The Sounding Line
The Sounding Line
How Teaching is Changing
Molly Auclair (Host), Professional Development Coordinator at GMRI, works with regional educator communities called connected learning ecosystems from across the entire state of Maine, that are all focused on engaging youth with impactful science experiences. In this conversation, we're going to hear from three science teachers about their experiences in adapting to the different learning environments, and restrictions that were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Ann Luginbuhl from Charlotte Elementary School, Laurie Spooner from Van Buren district secondary school, and Phil Catanese, from Oxford Hills Middle School will be discussing this topic.
Host:
Molly Auclair, Professional Development Coordinator
Guests:
Ann Luginbuhl, 5-8 Grade Teacher at Charlotte Elementary School
Laurie Spooner, High School Science and Middle School Robotics Teacher at Van Buren District Secondary School
Phil Catanese, Middle School Science Teacher at Oxford Hills Middle School
You're listening to the sounding line from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Molly Auclair:I'm Molly Auclair Professional Development Coordinator at GMRI. Thanks for joining us. In my work with GMRI, I get to work with regional educator communities from across the entire state of Maine, that are all focused on engaging youth with impactful science experiences. And in today's conversation, we're going to get to hear from three of those science teachers about their experiences in adapting to the different learning environments, and restrictions brought upon by the COVID 19 pandemic. We're joined by Ann Luginbuhl from Charlotte Elementary School, Laurie Spooner from Van Buren district secondary school, and Phil Catanese, from Oxford Hills Middle School. Let's take a listen.
Ann Luginbuhl:I know that I have changed the way I teach because of this whole situation. It started out last spring when we went remote, so suddenly, and I like shifted over to Google Classroom. And then in the fall over the summer, I thought about it, and I started doing all my math classes, flipped. You know, so I do the lessons by video. I have four math groups, and I do. I was doing 20 lessons over the weekend, right. So that was a good reason to do robotics one a week. I now do 16 lessons on the weekend, and I come by video. And the kids. And one of them's math time, they sit at their desk, with their headphones on their iPads and they watch the video of, I don't videotape myself, I use explain everything with a whiteboard, and the kids can rewind it and watch it again. And then the class time they're working on the assignment, and I spend the class time moving around and assisting kids. And I never would have had the guts to do that if it hadn't been for the pandemic. And it has helped the kids have really done well in math this year. Because of that, it's relieved, I have three quarters of my seventh grade are siblings. So they're all in the same grade. And the competition between those kids in a math lesson they're more interested in whether they're, they're not getting it and their sibling was. So that's completely wiped that out, they're not interested in what each other is doing. They're focused on their own work. So that's a way that, for me, that's been a positive change and an improvement. I don't know if I have the stamina to keep it up a whole other year. But if I could, I would like to. So to either of you notice something that's been a positive change in your teaching, because of it.
Laurie Spooner:I actually have been teaching similar to what you've been describing for quite some time. This is that is always kind of been my method of having them. And I don't create my own content, either. I often will be in science, there's a lot of really great stuff out there. I use EdPuzzle. So that they have to stop and think and they have to answer your questions and interact, it's kind of you can almost interact with me that way, at least I can see where their thinking is along the way. And I can at least have them stop, I can ask them a question. And they can realize, oh, that's what I needed to know out of this. And they'll go back and try to figure out what it was that they're supposed to know. So I've found that to be very, very useful. And then when it comes time to working on solving, like in physics class, math problems, we spend a lot of time in class just solving physics problems, or doing some sort of lab experience. And that has just made it so that there's a lot of interaction. But they have more confidence that way too. They don't feel, if send them home to do the assignment, they get lost, they get stuck on one problem, and then they're done. They're not going to work on it anymore. But if they're doing it in class with me, they can get their help, or with the older students, I actually will really encourage them to ask each other and try to try to work that way too, because I figured in another couple years, they're not going to have me to ask, they're going to have to be working through with each other. So they are doing a lot more just kind of guided sorts of things working with me. And just like you said, flipped all of that stuff at home, but it's not flipped anymore. That's that's the easy way to do it. Because you watch the video in your home. I don't have to worry about that part.
Phil Catanese:I wouldn't say have made any major adjustments to my teaching style, but I feel like one of the things that really concentrated on being clear with directions and expectations for work. Because when you have you know 20-25 kids in the classroom and they have a question you can just walk right over to him and say, Hey, this is what you have to do. Whereas now there's a zoom in between, and you can't physically show them things sometimes. So we spent a lot of time making videos and PowerPoints just showing like how to do simple directions, the things that I could, you know, take a demonstration and show them right in front of the class, or walk up to him and show him but now, I can't do that without him. So that's been a challenge.
Molly Auclair:You know, what are those things that you've learned through this experience that you want to take forward? As we, you know, whenever we do kind of transition to, you know, yet another type of teaching experience, you know, what, what is it that you want to take forward with you? And what would, what would you rather not? Maybe?
Laurie Spooner:Well, I know, it's not going to be popular with at least many of the teachers I've spoken with. But I really do appreciate the fact that having that zoom option for students when they're not in school, for whatever reason, if we could plan for those sorts of things, and I've had a conversation with an administrator in my building, about having those zoom classes as options for students who have other things going on, behavior issues that are keeping them from being comfortable to be in school, more alternatives, being more flexible than the straight, this is how school has to be. And this is what we how we've always done it. We've learned a lot this year, in being flexible, and making things happen. And I really hope as we go forward, we we keep a lot of that flexibility in place to make sure we're meeting the needs of each student.
Ann Luginbuhl:Yeah, I like that really much more individual focused curriculum, and having those options for kids. I mean, I have kids who, you know, I roughly structure out my day where we're doing reading and math and science and socials, whatever, but I'm fine with kids, I finished my studies and let to go back and finish my reading now, or can I get started on my math because I wanted to have time to do my robotics. And, and I, that really has been, you know, in the past, it's always kind of been well, from nine to whatever time is this subject and having some flexibility in that and giving kids extra time to finish, something they need extra time on is, is been a really good thing. It's been a really good thing.
Phil Catanese:I think it's nice, just having a whole new set of tricks, you know, Nevel whole bunch of new tools like iPad resources, like using Pear Deck. And I think just having a technology that we can, rather than just writing notes down on a, on a whiteboard, we can write it down on an iPad, so what's on the screen or, you know, we have different ways of delivery and different ways to reach kids different methods for differentiating our instruction.
Ann Luginbuhl:Yeah, that's the word differentiation and individualization. I think that's really opened up our eyes and our minds. So the idea is that you can be a lot more, you know, look at kids much more as individuals and offer a lot more choices. I know I also you know, had an epiphany at one point of saying, You know what, we got to make sure these kids are having fun. And I've really tried to build that in and science is the way to do it in my classroom. You know, we've been doing lots of hands on more than I've ever done in the past and and you know, I don't know whether they know more or less science but they don't have such a negative reaction to science anyway, so
Phil Catanese:that a chemistry joke.
Ann Luginbuhl:Yeah, it's a chemistry joke.
Molly Auclair:That was Ann Luginbuhl from Charlotte Elementary School, Laurie Spooner from Van Buren district secondary school, and Phil Catanese from Oxford Hills Middle School, talking about their experiences, and adapting to different learning environments and restrictions brought upon by the COVID 19 pandemic. I'm Molly Auclair, professional development coordinator at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Narrator:The sounding line is a production of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and you can find more episodes and read more about our work at gmri.org. Thanks for listening