How will assessments take place for remote learners? (Updated on October 19, 2020 )
All assessments and evaluations will remain the same. Remote learners will submit work through the Google Classroom for assessment. Tests can be given through a Google Form and students will work on it on their device and then click submit and the teacher will receive the test. When students have tests, teachers will ask students to keep their cameras on.
How will group work and classroom discussions take place for remote learners? (Updated on October 19, 2020 )
Teachers should invite all students into the Google Classroom. This is also to ensure teachers are ready to continue teaching if a class or school is directed to self-isolate by York Region Public Health. In this case, the teacher will continue to teach all students remotely. We are recommending total class participation at opportune times. Teachers will eventually have classes where all students will be logged onto a device. In this case, teachers can create Google Hangouts for groups of students to work together on an assignment.
What happens if remote learners or teachers experience issues with technology? (Updated on October 19, 2020 )
Technical issues such as WIFI connectivity or audio issues, must be reported to the IT Departmentment immediately by the teacher. When this happens, IT is usually able to resolve the issue. As for microphones, the YCDSB has ordered wireless mics for teachers. It is recommended to teachers that they look at the classroom setup and location of the laptop or Chromebook. The teacher should be speaking in front of the computer until they receive their wireless mics.
What happens when my child’s teacher is absent? Will there be a supply teacher? (Updated on October 19, 2020 )
We have sent all administrators and OTs a memo with clear guidelines of what a teacher should leave for a supply teacher and how the supply teacher would log into the Google Classroom. Teachers will leave a link to Google Classroom.
Will parents/guardians and students be provided with a remote learning “live time” schedule, complete with offline work to avoid significant screen time beyond the Ministry of Education’s mandated amount of synchronous hours? (Updated on October 19, 2020 )
Teachers will provide schedules to remote learners, so that they will know when to log on and when to log off. There will be online time and time offline for students to work independently on assignments.
How will parents be informed of their child’s class sizes? (Updated on October 14, 2020 )
The in-person face to face classes, together with remote students will meet the Ministry of Education’s mandated cap for class sizes which could mean that there are fewer students in the in-person face to face classes.
Why are some classes being reorganized if the Board is trying to minimize movement for students? (Updated on October 14, 2020 )
This reorganization will help minimize student movement for the duration of the 2020-21 school year. It is important to note that a reorganization of both remote and face-to-face classes was to occur regardless in November and January to accommodate parental choice for learning models and align with staffing ratios. Due to the number of requests to have students change modalities and the number of students being kept at home, we felt we needed to respond with a viable plan sooner than later. We also felt that frequent reorganization of classes was not in the best interest of students or staff. Also, as more parents switched to remote learning, there was no guarantee that class sizes in school would not increase because of the need to reassign face to face teachers to remote learning. This became a possible future safety concern for face to face students and staff. With this model, there is no longer a need for future reorganization, and we are able to keep physical distancing requirements.
Why were parents not consulted with prior to implementing this new elementary hybrid model? (Updated on October 14, 2020 )
We decided to implement this model right away because we had many remote learners who were not yet assigned to teachers, as well as many more parents who wanted to switch from face to face to remote learning. We needed to address this immediately. In any case, we would have had to do a complete reorganization at the beginning of November regardless. This model eliminates any further reorganization.
By changing the learning model, it helps to ensure that all students have access to programs offered by our Board. Given the various operational and staffing challenges faced in the previous remote learning model, and the need to find a solution that is sustainable for the remainder of the school year, this decision was made in the best interest of students, families and staff.
This model also ensures that all students will continue to learn the same curriculum without missing a day. With cases of COVID 19 on the rise, we have had students and classes needing to self- isolate. In this model, learning continues with more consistency, as all students belong to a Virtual Learning Environment.
Can you eliminate French as a subject this year in order to move core French teachers to have their own classrooms to alleviate the teacher shortage? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
The Ministry of Education clearly states that all subjects need to be addressed.
Teachers are now being asked to do two full-time jobs, as teaching face to face learners requires different teaching skills, organization and planning compared to teaching remote learners. (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
A teacher is doing one job – teaching one class of students simultaneously. In any classroom setting, there are groupings of students and the teacher will address the needs of all students in the classroom, as they have always done.
The same holds true of our combined grade classes (i.e.: a Grade 5 / 6 combined class).
What are the benefits of this new elementary learning model? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
This hybrid model has numerous benefits including keeping remote learners in their home school with their friends, maintaining physical distancing in classrooms, and offering a seamless transition from in-class learning to remote learning or vice-versa. All students receive the same classroom instruction from their teachers.
As in any regular school year, students will first be assigned to the appropriate grade level and then to a specific teacher (for their new ‘class’). This class, made up of both face-to-face and remote learners, will be taught as usual by their assigned teacher (remote learners joining daily via Google Classroom). Students will enjoy a normal classroom experience, regardless of their chosen learning format. In addition, remote learners will be able to access physical resources from their home schools. It is our firm belief that this format will better serve our students’ educational needs, re-establish links with classmates and promote positive mental health.
Teachers will provide a timetable. Teachers will use a mix of audio and video (camera on) as determined by their lesson, throughout the day. The main lesson is taught synchronously to both groups of students (in-class and remote) through teachers sharing their screen on their computer for students and lessons being projected on a whiteboard for in-class students. The students will be able to hear/see the teacher as he/she goes through the lesson. Questions can be answered for in-class students and remote students can either unmute or write a question in the chat feature. The teacher will read out questions and answer them for the benefit of all students.
When it is time for independent work, this is an opportunity for remote students to log off. The teacher will give a time frame to class. He/she will log off to address in-class students first, while students work independently. Then he/she will join remote learners to check in and answer questions.
What is the new elementary learning model announced on October 7, 2020? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
The new Elementary Model is a Hybrid model that includes in-person learners present in the regular classroom for instruction each day, along with remote learners who remain at home and connect with their peers and the classroom teachers remotely. The home school classroom teacher engages in-person learners and remote synchronous learners in shared learning activities and instruction using Google Classroom or D2L.
Why did the Board choose to implement this model right away instead of waiting until November? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
We decided to implement this model right away because we had many remote learners who were not yet assigned to teachers, as well as many more parents who wanted to switch from face to face to remote learning. We needed to address this immediately. In any case, we would have had to do a complete reorganization at the beginning of November regardless. This model eliminates any further reorganization.
Why did the YCDSB change the elementary learning model? Why was there not sufficient lead-in time to put this new plan in place? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
The main reason why we changed our learning model was to ensure that all students have access to programs offered by our Board. Given the various operational and staffing challenges faced in the previous remote learning model, and the need to find a solution that is sustainable for the remainder of the school year, this decision was made.
It is important to note that a reorganization of both remote and face-to-face classes was to occur regardless in November and January to accommodate parental choice for learning models and align with staffing ratios. Due to the number of requests to have students change modalities and the number of students being kept at home, we felt we needed to respond with a viable plan sooner than later. We also felt that frequent reorganization of classes was not in the best interest of students or staff. Also, as more parents switched to remote learning, there was no guarantee that class sizes in school would not increase because of the need to reassign face to face teachers to remote learning. This became a possible future safety concern for face to face students and staff. With this model, there is no longer a need for future reorganization, and we are able to keep physical distancing requirements.
This model also ensures that all students will continue to learn the same curriculum without missing a day. With cases of COVID 19 on the rise, we have had students and classes needing to self- isolate. In this model, learning continues with more consistency, as all students belong to a Virtual Learning Environment.
Why during the August 31st Board meeting, was it mentioned that this model would not work pedagogically? (Updated on October 8, 2020 )
To start, it is important to reiterate that our return to school plan is a dynamic plan. At the start of the school year, school boards across the province, including ours, started with a model where remote students were taught solely by remote teachers and in-school students were taught solely by in-school teachers. Both formats of learning were something that our Board, like many others, were already familiar with as remote learning is comparable to e-learning and in-class learning is the traditional method of learning. However, what was a unique variable and unprecedented was the level of demand from parents and guardians to switch between in-class learning and remote learning.
Our Board recognized, as an evolving situation, that it would not be sustainable under the previous model to accommodate switching between in-class learning and remote learning without causing significant disruption to the learning of students, and that if we continued on that path, this disruption would be a periodic occurrence. We did not have the funding to hire the number of teachers needed to accommodate the unassigned students, as well as the parents who wanted to switch their children from face to face to remote learning. Furthermore, we now had more information, as other school boards (such as the UCDSB) had shown that the hybrid model could work and represented a more effective way for parents and guardians to request switches between in-class learning and remote learning while maintaining continuity of learning without the disruptions of the previous model. In addition, this is the model we adopted in secondary at the onset, and feedback from families, students and staff was very positive. Teachers are preparing engaging lessons and students are fully participating.
In August, the Board’s IT department was concerned about available bandwidth. Since then some of the funding we have received from the Ministry has been used to connect our schools to Fiber. So now, in October, given recent developments, it is the most effective plan to meet the needs of all students during this pandemic.