SAINT GILBERT TEACHERS PIONEER e-LEARNING

When the Governor ordered Illinois schools to close, Saint Gilbert was fortunate to have established an e-Learning program for snow days and used that system to deliver a full week of classes immediately after the school’s doors were closed. “The next morning, all of our students were at home and learning,” said Principal Marcia Tornatore. Saint Gilbert’s investment in a 1-to-1 device ratio from K through 8th grade made the transition possible. Using those resources, Saint Gilbert teachers have made education possible on day one of the closure. “Mrs. Kleber, our IT director, has been amazing in making this all work,” remarked Mrs. Buckley, the Vice Principal.

Each Grade Level Uses our Tech Gifts

At the Kindergarten level, Ms. Beagles discussed how Saint Gilbert’s youngest students are e-Learning. “We had already been using a platform called Seesaw in the classroom that made e-learning a very smooth transition for our families. In addition to Seesaw, we subscribe to Superkids online fun, Homeroom, and Zoom.” The Homeroom application, used to show parents what their children are doing at school is now allowing the teacher to observe what the students are doing at home. Zoom allows for face-to-face interactions with the students, which is so critical at any level, but especially at the kindergarten level.

Ms. Beagles’ fellow Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Erickson, echoed the same efforts but loved the Kindergarten’s - Daily Teacher Talks (“small fun questions used to talk with kiddos”) and the “peeps project” where the teachers dropped a peep packet off at each child’s house; the children “adopted” the peep and gave it a whole “life.” This was to make up for the disruption of a Kindergarten tradition – hatching baby ducks to learn about the life cycle.

In First Grade, Mrs. Swindell and Mrs. Spradlin have been coordinating their e-learning plans daily, sending them via the student’s digital assignment notebook. Included in the assignments are links to educational websites and hyperlinks containing interactive activities to engage and reinforce the lesson objectives. Daily videos are posted on Flipgrid that include Morning Prayer, the Pledge of Allegiance, their calendar, and any special announcements. That application also allows the children to respond with a video. The pair added Read Alouds to the children. Mrs. Swindell was thankful that “parents have been taking pictures and making videos of some of what they are doing at home, which gives us an opportunity to comment and encourage the children and their progress.”

For Second Grade, Ms. Schapals and Mrs. Draper use Seesaw Remote Learning as a platform for communicating with their 2nd grade students which also doubles as a digital portfolio of student work. There, the teachers can post assignments which the students complete using various digital tools. Then, the teachers are able to view their work and respond with feedback.

At the Third Grade, Mrs. Cecala and Mrs. Fink, use Google Classroom’s added functionality, Kami Assignment, which allows students to type their answers to the assignment and send it back, so nothing needs to be printed. Mrs. Fink loves the ability to add links in the assignments, so students can watch a video on the top, then use the assignment to practice the skill and then take a quiz. Likewise, Readworks allows the student to read an article after which the student can type a response. Flipgrid is used to prepare videos on fractions and Zoom to teach lessons live. This week, Mrs. Cecala is having her class record their book reports so that all their classmates can see and learn about the book they chose.

At the Junior High Level, Mrs Dolan, the Junior High English instructor said that “from day one of e-learning, I have been overwhelmingly impressed with how well our students have taken on the challenge to learn at home! They are showing great maturity checking Google Classroom for their seven different subjects, emailing their teachers questions to support their own learning, and completing assignments in a timely manner.” Recognizing that each student’s learning environment is different Mrs. Dolan related that the staff works “to make e-learning more personal to students and are working on flexibility to meet the needs of each student and family situation."

The Junior High teachers believe “it is important to continue teaching our regular curriculum, covering the Archdiocesan grade level standards, and continuing to maintain our high quality expectations.” It appears to be working. Online comments about Mrs. Dolan’s class noted that “I enjoyed doing the Greek mythology … with Mrs. Dolan … [and] it was a pretty fun introduction to Whirligig."

Mrs. Greffly, 8th Grade homeroom teacher and Social Studies instructor was grateful that the student’s familiarity with Google Classroom allowed a smooth transition while the teachers enhanced the experience with Freckle and Zoom. She explained that “we use Freckle for ELA lessons to have the students practice specific skills or work on comprehension in reading passages. Now, we have been recording our lessons using Screencastify and Flipgrid.” While lesson creation and planning takes more time, Mrs. Greffly enjoys that, the teamwork of the Junior High staff has helped them carry on. While pleased with the effort, she felt that “[n]othing beats direct teaching and laughing and seeing each other each day in the classroom.”

In Junior High Science, Mrs. Ziegler related that in addition to the other tools, she uses Science World Magazine Online and Newsela for science related news. She will be debuting discoveryeducation.com to expand access to cutting edge science learning. Students appreciate the efforts, one commenting that “I enjoyed using the virtual lab we did for science on Think Central. I liked it because it was not just typing or writing." Her partner in STEM, Mr. O’Donnell, the Junior High math teacher expressed what many are feeling – scanning assignments is a far cry from the hands-on world of math instruction. But he expressed pride in his students: “The kids have come through with good work. They've adjusted to what's being asked [and I’m] impressed by that.” And his students appreciate his efforts. According to one student, “the online math textbook it has a video that explains the topic. This has helped me a lot."

Mrs. Dantzer, the school’s Spanish teacher recounted similar experiences as her colleagues but was most gratified that her students were as happy to reconnect with her via video as she was to see them. One student said, "I like when we used the Flipgrid in Spanish class because it was nice to hear from my teacher."

What this has reminded all of us at the Saint Gilbert Catholic School community is not just the resilience and hopefulness of our students, but that we all have come to appreciate the everyday interactions that we took for granted as part of our daily lives. We feel a greater appreciation for the ordinary and for each other. Finally, we are thankful for the foresight of our leadership over the years to ensure a device was ready for every child and to have created a snow-day protocol that could be adapted so quickly to daily use.

Founded in 1944, Saint Gilbert Catholic School has been providing value-based education for nearly 75 years. Saint Gilbert has been honored by the U.S. Department of Education for Academic Excellence when it was named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2017.

Interested in learning more? Come visit us on the web at www.stgilbertschool.org or on Facebook. You can call 847-223-8600 or email us at school.office@saintgilbertschool.org