The Push For Two-way Participation

By DAVID CHESS

This school year there has been a widening gap between students who are struggling to pass and those who excel. With less face to face interaction and decreased participation, it has become increasingly challenging for teachers to spot a lack of understanding and aid students who are falling behind.

One of the main causes of this issue are the difficulties teachers face in motivating students to pay attention on Zoom calls and encouraging them to participate. ESL teacher Ms. Rosman said that she has to call on students more frequently than in previous years. She describes how last year felt “organic,” while this year has to be highly structured to have a productive and engaging class.

Regarding participation, music courses are some of the most difficult to teach virtually due to the centrality of instant feedback, tactile learning, and collaboration. Directors primarily conduct in-person students, while the remote students play their instruments while being on mute. Concert Band director Ms. Bellon said, “For the band, there’s always going to be that difficult task on a Google Meet because of the delay, so I can’t really give out the instant assessment that I would if we were in person.”

AP Seminar teacher Dr. Hartnett’s class revolves around collaboration and discussion. “As someone who is constantly monitoring these group interactions, I find many students struggling to work efficiently in groups in this environment,” he said. 

Part of this problem is the ease by which students can become distracted while learning remotely. Sophomore Johnson C., who is fully remote, comments on the distractions during the school day, most of which occur at home. “There might be something happening outside of your house, but when you’re at school, it’s just school,” he said.

Additionally, there are atmospheric differences between remote and in-person learning, where some key factors of a face to face experience have been removed. Pre-calculus teacher Ms. Survilla said, “I think there used to be awkward silence that made people feel uncomfortable when everyone was here, and I would just be staring at everyone. But since not everyone’s here anymore, and they’re at home, that awkward ‘uncomfy’ feeling isn’t as present, which means there is no more an urgency to provoke engagement as there usually would be pre-COVID.”

Math teacher Ms. Survilla is concerned about students’ lack of engagement, especially for those learning remotely.

These difficulties brought upon by remote learning have caused an increased gap in students’ grades. Lack of engagement causes students that are struggling the most to fall behind that much further. Co-principal Mr. Cohen said, “In general, the number of A-, A, and A+’s overall was very similar to that of last year, where we grew particularly concerned about the number of D+ through F’s as compared to last year.”

Teachers are learning how to best approach the situation every day, and are far better equipped to deal with these challenges than when lockdown first began in March of 2020. Ms. Rosman said, “Obviously I find that learning in person is always going to be better, but for remote learning I think that teachers and students this year are doing the best that we can, and I think that for the time being remote learning is working.”