose to have their teachers work with their entire
roster of students, both in the classroom and virtually via Zoom. The school in which I work took
the latter approach to the hybrid environment.

In my first grade classroom, this hybrid environment has adapted and shifted throughout the
school year, but as we near the end of the year I feel as though I am ready to evaluate the
effectiveness of this system.

Before reflecting on the practices, I must first lay them out. Each morning I log in to Zoom
around 7:50. Any of my students who are fully virtual, or virtual for a period of time due to
quarantining, log on at 8:00. All students, virtual and in person, are given their morning work
virtually via Seesaw, which is our learning management system. As students finish, they are
able to work freely on iPad apps such as Lexia, SplashMath, and ABC Mouse. I then shift our
focus to morning meeting. At this time I have a laptop open with the Zoom meeting running, and
I carry it around the classroom as we work through the calendar, counting, and singing various
songs. Students at home are expected to participate in each of these areas with their cameras
on and their faces visible when possible.

For the rest of the day, if I am reading a story, it is being shared on the screen with all students.
If we are doing an assignment, the students in the classroom are completing it on paper, and
those at home are working on it on Seesaw. When students work in small groups, I give my
laptop with Zoom to one group and allow them to work in the hallway, for better acoustics, and
collaborate with the kids at home.
While most of the work done by virtual students is completed via Seesaw, there are certain
projects and pieces of daily work that I believe should be completed in a traditional, hands-on
fashion. Because of this, at the beginning of the year I brought a bag of materials, such as
crayons, notebooks, pencils, etc. to each virtual student. This way, when we write in our
notebooks or color certain items in the classroom I know that they are able to do so at home.
There have been certain science experiments, cutting and gluing projects, etc. throughout the
year for which I wanted to virtual students to also participate in real-time. Because of this, I
made trips to their houses frequently on Sundays to deliver materials for different projects.

In my reflection section, I will discuss what I believe were the strengths and areas for
improvement in terms of this format of hybrid learning. I will also highlight the most meaningful
part in my eyes.

Reflection:
Research throughout this school year has proven that teaching kids in a traditional school
setting is truly the most effective way to ensure academic success. After a year of hybrid
learning, I certainly have to agree with this research. While I have given a great deal of my daily
effort to ensuring that my virtual students are receiving the same high-quality education and
instruction as my in-person students, there is, and most likely always will be, somewhat of a gap
between the two groups.

With in-person students, I can see exactly where they are struggling and respond in real-time
with the intervention that I know is best. For a student at home, it is easier to hide where they
are struggling. On the surface their assignments may be completed well and they may be sitting
looking at the camera, but behind the scenes, they could be getting a heavy level of parent
support, or none at all. They could also be on Zoom muted looking to be paying attention, but
watching tv, playing games, etc. in the background. Because I am not directly at their side, I
provide interventions to the best of my ability, but I know that I can never give them 100% of
what they need, because I am only seeing a portion of their learning environment.

While academically it has been a challenge to teach in-person and virtual students, going into
the school year my biggest concern was how I could still build relationships with my virtual
students. The most meaningful part of working with my virtual students has been making trips to
their houses. In these trips I’ve met parents, siblings, and pets. I’ve had excited kids give me
pictures they’ve drawn, I’ve chatted with them, and I even got to watch as one student showed
me how he could ride his bike without training wheels. After each of these trips, I felt more
connected to my virtual students, thus giving me more insight into how to support them in the
classroom via Zoom. These visits were time consuming, sometimes taking up 2-3 hours on a
Sunday, but they were worth every minute.

While my virtual and in-person students had very different first grade experiences, I feel
confident in saying that they all made it through the year academically and emotionally. They
have learned and grown to the best that their situation has allowed. They have formed
relationships with each other and with me, and are ready to move on to whatever the 2021-2022
school year looks like for them in second grade.

Artifacts:

28 first graders—some are in school, some are on Zoom,

but they’re all in my heart!

All students get a chance to be leaders in

daily sound and vocabulary work.
Working in a small group that combines in-person and
virtual students.