Teachers Reach All Of Their Learners In Hybrid High School

Press release from Seaford School District:

September 29, 2020

Engaging students both in the classroom and at home was a challenge accepted for teachers at Seaford High School, who are leading instruction through a hybrid learning model during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of the district’s reopening plan for the 2020-21 school year, high school students have a combination of both in-person and remote instruction every day. Students are grouped into two cohorts, alternating days between being in school for the first four periods or the last five periods. When not in school, students still attend their classes virtually as teachers livestream their lessons.

Physical education and health teacher Michael Spreckels has welcomed several guest speakers to his Sports Medicine class, including a former NFL athletic trainer and a current U.S. hockey athletic trainer. Because the guest speakers join through Zoom videoconferences, both students in school and at home can watch and ask questions. Mr. Spreckels said that goal of the class is to introduce students to the many possible careers in sports medicine and they use their computers to do research on these professions.

Art teacher Michael Kerr’s sculpture class has been designed to take into account the availability of supplies, so he gives students both in-school and do-at-home projects. On days students are in the classroom, they are working on their elongated abstract human body sculptures inspired by the work of Albert Giacometti. They make their sculptures out of armature wire, which they then coat in clay and attach to a base. At home, students are creating sock puppet monsters using items found around the house.

“It gives students experience in sculpture using both traditional and unconventional materials,” Mr. Kerr said.

Spanish teacher Patricia Foley noted that communication among students is key in helping them master a language. That’s why she finds ways for students in school to work in groups with students at home using digital resources on their district-provided laptops.

All students, whether in the school or at home, log onto her Microsoft Teams call, which livestreams her instruction. From there, they split into small groups using the Channels feature, and can text or video chat with each other about different assignments. Recently, Ms. Foley has asked her students in her Advanced Placement and pre-AP classes to analyze Spanish literary passages and songs, where they identified vocabulary words and also answered more complex comprehension questions.

In Melinda DiGiovanni’s interior design class, students learned how to create blueprints by making sketches of their bedrooms. At home, they were able to measure the dimensions of their room and the furniture, then worked on their blueprints in school. For the next assignment, students will create elevation plans, recreating one wall of their bedrooms.

This press release was produced by Seaford School District. The views expressed here are the author's own.