Episode 24 - It’s Not a ‘Mute’ Point: Why Cameras are Needed in the Remote Learning Environment with Ms. Danielle McCormick

SHOW TOPIC
It’s Not a ‘Mute’ Point: Why Cameras are Needed in the Remote Learning Environment

SPECIAL GUEST
Ms. Danielle McCormick, Haine Middle  School Fifth Grade Teacher

Danielle McCormick is  in her fourteenth year teaching at Seneca Valley. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Dickinson College and a Masters of Education with teaching certification from the University of Pittsburgh. She currently serves on the English language arts (ELA) Curriculum and Report of Student Progress Committees within the district.  

IN THIS EPISODE, WE WILL REVIEW
• What the mental health benefits are for students if they keep their cameras on during remote instruction. 
• What the academic benefits are to keeping the camera on during remote instruction. 
• How to describe remote learning to parents who may view it differently than a classroom. 
• How to address student privacy, confidentiality and equity in a remote environment.

USEFUL INFORMATION
www.svsd.net

Transcript

 FULL TRANSCRIPT (with timecode)

 File Name: Voices E24 Danielle McCormick.mp3

File Length: 00:10:18

00:00:02:23 - 00:00:07:25

Introduction: Welcome to Voices, a Podcast brought to you by the Seneca Valley School District. 

00:00:10:19 - 00:00:20:01

Jeff Krakoff: This is Jeff Krakoff, I'm with Danielle McCormick, who is a fifth grade English language arts and social studies teacher at Haine Middle School. Thanks for joining us today. 

00:00:21:18 - 00:00:35:10

Jeff Krakoff: So let's let's talk about what we've all been focused on so many different areas on the switch to remote learning as a teacher at the fifth grade level what are the main differences that you're seeing throughout all of this? 

00:00:36:21 - 00:01:12:21

Danielle McCormick: Well, obviously, so much has changed in a lot of ways because we're not seeing our students sitting in a traditional classroom right in front of us, we're not able to use all of those same maybe paper based resources and materials that we're used to. So in some ways, the situation is not ideal, but it is the best option that we have right now to be utilizing remote learning. And I think we're really fortunate because we have the technology that really does allow us to continue to move forward with our students, not just academically, but to stay connected to them as well. 

00:01:13:03 - 00:01:35:01

Danielle McCormick: And we've really seen with students when they are putting forth effort, when they are doing their best to get their work completed, when they're engaging with us during those remote lessons, we are really able to accomplish a lot and we're able to continue doing what we've done, even though in a lot of ways it does look very different. 

00:01:35:13 - 00:01:45:13

Jeff Krakoff: Look, if you had to pick the top challenges that you're experiencing as an educator and and the students, what they're experiencing in this remote world, what would they be? 

00:01:46:13 - 00:02:20:17

Danielle McCormick: I think probably one of the biggest challenges is keeping students engaged with us when we are not able to maybe look over their shoulder or be with them kind of in the moment of learning and maybe catch some misunderstandings as they're happening. So that can be a little bit challenging. But we're still able, I think, in a lot of ways, to stay right along with them through the live streaming that the District is doing. And despite the challenges, students really are, I think, rising to those challenges. 

00:02:21:05 - 00:02:58:10

Danielle McCormick: And I think they've made us as teachers be a little bit more creative in finding ways to get students engaged with each other and with us. Right now, my students are doing a project on research and they're in small group channels in our Microsoft TEAMS platform and what's been amazing to see is that I've provided them with some resources and articles. But as they're going out and doing their own resource, they're posting those in that channel for their classmates with comments and saying this might help you with your topic or I found this really helpful resource here. 

00:02:59:01 - 00:03:14:10

Danielle McCormick: And so despite the challenges, still seeing students get excited for what they're learning and connecting not only to the academic content, but kind of to each other's content and helping each other out has been really encouraging. 

00:03:14:20 - 00:03:20:22

Jeff Krakoff: OK, so you mentioned keeping the students engaged becomes a lot more difficult when you're not actually there in a room.

00:03:23:01 - 00:03:39:00

Jeff Krakoff: Students keeping their camera turned on has to be a big part of this. So you have at least a little bit of visual feedback. I understand there are both mental health and academic benefits for the students. But let's talk about the mental health benefits first. 

00:03:39:08 - 00:04:17:20

Danielle McCormick: Absolutely. So as teachers, I think at the heart of what we do is connect to students and we know that a lot of those connections happen in person. And when they can't happen in person, being able to see students on the camera really helps us just stay connected to them and their overall well-being. We're used to seeing our students. We were lucky that we got to establish those relationships with them throughout the fall. So using that as our basis of knowledge, being able to see them on a daily basis, we can continue to kind of check in with them, monitor them. 

00:04:17:22 - 00:04:50:18

Danielle McCormick: And if there's anything that just seems out of character, usually you can see that pretty quickly on the camera. But I also think, you know, right now, with so many activities and experiences for students that have either been canceled or paused for the moment, they can feel a little bit isolated or lonely or maybe disconnected. So when students can see each other and talk to each other and interact with each other and without masks on, too, so we can see their expressions and their faces, that's a great thing. 

00:04:51:16 - 00:05:23:04

Danielle McCormick: At the beginning of the month of December, we had a student birthday and that student was a little bit late to join the live stream. So when I told the class that it was her birthday, suddenly a lot of students changed their backgrounds to something with balloons or streamers. I even had a few really tech savvy students who created their own personalized like birthday messages for her. And so when she did join, the whole virtual classroom kind of looked festive, you know, for her birthday. And we've done that throughout the month. 

00:05:23:06 - 00:05:42:10

Danielle McCormick: The first snowfall, I had a lot of students change their background to winter scenes, so it just makes kids feel, I think, connected to each other and we feel connected to them. We're still a class, even though we're coming in from all over different parts of Cranberry and Seven Fields. 

00:05:42:18 - 00:05:55:26

Jeff Krakoff: And you bring up a good point I didn't think about. So even if people were in the classroom, they'd be wearing masks and that would inhibit the visual back and forth as well. So in some ways, this could be even better than in person, 

00:05:56:21 - 00:06:00:04

Danielle McCormick: Because I can read student facial expressions more clearly. 

00:06:00:06 - 00:06:29:22

Danielle McCormick: They're not wearing a mask or a face shield. So, yes, you. To be honest, we've kind of gotten a fleeting glimpse of our students and asks maybe during some outdoor mask breaks, maybe during their school picture day when the composite came back, it was great to see them all together smiling. But when they turned their cameras on, we can see that every day in our live streams and they can see that, too, and hopefully get that classroom energy back even if it is on a virtual platform. 

00:06:29:28 - 00:06:46:24

Jeff Krakoff: Yeah. So, you know, we were talking about mental health benefits. I think some of these do blend into the academic benefits. Right? If you're comfortable, if you have a feeling of belonging, you're with your your classmates. But what are some of the key academic benefits of having that camera turned on? 

00:06:47:24 - 00:07:27:17

Danielle McCormick: Well, as teachers, we are constantly reading our classrooms for non-verbal signs. We can see who's engaged with the lesson. We can see what facial expressions mean for students who either understand a topic and are ready to move on or students who maybe are experiencing some confusion and they need a little bit more time with that topic. And so when we can see that in addition to maybe what they are telling us verbally or the work that we can see on the computer screen, that's an invaluable piece of just knowing where the class is with the lesson and what. 

00:07:27:19 - 00:07:42:05

Danielle McCormick: as teachers, our next academic choice or direction needs to be. So when we can see students faces, we have a much better sense of how effective our instruction is and what we need to do to move each student forward. 

00:07:42:19 - 00:07:57:04

Jeff Krakoff: Got it. Got it. So let's talk now about issues. Whenever you have cameras there, there's the ideas of privacy, of confidentiality. What are some of the issues that you think about and that parents should be aware of? 

00:07:58:24 - 00:08:32:11

Danielle McCormick: So we're obviously asking students to kind of invite us a little bit into their home environment or wherever it is that they're live streaming, and we want to be really respectful of that. And keep in mind that every student's home situation is different and we just need to be aware of and sensitive to that. So students have a couple of options. They can always mute their microphones. If there's some background noise or distractions that might be there, they can blur or I mentioned changing backgrounds is something that students like to do because sometimes it's something that's fun and festive. 

00:08:32:13 - 00:09:14:11

Danielle McCormick: But that can also be a way to kind of protect their privacy. So we only focus on them and their facial expressions. And if students are truly uncomfortable having their cameras on for the full time, you know, I'd really encourage parents to reach out to their students teacher and maybe we can come up with something where they turn it on simply for the morning greeting and attendance. And as long as they're raising their hand virtually or sharing answers verbally or demonstrating their work in the online notebook, as long as we know that they're engaged, I think we're very willing to work one on one with families or students who do have concerns about privacy during live streaming. 

00:09:14:25 - 00:09:29:05

Jeff Krakoff: All right. So last question. If I'm a parent of an elementary student, what's my main takeaway from the whole idea of of remote learning? And again, how important is that to keep those cameras turned on? 

00:09:29:12 - 00:10:03:24

Danielle McCormick: Right. Remote learning is not a perfect solution, but it is a way for us to all stay connected as a class and as teachers, we care about our students, we miss our students, we want them back in front of us in the classroom, but in the meantime, having the opportunity to see them in a live stream, to interact with them verbally and visually, and to continue that sense of classroom community as well as their academic progress is our main goal. 

00:10:03:27 - 00:10:08:03

Danielle McCormick: And live streaming and cameras are two key components of that. 

00:10:08:13 - 00:10:11:28

Jeff Krakoff: All right. Well, Danielle McCormick, thanks so much for joining us today. 

00:10:12:08 - 00:10:12:24

Danielle McCormick: Thank you.