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'Everything's changed' for Richmond teachers

“Everything’s changed.” This was the message from Richmond Teachers’ Association president Liz Baverstock.
Lee staff
Walter Lee elementary staff tweeted out greetings to their community.

“Everything’s changed.”

This was the message from Richmond Teachers’ Association president Liz Baverstock.

No one has ever taught this way before and there are currently more questions than answers on how learning will continue while in-class instruction is suspended indefinitely because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Baverstock said many teachers had a lot of anxiety over the break because their entire September to June plan was broken up into “millions of pieces.”

“You can’t simply put those pieces back together because we’re now in a completely different environment than we’ve ever worked in before,” she added.

She pointed out teachers want to be back in their classrooms, but given the new reality, they are trying to figure out how they will still “offer learning opportunities” to their students.

“We can’t recreate our classroom, and nobody is expecting us to,” she said.

There has been much talk about online learning and the Ministry of Education has procured a contract with Zoom, a videoconferencing program, that teachers can use, but online might not always be the way to go, Baverstock said.

Teachers have been asked to “provide learning” and this might include physical learning materials.

Teachers have been reaching out to students and their families this week to reconnect and assess how students can learn at home.

While there are always inequities in classrooms, this will only amplified in the current situation, Baverstock said.

There are families with many different stresses, for example, some might not have a computer or Internet access, others might have one computer for five people.

To provide instruction to students, teachers will have to “know the landscape,” she added.

Staff in alternative programs are contacting students this week to reconnect and assess their well-being, their food situation and whether they have technology in place for online learning, according to school district spokesperson David Sadler.

Furthermore, school district staff are developing plans and goals for students with special needs. Speech-language pathologists as well as hearing and vision teachers are looking at how they can provide remote learning support.

The Ministry of Education stated last week that children of essential workers are to be provided services, and Baverstock pointed out this means some of these children will physically be in schools.

But she is satisfied with the school district’s plans for health and safety, adding that is everyone’s number-one concern right now.

In a statement to the Richmond News, the school district said that standard work protocols have been developed for all school district employees, based on directions from the provincial health officer and health authority.

In an email to parents on Friday, school superintendent Scott Robinson said the school district’s goal is “not to add extra pressure to your lives.”
“We have tried to structure learning in a way that will not be a burden to parents,” he said in the letter.

Robinson explained that home also provides learning opportunities, for example, math, reading and applied skills while preparing a meal or learning organizational and lifelong skills while doing chores.  

“Everyday activities like going for a walk or planning a garden can be enhanced with observations of the natural world, learning about the animals and plants in our city, and what might grow well in our climate,” he said in the letter.

School is about connection, however, Baverstock said, and teachers and students are missing out on the connections they usually make in a classroom and school setting.

“Teachers care, they want to be there to support students and families,” she said.

For all the latest COVID-19 news, click here.