INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Public School students have settled in for their third day of virtual learning.
Teachers are rising to the challenge, especially when there's a language barrier.
Kids who are new to the United States will be learning English and core content at the same time — all remotely.
Rachael Mitchell, an English as a second language teacher, took pictures of her classroom to send to her students, so they know what their physical class looks like.
"For them to know that … that is a place you are going to go back to. Who knows when … but we will," Mitchell said. "So when they come here, it's not a foreign place… they will know where they are going."
It's one of many preparations the ESL teacher has made to help connect with her third through fifth grad students via remote learning.
"I'm trying to be as creative as I can to help them make a connection to school without actually being here," Mitchell said.
Teaching reading and writing to students whose first language is not English comes with challenges when kids are physically in school. The language barrier is an added element for Mitchell when it comes to remote teaching, which is why she felt it was so important that her set-up stayed as familiar as possible.
"Teaching from the classroom will give us a lot more opportunity to teach the way we normally teach, and then they see us in action the way they normally would and have access to the learning that would be more natural for them," Mitchell said.
Ensuring students understand how their devices and Microsoft Teams work is going to be a daily review for Mitchell's students. Along with what she calls "brain breaks" to fight fatigue and keep kids focused.
"Sitting in front of the computer for hours on end, it's tiring for us (the teachers), so we've been thinking of cool ways we can keep them moving and active and engaged ... Because it's going to be a long ... a long day every day," Mitchell said.
Mitchell says it's going to be a learning process for everyone. She and other teachers will be swapping ideas as the school year progresses to make remote learning as successful as possible.
Mitchell says one of her biggest concerns is that students won't be logged in at 9 a.m. for class, but the district has prepared for that. If students are not up and "in" class, staff will be calling and contacting students via video chat to make sure they are getting their education.
