PPTC Teachers In The Time Of Coronavirus: Pamela Ritchie

Pam’s home classroom setup.

Pam has been a member of PPTC since the summer of 2017.  She was set to run the London Marathon in April as a competitor in the Abbott WMM Wanda Age Group World Championship. Pam will now have to wait until October 4th to run the London Marathon (fingers crossed it takes place that day!)

Where do you teach, and what grades/subjects do you teach?

I teach fourth grade in an ICT classroom. ICT stands for Integrated Co-Teaching, which means the class is a mix of general education students and students with special needs. I’m the special education teacher in our classroom. My school is PS 154 in Windsor Terrace — conveniently located half a block from where I live!

What has it been like transitioning to remote teaching? Describe a typical day.

It’s been really hard. We had a week to transition to remote learning. That meant not only learning how to use Google Classroom and Zoom, but also figuring out what the content areas would look like: How would math, reading and writing be taught? What about social studies and science? How would we teach to small groups? What kind of workload should we assign? These were a fraction of the questions that our fourth-grade team had to work out.

On a typical day, my co-teacher Dayna and I start by holding a morning meeting at 9:00am via Zoom. We might have a question of the day, then briefly go over the day’s assignments and answer questions. On Fridays, we try to do something fun. Last week kids could sign up to show off a talent. We had a hula-hooper, a trumpet player and a violinist!

After the morning meeting, the expectation is that the kids go to our Google Classroom and do the assignments posted for the day. That usually involves watching a teaching video, completing the assignment, and uploading it for several subjects. During this time, I have pre-scheduled small-group and individual Zoom meetings with kids. I usually preview a skill or strategy or reteach a lesson. Afternoons are reserved for looking at uploaded student work, and fielding emails. Many, many emails...

“Running is the best part of my day! Always! Like a lot of people, I’m either running in the park really early, or venturing outside of the park. Buff on, buff off. That’s my new motto.”

How are your students handling remote learning? Has there been a drop in attendance?

Kids — and families — have been handling remote learning in very different ways. Our school made sure that every kid got a computer before remote learning started. Every student in my class has a computer and Internet access, but there has definitely been a drop in attendance. We get about half the class handing in work every day. And the reasons why students don’t attend meetings or hand-in work differ greatly. For some families, the workload is too light. For others, too heavy. That's a very basic analysis, because there’s so much more. One thing we’re trying to figure out as a school is what exactly constitutes attendance. Right now, gauging engagement seems more important. Are kids and families even checking into Google Classroom? To try to answer that, our principal posts a Question of the Day on every class stream. Something fun, like, “What’s your favorite cereal?” He takes a read on student engagement by how many kids answer. 

If he sees that certain kids aren’t answering the question, he’ll reach out to families to find out why. My co-teacher and I do something similar when we see that kids aren’t handing-in any work.

What has pleasantly surprised you about remote teaching?

Some kids who have behavioral or social issues in the classroom are really shining in the digital platform! They’re getting more work done than they did in the classroom. I’m not sure why. Maybe less distractions?

What is your biggest complaint about remote teaching?

All I have are complaints about remote teaching! The obvious complaint is that teaching kids virtually is ridiculous when compared with teaching them in person. And the already huge socio-economic gap is now even more apparent when technology and staying home is added to the mix. But on a lighter note, it’s the sitting that’s really taking a toll on me! Teachers hardly ever sit during the school day, and my classroom is on the third floor so I’m usually up and down all day. I’m definitely not cut out for a desk job.

What could parents do to make it easier for your to remotely teach their children?

Well, it’s hard for me to give a message to parents because I know that many of them are in crisis, and this has been a huge upheaval. But, I think a lot of parents thought that when remote learning started it meant that we’d be live on Zoom teaching their children for six and a half hours a day. That's just impossible. Also, kids shouldn’t be on a screen for that long! 

I guess something that would make my job easier is for parents to understand that they are now teachers as well. Meaning: They should create a quiet space as best they can for their kids to work in, provide a daily schedule, and make sure that when their child has a small group meeting, they don’t come to it with toys that will distract them. These are things we would normally control for in the classroom, but are now out of our hands. These things would help greatly.

Do you anticipate changes to how you teach your students once you are back in the classroom?

Oh yeah, it’s probably going to be a lot less digital! I say that kind of jokingly, but I really miss making old-school charts for the classroom. I'll probably plan more hands-on projects with tangible materials, too.

Have you been running? How has your running changed since we’ve been in “lockdown?”

Running is the best part of my day! Always! I was training for the London Marathon when this happened. I was super excited because I was invited to run it as part of the Abbott Age Group World Championships, but when that got postponed, I decided to just continue with the training for the most part, dialing it down at the end of April before ramping up again for the fall. Like a lot of people, I’m either running in the park really early, or venturing outside of the park. Buff on, buff off. That's my new motto.

Do you have something else you’d like us to know about your experience teaching remotely or more generally about your “lockdown” experience?

I really feel for the families who are in this. I have a college-aged kid who’s home and learning remotely, but it’s apples and oranges compared with parents of school-aged kids who have to manage all of their learning in addition to everything else that’s happening in their lives.

Interview and text by: Linda S. Chan
Photo courtesy of: Pamela Ritchie
Edited and produced by: Alison Kotch