Dodge County families adapting to distance learning

Some choose the kitchen countertop; others go to the dining room table or desks in their room. Wherever it is students around Dodge County are finding new places to do their schoolwork as they acclimate to distance learning.
Distance learning also means students are doing more schoolwork on a computer. To make sure students had access to a computer, the Kasson-Mantorville school district checked to see if families had enough for all of their children.
“The school sent out a survey asking how many children you have and how many devices you have and if you didn’t have enough, the school would offer you a device,” said Lori Brookman who has three children who attend K-M schools.
In addition to ensuring the students were ready, the teachers and staff also had to adjust to teaching online and with school closing on March 18 and reopening on March 30, they had just eight business days to prepare.
“It took a huge effort and it seems like it’s been seamless,” she said.
However, you don’t have to just take her word for it. Christie Schaeffer who has two children in K-M schools agreed that the transition to distance learning has been smooth.
“Overall, things have gone very smoothly,” she said.
One example of how easy it is for students, she said, is the elementary school sends out an email with a link for each grade.
“Everything is listed for what they have to do that day,” said Schaeffer.
Lori Brookman agreed. She said her second-grader, Chase, receives daily assignments, which are spelled out and include a math, reading and writing lesson.
Knowing what they have to do each day is also easy for high school students such as K-M freshman Alaina Brookman who said she uses Google classroom and the syllabus to stay up to date on assignments.
“I already know what they expect from me and what’s due when,” she said.
Meanwhile, her sister, Emma who’s a senior, said her classes are also mostly online based.
She said the only drawback to distance learning is comprehending some of those classes, like math, that are more difficult to learn on your own, but to combat that issue her calculus class meets on Zoom everyday.
In addition to calculus, she said she has a couple other Zoom meetings throughout the day.
Christie Schaeffer said her eighth-grader, Preston, began participating in Zoom meetings this week.
While there could be technical issues with connecting to Zoom for the first time, she said the school thought of that too.
“We received an email over the weekend and it had the instructions on how to dial in, what time and what’d they’d be covering in the meeting,” she said.
Zoom also allows students to connect with each other while they’re stuck at home.
Lori Brookman said her second-grader participated in a classroom Zoom meeting on Monday night so he could see all of his friends.
Another way Zoom is being used to help students, she said, is by giving them a way to ask their teachers questions directly.
“His teacher has set up a personal Zoom meeting and they’re always available by email,” she said.
Lori Brookman said he can also connect with his teachers through emails, sent out by the school secretary, with a link to a recording of a bedtime story read by various teachers.
High school teachers are showing support for their students by not assigning more than four hours of work a day. 
“They tried to take into account that parents are still working and kids could be sharing devices,” said Emma Brookman.
One way the elementary school is giving students a reprieve from looking at a screen is by giving students, such as fourth-grader Lauren Schaeffer, booklets and workbooks to do assignments in.
Her mother, Christie, said she does some of her work in the morning, takes a break and then works on it again to break it up.
In addition to no more than two hours of learning, she said the fourth-graders are asked to do extra reading, work on projects and exercise.
“They ask them to do extra reading throughout the day and for physical education they want students to spend a certain amount of minutes doing a physical activity each day,” she said.
Christie Schaeffer said her family is getting in its physical activity by playing basketball in the driveway, running on an elliptical downstairs, walking and bike riding down a bike trail, and playing catch in the backyard.
While schools families are finding ways to replicate most of the activities that students would be doing at school, they can’t make up for the social aspect of school.
The stay at home order is especially hurting the seniors who were supposed to enjoy Prom last Saturday, but it had to be rescheduled for May 9.
“The seniors feel like a lot of the milestones of being a senior are being taken away from them,” said Lori Brookman.
However, thanks to smart phones, high school students are able to stay connected with their friends.
Another positive for both families is the extra family time.
“I feel like we’re having more family dinners, playing games and playing cards,” said Lori Brookman.
Meanwhile, Christie Schaeffer said they’re a lot of the same things as the Brookmans.
“We’re doing more family meals together, family conversations, a lot of board games, puzzles, shared yard work, watching movies and Netflix shows as a family,” she said.
While families around Kasson and Mantorville are adjusting to a new way of life, she said the K-M school district has done a good job supporting its students and their families.
“I feel like the communication between the school and us has been very strong. I think the teachers have done a really good job.” she said. “We have the support and the contact information if we need help.”