How Fort Worth area teachers found new ways to inspire summer school students
The Fort Worth and Arlington school districts are finding new and creative ways to engage virtual summer school students after a year of Zoom fatigue and online overdrive.
More students are enrolled in summer school than usual after the pandemic caused students to fall behind and struggle on state tests. For the first time, both districts opened up their summer programs to all students, giving them the option to get ahead, close gaps and make up for lost time.
While most students in Fort Worth have gone back in person for summer school, Arlington left it up to the students to decide if they wanted online or in person summer learning.
“These kiddos right here, they chose to be virtual,” said Katie Shaw, a fifth-grade teacher in Arlington. “They had the choice of virtual or in person, and they want to be here, they want to learn. And that is making a world of difference.”
Arlington teachers have been engaging kids with songs, virtual field trips and programs like GoNoodle and Minecraft Education.
Students say they are excited to log on and learn.
“I’m really learning much faster with all of our songs and everything and same thing with reading. We’ve been having a lot of fun,” said fifth-grader Layla Lujan.
Shaw, who taught virtual summer school in 2020, said this year’s program is nothing like last year’s. She helps her students learn multiplication facts to Tik Tok songs, has taken them on virtual field trips to the San Diego Zoo and the American Revolution Museum and uses GoNoodle and Kidz Bop dances to incorporate physical activity into her lessons.
“Some of the things that teachers are incorporating, I mean, I’ve never heard of these things before, but they’re doing them and it’s working,” said Evelyn Navarro-Gaspar, Arlington’s virtual summer school principal.
Robert Speer, an Arlington elementary bilingual teacher, said his virtual summer school students have become more independent learners. He also incorporates games, dances and Minecraft Education into his lessons.
“It’s been a learning experience for me,” Speer said. “It’s been a very positive experience. I’ve been able to grow as an educator myself in my understanding on how to reach students remotely.”
When classes go back to being in person, Speer plans to incorporate the lessons and activities he’s teaching in his virtual classroom.
In Arlington, virtual students connect with their teachers 8:20 a.m. to 1:20 p.m. Monday through Friday. During the virtual school year, students connected with their teachers for 30- to 45-minute blocks throughout the day and then would log off to complete assignments. The scheduling change has promoted student engagement.
“The design of the program promotes students’ engagement in the learning process for the duration of the schedule with breaks throughout the day,” said Steven Wurtz, Arlington’s chief academic officer. “Virtual students are engaging in similar activities as students learning in person.”
Arlington school leaders were nervous how kids and parents would respond to the new format. But feedback has been positive, Navarro-Gaspar said.
Janet Leski, parent of two rising fifth-grade students in Arlington, said her boys stayed engaged all day and were excited to log back in to school the next morning.
“I was shocked at how well it was run,” she said.
By engaging kids in new ways, Arlington educators hope summer school will help students learn and master the standards that were taught during the school year so they can be successful as they transition to the new school year, Wurtz said.
More students than usual are enrolled in summer school as they try to catch up and fill gaps missed during the irregular school years. Over 11,000 students are enrolled in Arlington’s summer program — 13% students are learning remotely and 87% in person.
Fort Worth’s approach
The majority of Fort Worth’s summer school has been in person. High school students who need to recover credit are the only ones online. They make up 28% of the 15,000 students in FWISD’s Summer Launch program.
“What we were trying to do this summer is go ahead and transition back to as much in person instruction as possible,” said Jerry Moore, chief academic officer in Fort Worth.
The decision to do summer school mostly in person was made after nearly 60% of students finished the school year in person, Moore said.
“We put a lot of supports in place to make sure our parents and students knew that our schools were safe environments,” Moore said. “We were really promoting getting our kids back in our classrooms, knowing that our students were progressing the most when they were able to be here, in person, interacting with their teachers and interacting with their peers.”
Moore said the decision was received by parents and students without a lot of push-back.
Both districts opened their summer school programs to anyone who wanted to join and have made social and emotional learning an important part of the summer curriculum.
“Our goal was primarily that if you wanted to attend summer school, we wanted to provide a resource for you,” Wurtz said.
There is a big focus on social and emotional learning this summer, as students are preparing to transition back to the in person school environment in the fall and dealing with the experience they just had living in a pandemic, Wurtz said. The learning focuses on self awareness, self management, social awareness and relationship skills.
“We want to make sure that they have those social and emotional skills to cope with what’s going on,” said Kijuana Carter, counselor of Arlington’s remote learning program. “A lot of kids and a lot of adults have been dealing with a lot of things with this pandemic and just a lot of feelings and not really knowing what to do with them, how to handle them. So I do guidance lessons all day everyday.”
During the guidance lessons, students are able to express themselves and get help with their challenges.
“They’ve received it really well, they get excited when I come in they’re like, ‘Counselor Carter’s in the house,’” Carter said.
AISD’s first session of summer school started June 7 and concluded June 25. The second session will resume after the fourth of July holiday on July 5. FWISD’s Summer Launch program began June 23 and will conclude July 22.