School districts across North Texas are trying to get used to life outside the classroom as schools are closed to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Many districts are making plans to continue teaching using online resources.
In six days, Keller ISD came up with an online plan that should have taken 18 months to create and implement.
“The plan was that we were going to do digital learning and create an e-learning platform,” said Sara Koprowski, Keller ISD Executive Director of Curriculum. “We have created a website to push out to our teachers that contain around 500 lessons.”
District leaders said around 7,000 students had requests for devices and/or wifi connections to participate in the e-learning program. Keller ISD will make all the materials available to those families.
“For the first two weeks, it is going to be review. These lessons are based on our curriculum so they are pulled straight out of what we would have done,” Koprowski said “We just included virtual and digital components to them like a video or something a parent can print off at home. Everything remained the same. We just flipped it into an e-learning platform.”
When everything is squared away, teachers should be able to look at their laptops and see 21 little faces looking back, ready to learn.
There are resources for students with special needs such as English language learning, dyslexia and students enrolled in special education classes.
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There are classes for grades Pre-K through 12 and teachers realize that students cannot stay glued to computers all day.
“There will have to be ‘brain breaks’ and recess and lunch and doing what they can and giving grace,” Koprowski said.
There is technology support available for parents as well to help with the digital learning curve.
