Washougal WA — It is 7:45 am and 60 first grade students at Columbia River Gorge Elementary are beginning their school day.  At their home workspace, they log in to a Zoom classroom to welcoming music and each is greeted by name.  On the screen is a list of materials they will need for the day’s instruction flacked by smiling and waving bitmojis illustrations of their teachers.  A five-minute countdown begins at 8:00 am, and at 8:05 am, each student, now prepared for their day, breaks into individual virtual classrooms with teachers Allison McGranahan, Sydney Termini and Taryn Tedford.

“We feel it is important to start our day by having everyone together and greet each student by their name,” explained Tedford.  “The bitmojis are just a fun way to represent us and our excitement for what’s to come.  For instance, we had them wearing scrubs on the day we were studying the human body. Our morning routine is a small way to build a sense of community and connectivity that is missing in distance learning.”   

Once broken out into classrooms, teachers lead an hour lesson.  The larger group comes back together again at 9am to meet with a specialist for instruction and activities in art, music, PE and even Library.  “It is important that students are able to stay connected with other teachers and continue to learn in these other important curriculum areas,” McGanahan said. 

Students then go back to their classroom group for the last half hour of instruction.  The remainder of the school day is spent viewing selected pre-recorded lessons and completing assignments.

The CRGE first grade team’s approach to teaching changed some since last spring, when teachers everywhere were asked to turn on a dime to online classes.  They began this year by reviewing curriculum and deciding which lessons to begin with for remote learning. “We know that certain topics were okay being recorded and others are more conducive to being live lessons,” explained McGanahan. “We’ve tried to make it so that even if kids aren’t able to be at the Zoom lessons, they are able to engage in the learning lessons.”

Like the K-2 teachers of the Washougal School District, they are using the educational software app, SeeSaw to capture learning during the distance learning. They are able to send video lessons and activities for students to interact with during the afternoon asynchronous learning time.

Teachers set up activity buttons for students to connect to three lessons.  One day may include math, a listen and learn activity and a skills practice, such as handwriting or answering questions about a story.  There are also activities for the areas of science and even community building.  Students can log in at any time in the day to complete the work.  “I had a student who had a dentist appointment during class time but was still able to participate easily in the activities,” said McGanahan.  “This offers a lot of flexibility for families.”

A good example of Seesaw’s use was a recent first grade unit on folk tales. “The assignment was for students to retell a folk tale or fable in their own words,” explained McGanahan. “They recorded themselves telling the story and even downloaded artwork they created to illustrate it.  Then we were able to watch and listen to their work.” 

“I am so amazed at how committed many of our families and students are to this whole distance learning process,” McGanahan added.  “It is a lot and it is a challenge, but we have had kids show up when the power is off, the wind is blowing, and the smoke is in the air. Kids show up and participate when they are tired and are not feeling well. I have had a kid show up to Zoom because he did not want to miss it, even though his tummy hurt, and he had to leave because he was getting sick. Our students are not giving up just because we are doing distance learning! They are actively engaged and will be able to pick up right where we left off when we get the chance to be back in the building.”

Youngest learners thrive with structure and routine and the CRGE team understands that it is a struggle for students to not be in the classroom. “Even with all the tools we have in place, this is not the same as it would be in person,” McGanahan said. “Sometimes students just need to be near the teacher and talk through a problem without the whole group watching. They need to get up and move and learn in different ways, and that is difficult over Zoom.”

Termini agrees.  “It is a challenge for me to not see each students’ process,” she explained.  “I don’t see them individually as they work through an assignment to recognize where they may have struggled. I just see the outcome, not how they problem solve and approach the work.”  

Another challenge to distance learning is lesson preparation that must take weeks of lead time to gather and distribute materials to families who drive to the school at specific times for pick up.  “It was such a treat to see students as they came to pick up bags,” said Termini. “It was good to touch base face to face with our students and their parents to check in on how it is going.”   

A benefit that has risen from remote learning is the stronger connections being made with many of the students’ families.  “We are working hard to address parent needs as much as we can and support them,” said Tedford.  “The partnership we have with parents is so important and is being fine-tuned.” 

“We are not able to do our job without family support and I absolutely love the depth of connection with parents I am able to make because of distance learning,” said McGanahan.  

 “I appreciate how supportive our student’s families have been,” added Termini. “We couldn’t do it without them!”

Washougal, WA — Washougal School District (WSD) last week welcomed their first 200 students into the classroom at all grade levels and the experience is helping administrators and educators shape their next phases of a detailed reopening plan.

“Just like everybody else we are moving to the first reopening category even though we’re in a high infection rate countywide,” said Dr. Mary Templeton, Superintendent of Washougal School District. “We are bringing back small groups of students totaling 200 who are coming to our campuses for in-person learning.” 

The district is only serving special needs students in the classroom during this phase, who are dispersed through all Washougal schools. This is week two, and Templeton said WSD will likely roll in the second wave of students in mid-October — which includes students who are homeless or disadvantaged. 

“We know which groups of students are not achieving at the rate we want them to,” said Templeton. “We want to level the playing field for them. Right now, all high school, middle school, elementary school students with special needs are in the classroom. We’ve identified them and that’s the breakout. We are busing, which is nice, it’s an indicator that we’re progressing. We had to temporarily lay off many employees, but we did keep a small group of transportation staff for this first phase.”

WSD has 40 staff members onsite operating in the classroom or working directly with children. 

“I’ve been on campus several times and everybody is excited to be with the kids, and they tell me it’s going well,” said Templeton. “These are the comments I heard when I was out and about. I walked in and spoke with office staff who say it’s so great. I loved hearing the sound of children laughing and talking. The cafeteria had children laughing.” 

Classrooms mostly consist of groups of five. There is no requirement for what small group means, but WSD is averaging five per class. Students and staff are following all the COVID-19 guidelines. Most tudents are not there for the entire day. They are having lunch and then busing them home.

Some students, however, are there five days a week, and some are attending hybrid and it’s based on student need.

“It’s one step in the right direction and it’s what is being recommended,” said Templeton. “We are fast-forwarding in our minds what will be the need, what do need to have ready to go in the next step, which we hope to be a hybrid elementary situation. Just like everybody we have community members and parents who would like us to go faster, and some would like us to go slower. We are taking a measured approach. We don’t want to move too quickly. We are trying to be respectful of everyone’s desire and to make sure we are prepared.” 

Here are some of the things WSD is doing to get ready for the hybrid in-class phase:

• Hygiene stations throughout the schools
• Distance protocols
• Staff training
• Recommended PPE
• Isolation rules and protocols 
• Quarantine process 
• Health screening at entrances
• Signage and markers
• Increased sanitation receptacles

Templeton said they are working with the health department on a regular basis.

“Everybody needs to mask up and social distance, which will make our schools open faster,” said Templeton. “The last thing is that we need to maintain our focus on our remote learning. We can’t lose our remote learning momentum. It’s going well, but it does have problems. We are working through those. We must maintain our focus on keeping the learning going and keeping those relationships strong.” 

For the next wave, WSD will possible add another 200 students that would most benefit from onsite instruction.

“We are taking a thoughtful and measured approach,” Templeton said. “I don’t have teachers telling me they don’t want to be in the classroom, but several have asked us to have a choice of being in the classroom or to teach strictly remotely.  Some are choosing to be onsite and some are choosing to be at home.”

There is a process for a staff member who requires an accommodation, and WSD is able to offer that to them. These accommodations may be for them to have a completely virtual classroom, based on parent and student requests. 

There might be teachers who may need to take a leave of absence. 

“I think teachers miss students and they want to be in the classroom, and we’re making sure it’s a safe opening,” Templeton said. “What are things we need to shore up? We’ve been having this conversation for several months. Each building has a designated COVID safety coordinator.” 

Templeton is in her third year as WSD Superintendent, entering the job at the height of the 2018 teacher’s strike. And, now these past six months she’s dealing with the pandemic.

“It’s all hands on deck, we have a good time,” she said. “We have accomplished much. We have successfully marketed the district with Washougal Rising. There’s a high self-esteem. We are now a destination district. It’s an indicator things are working. We’ve had three state recognized schools. Equity is very important to us. We have many students of color participating in accelerated programs. It’s unprecedented excellence. We are aggressively optimistic. If you can’t maintain your optimism it’s hard to move forward. We are all impacted by what is happening. We must have grace and patience with each other. I live here and those are the things we must maintain.”