Virtual learning during a pandemic

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – As this Teacher Appreciation Week comes to an end and the abbreviated school year wraps up, a lot of parents and teachers are anxious about what’s next.

Will a whole generation of kids fall behind?

The Coronavirus forced all school to closed and move to NTI, Non-Traditional Instruction, this is Fayette County’s first year doing it.

“There are some units that they need a regular assessment and then the unit we’re ending the year on it kind of an out of the box assessment.” That’s what Denise minor said, a Chemistry Teacher at Henry Clay High School in Lexington she says this method is harder but she’s not letting anyone fall behind.

She has a system for students not grasping subjects. “So I have found having a Zoom meeting with one or two students at a time outside of the regular class Zoom has helped me connect with them.”

But even that isn’t the same as in-person teaching. Some students just aren’t digital learners, and struggle with NTI. Sometimes she does have to make the sessions a bit more personal, “and then I have about 5 other students who really need and I don’t mean this in a negative way a lot of hand holding. They need that one on one instruction and those have been the student’s I see struggling the most and their grade has declined since we’ve been in NTI.”

She explained the different ways she has found to do testing with different tests and different time slots for students. Adding it is more work but she’s gotten it a good grove now.

Minor says she’s found remote learning is actually an important skill her students need to learn. She even plans to add it on to the curriculum when she’s finally back in the classroom. “I think that it will change the way I teach even when I go back to more traditional teaching. I need to make sure students are ready for the workplace where they may have more remote work so I will incorporate that in the future.”