Heather Staker and Michael B. Horn
Students younger than 5 should spend no more than an hour a day looking at a computer screen or tablet. High schoolers should have no more than three hours a day of screen time.
A New Haven Public Schools draft plan offer that and other guidance for how to conduct classes in the fall as the Covid-19 pandemic continues.
Asst. Superintendent Keisha Redd-Hannans offered the Board of Education Teaching and Learning Committee a preview of the document this past Wednesday.
“I want to stress that this is a draft. The goal is to get your feedback,” Redd-Hannans said.
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Asst. Superintendent Keisha Redd-Hannans.
The two BOE committee members, Edward Joyner and Larry Conaway, both expressed excitement about the draft.
“This is outstanding. This is the type of systemic initiative, with the support of teachers, that I think should be the rule of the day,” Joyner said.
The plan separates out how educators would need to adjust their work if they have to adopt a hybrid model of in-person and remote teaching, or if they have to continue to teach remotely and keep school buildings closed.
Both scenarios incorporate real-time virtual lessons using Google Meets, something that parents have asked for more of. In the hybrid model, in-person lessons would be an opportunity to do small group discussions and other teaching methods that have not translated well into remote learning.
The plan also breaks out specific guidance for special education students and English learners, who have struggled nationwide to get the educational resources they need during the pandemic.
Professional development head Tessa Gumbs-Johnson: Teachers are asking for more.
Training for teachers, administrators and paraprofessionals is laid out in the plan as well. The district is presenting the full board on Monday with the contract for the company that would provide that professional development.
Teachers have spent the past few weeks training one another in the technology that has become crucial to distance learning, including Google Classroom, Google Meet and Screencastify. The district’s professional development supervisor Tessa Gumbs-Johnson read a note from one the trainees, who liked the tailored training so much that she asked for a third week of it.
Conaway lauded the draft in conjunction with Redd-Hannans’ presentation on the professional development contract on Monday.
“This thing is starting to come together. We’re definitely going in the right direction,” Conaway said.
Read the instructional draft plan here.