1 of 2
Photo courtesy of Wendy Blaszyk.
Edgewood Elementary student Claire Blaszyk, 6, completes her e-learning assignments. Her mother, Wendy, said making a plan the night before has helped Claire complete her assignments.
2 of 2
Photo by Erin Nelson.
A second-grade student reads through an article on the coronavirus impact in Rome, Italy as he sits in a chair in his front yard April 6. Students across the Birmingham-area began the e-learning platform from home, after schools closed March 18, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Because the COVID-19 pandemic closed public schools across the country in mid-March, students in the Homewood City Schools district have been e-learning — completing their school assignments from home— since April 6.
“Homewood teachers and students are grieving the premature end of the face-to-face school year,” said HCS director of instruction Patrick Chappell. “While nothing can replace the culture and sense of community that comes from a Homewood teacher’s classroom, our teachers and administrators are working hard to bring a sense of normalcy back to families through e-learning.”
The transition to e-learning has been difficult, said Wendy Blaszyk, a stay-at-home parent with a 6-year-old daughter at Edgewood Elementary School.
“I only have one child, so I don’t know how moms who are working full-time at home — plus if they have more than one child — I don’t know how they are doing it,” she said. “I am in awe.”
She worked in marketing, public relations and event planning before adopting her daughter Claire, so Wendy said she is used to making lists and staying organized. E-learning is a whole different ball game, she said.
“I try to be organized and say, ‘OK, this is our plan for the day.’ And then it all goes out the window,” she said, laughing.
Elementary students in HCS have a “tic-tac-toe” board each week, and the students each choose three assignments from the board to complete each day. The first day, Wendy allowed Claire to pick out which assignments on the tic-tac-toe board she wanted to do, but this became chaotic, she said.
Wendy decided to pick the assignments for her daughter the night before and make a plan for the next day.
“I started doing that, and it went a little bit easier,” she said.
She also found that it helps if, the night before, she opens all the website pages she plans to visit the next day. These websites include online books, science videos and other supplemental learning materials. By opening the web pages the night before, Claire won’t get distracted while waiting for something to load.
“When I lose her attention, it’s like, ‘I want to go outside, I want to do this,’” she said. “I have to do everything I can beforehand so I can try to keep her focused.”
Mary Biggs works half days doing ultrasounds, and she has two children— seventh-grader Audrey and ninth-grader Patton. Both of her children handle e-learning differently, she said. For Audrey, Mary has to be a hands-on teacher.
“I had to learn all the science this week,” Mary said. “I had to learn all the math this week. I’m having to Google and look up things because I don’t know pre-algebra as well as I thought I did.”
The first week of e-learning was especially challenging for Mary and Audrey, and they would sometimes stay up until 8:30 p.m. trying to finish Audrey’s assignments. They realized they were spending too much time working on assignments that should only take 30-45 minutes, Mary said.
Sticking to a schedule has been helpful for Patton, Mary said.
“My son is rigorous with his schedule. ... He got mad at me when I asked him to go get his clothes downstairs to wash because it was messing up his schedule,” she said, laughing.
It’s also important to eliminate distractions, Mary said. At first, Audrey tried to listen to music while she worked, but Mary said Audrey realized it was too distracting. Getting in a comfortable chair and making the space suitable for learning also helped Audrey.
Overall, Mary said she’s noticed every student is a little different from the next.
“I’m on text threads with my friends, and half of them are like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is the worst!’” she said. “Then the other half’s like, ‘I don’t understand what’s so hard, my kids did great with this.’ I think it all depends on your child.”
E-learning is optional for seniors who are on track to graduate. The last day of e-learning is May 21.