The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Last week, the Blaine County Journal-News-Opinion joined local school administrators in celebrating area teachers who have faced the school closure challenge with a level of professionalism and dedication to their students. This installment, which captures the perspectives of junior high and high school teachers-those teaching grades seven through twelve-represents the second in a three-part series.

To celebrate their efforts and to share their perspectives, we asked teachers to reveal not only the greatest challenges that they have faced in providing this alternate digital platform for curriculum delivery but their greatest joys and happy surprises since this model came on the scene.

Crystal Doney, who teaches language arts in Harlem, commented that "the staff have been working furiously at distance learning. If anything, I'd like to say that the Harlem Junior/Senior High School support staff-from cooks, janitors, secretary, nurse, and paraprofessionals-have been doing a phenomenal job at keeping us organized and safe. Without their work, we would be drowning in a mess of paperwork and lunches. I am amazed at how our paras have created a very organized system to assemble, distribute, and collect work from our students. It is a time consuming but effective process that implements safety, according to COVID-19 guidelines. Since this is our first time running a school with no students, it is a patience game with a bit of trial and error, but I think by now, we pretty much have the process down."

In responding with a happy surprise, Doney said, "To answer that would lead to our only problem: We do not get to see our kids! I know a lot of people think that without teachers, we'd be in chaos (which is fairly true, haha). However, we rely very much on interacting with our students. I can now plan the perfect lesson, only to miss out on the profound discussions I could be having with my students in the process. They need to know that we need them just as much as they need us. So, 'risking life and limb' (hyperbole for my kiddos reading this), I ride the buses to see them from time to time. I cannot explain how much I look forward to seeing them. They do make a huge impact on our community, and we can't wait for them to be in the classroom again. Distance learning may have some challenges, but I'd rather do this, knowing that our kids are safe and healthy at home."

On April 17, Taylor Faulkinberry-Richardson, who serves as a secretary at Harlem Elementary School, posted an uplifting video from the Harlem Public Schools to reveal how much some of the staff miss their students. It includes images, messages, audio/video, and music to inspire and encourage the students. In one message, Mary-Kate French, Harlem High School Art Teacher, challenged all of her students to use this time outdoors to create environmental art. "Stay FIERCE, Wildcats," she wrote. In the background of her picture, she had created an image of a wildcat with rocks, grasses, and other plant life as her art media.

About her art piece, French said, "I was hoping to show my students that I am thinking about them during this time and also to encourage them to continue to find beauty and to make art wherever they are."

Other high school/junior high teachers on the Hi-Line share Doney's and French's sentiments. "I definitely miss seeing the kids every day," Jerilyn Wood said. "So, our once a week Zoom meetings are the best! For 10-20 minutes, it feels like normal."

Wood, who teaches 9-12 science at Chinook High School added, "With the sciences, it has been incredibly hard trying to figure out some equivalent for lab work. Students in the normal classroom setting typically do some sort of practice work and at least one lab every week. Now, we do two-three worksheets or activities to reinforce information that students are basically responsible for learning on their own. Our units are taking more time, and I feel like students are learning less than ever. There has been a lot of frustration all the way around."

Another Chinook teacher, Andrew Linquist, who teaches grades 7-12 math, also describes his greatest challenges regarding remote instruction as the loss of student interaction in the classroom. "Maintaining student expectations and participation is difficult without the daily face-to-face interactions that occur in the classroom, such as a quick verbal reminder of an upcoming assignment or quiz, which is heard by all. Now that kind of reminder requires checking emails and Google classroom documents, and unfortunately information is missed.

"Asking a question in class used to start with a raised hand followed by my quick glance over a student's work, a discussion with some brief re-teaching, and the ability to quickly assess student learning in less than a minute.

"Now a question starts with an email, waiting for two-way communication, then, either trying to explain a mathematical concept through an email or setting up a Zoom meeting, and in 20 minutes the question is answered. Communication has been challenging, and overall much less personal. The funny little moments that happen in class on a daily basis don't occur anymore."

Despite those challenges, Linquist identifies his greatest joy as coming from the bittersweet interactions during Zoom meetings. "Mostly, I miss having the kids in class since their side conversations and stories have significantly decreased in frequency, and if I'm missing those interactions, I can only imagine how the students are feeling. The Zoom meetings have provided some normalcy to these difficulties.

"The meetings have also provided some insight for the students into teachers' daily lives-we are no longer seen as having a sleeping bag rolled up under our desks and living at the school! Furthermore, my 1½ year old daughter has frequently 'video bombed' meetings with the noisiest toys she can find or by climbing up and down me in tears because Dad's not giving her the immediate attention she wants."

The other math teacher at Chinook High School, Dalton Heilig named two challenges: grading and accountability and two pleasant surprises: near 100% engagement/access of students.

Finally, April Fox, who teaches K-12 art and junior high French in Turner shared her perspectives. "The greatest challenge was having to quickly learn platforms I have never used before. Furthermore, when students encounter problems, I can't see what their screen is telling them or know exactly how and if they have followed directions to know how to fix any problems. Providing art supplies that can be used at home has been another challenge."

Fox also reported her greatest joy: "Some of my students have completely embraced and enjoy the online learning platform we started using for Introductory French, so I plan to continue using it next year!"

Another pleasant surprise has been seeing some of the "outstanding" artwork students have created. "I have tried to structure projects that can foster a kind of outlet for the students' feelings and individuality, projects that allow them to reflect on what is important to each of them at this moment.

"Some students have painted projects on their bedroom walls or drawn or taken photos of what life looks like for them at home and with their families. Others get out into nature and create art with what they find around them. Several pieces have been based on art techniques that have been shown to be meditative or calming, like Zentangle-type pattern making. I have had students tell me that they were worried art online was going to be hard, but that they are actually enjoying it and/or finding it relaxing. That response makes my heart smile," Fox concluded.

Rick Roberts and Mary Thomas are the originators of the trademarked Zentangle method. Basically, it's an eight-step process by which structured patterns emerge, most often in black pen on small pieces of paper called tiles. The lines and shapes that unintentionally emerge are called tangles, and they are created with combinations of dots, lines, simple curves, S-curves, and orbs. These simple shapes are the "elemental strokes" in all Zentangle art, and the tiles can be assembled into mosaics if the artist desires.

Because Zentangle art is often non-representational and unplanned, it allows the artist to focus on each stroke rather than worry about the result, which is a delightful surprise. While the process may look intricate, Psychologist Cathy Malchiodi describes Zentangle as "a deceptively simple pathway to relaxation and inner focus." In fact, proponents of this self-help art therapy practice note that it has multiple additional benefits, including calming an anxious mind, increasing self-confidence, and cultivating moment-to-moment awareness in a similar way as mindfulness meditation.