On April 6th, all OCDSB schools moved to Phase 2 of Learn at Home. This is a period of transition for all of us. Teachers are now providing teacher-led learning online. The goal is not to replicate the school day at home. Teachers have been asked to review their long range teaching plans and the curriculum content not yet taught, simplify what will be taught and focus on the most essential learning concepts in that course.
Our thanks to all students and parents/guardians who participated in our recent Thoughtexchange. We asked about your experiences with learning at home - how it is working for you; what questions you have; the challenges have you experienced and your ideas for improvements. We had a tremendous response:
Participation Rate during Share and Star:
7012 Participants |
8902 Thoughts Shared |
169,803 Star Ratings Assigned |
|
Students 7-8
|
Students 9-12
|
Parents K-8
|
Parents 9-12
|
Community
|
Participants
|
774
|
2304
|
3162
|
731
|
41
|
Thoughts Shared
|
635
|
1923
|
5061
|
1260
|
23
|
Ratings Assigned
|
11,416
|
41,354
|
92,770
|
24,211
|
52
|
You can Discover the results and explore the feedback below:
The Preliminary Findings:
With so many thoughts shared, we have some homework to do! In the next week, we will be going through all the thoughts in detail and finding ways to respond to these issues. We have already been able to identify common themes:
1 – Family Stress/Life Balance
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9 – Stress/Anxiety
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2 – Hours/ Volume of Work/Consistency
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10 – Equity
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3 – Need Teacher-Led Learning
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11 – Graduation/Post-Secondary
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4– Hard to Focus/Be Motivated
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12 – Access to Technology
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5– Online Platforms/Resources
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13 – French
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6– Assignments/Evaluation
|
14 – Positives/Successes
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7 – Need Contact/ Online is Difficult
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15 – Hands-On
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8 – Need Instructions/Communication
|
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We know that many students are finding it challenging to manage learning at home with other priorities. Adjusting to the workload, establishing a routine for learning and managing deadlines can be difficult. Teachers are working on key concepts to ensure that students have the foundation for future learning. Every week, we gain experience, learn from each other and can refine our practice.
What’s Next?
We are currently reviewing the feedback in detail and will be looking at the concerns of specific groups. This will help us in the following ways:
- Inform decision-making about next steps for supporting students and families;
- Working with educators to bring clarity and consistency to our practices;
- Doing some research to better understand some of the issues you have raised;
- Updating our FAQs to ensure you have the answers you are looking for; and
- Sharing the key themes and trends as we work with our education partners so that we all benefit from this collective insight.