Mr. Swan, Bigelow 8th Grade Civics teacher, wrote a note to parents when he had some unexpected extra time on his hands on May 19th.  The message was mainly to 8F parents, but other parents and students are invited to read as well. This is an excerpt:

“I am sure that you and/or your children have had a similar experience [bad internet connection, problems accessing meetings, etc.] in the past 2 months – probably more than once!  We ask the same questions: What’s the point? Why keep trying? Is it even worth the effort? Sometimes we choose to persevere and do the best we can. Other times we have to stop and walk away, like I chose to do today. Maybe that was the wrong choice and maybe I should have tried a little longer.

This raises a larger point, that you and your children have probably also considered at least once. Why continue to bother with schoolwork? That’s a fair question! The weather is finally improving, the novelty of distance-learning wore off long ago, and there are no official grades. Some students are clearly seeking the bare minimum to earn a “Pass” for our classes. They submit just 1 of the 3 tasks for a class, or rush through all 3 by Tuesday morning so you won’t keep asking about their homework. They join the Zooms for attendance credit, but mute the device so they can’t hear our voice. (That’s right, kids, we know what you’re doing!) A few others have been ‘ghosting’ us for weeks. Meanwhile, the majority of our 8F students have diligently attended Zoom sessions and submitted solid classwork week in and week out since March without a break. That’s been an impressive achievement that we do not take for granted!

Really, though, why should kids continue doing all their schoolwork? In some situations, I honestly believe the answer is “they shouldn’t”. Many middle- and high-schoolers are caring for younger siblings so their parents can work.  That is a hefty and valuable responsibility which we should encourage and facilitate for as long as it’s necessary. Many family routines and roles have been jumbled and not yet replaced, so schoolwork may not clearly fit into teenagers’ lives. I know from recent surveys I’ve conducted that the majority of my students are grieving lost relatives, fearful about losing others, and/or concerned about their parents’ employment. Last week, 43% of 8F students reported they know somebody who currently has COVID19. I was crushed by these numbers as they poured into my GoogleForm, and they are still haunting me.

Yes, some students benefit from and crave the structure that schoolwork can provide, and we have seen some kids thriving under the current conditions, without being as overscheduled or distracted by peers. And yes, many teachers are providing some really cool and unique learning activities like at-home science experiments and virtual field trips. My colleagues and I are working and collaborating every week to squeeze all the lemonade we can get from this lemon of a pandemic. There is a lot of educational value available to students who can mentally access the material, and perhaps that is a good enough answer to the question “Why continue to bother?”

Here’s the part you really don’t want to hear, but if you read this far then we might as well keep going: The start of the next school year will probably look a lot like Whatever This Is, folks. Zoom is at least a part of the ‘new normal’. Gmail is the main line of student-teacher-family communication for the near future. Videos, podcasts, and other online media will play a large role in instruction at all levels, from college to pre-K. (My wife runs a daily videoconference “circle time” with her preschool students from a ‘recording studio’/office we created last month from a bedroom closet.)

Sorry, kids, I really am. But you gotta get used to This.

Whatever systems and skills and strategies our students can develop this month will certainly serve them well in the future. Maybe the content of our assignments doesn’t much matter (and we all know it’s not actually graded or scored), but the process and personal preparation certainly do. This is a great time for children to figure out how to actually use Gmail features, like labels and tabs (and emojis!) and respond to their teachers’ messages. If they can only focus on 1 class, then just be honest with the other teachers and learn the heck out of that class in the final weeks. And I definitely hope they can get practice to bounce back from setbacks, because we’ve got more of those to come. Parents: if you keep supporting us in this effort, then you better believe we’ve got your back, too.”

Download full letter here: Mr Swan – May 19, 2020 letter to all