Feature Speakers: Rotarian Ross introduced the guest speakers from the Huntsville High School: Nico Byl is head of student services; Dr. Leslie Cuthbertson teaches science and math; Emily Christensen is a grade 12 student, heading to university in September.
Nico Byl: Described what this school year was like. Huntsville High School opened in 1904, and last year there were 934 students. This year, students had a choice to attend in school or online remote learning. There were 112 students who studied totally online.
10% of students return after Grade 12 for a 5th year, 30% go directly to work or take a gap year, 35% go to Community College to a vocational program and 25% go to university. In normal years, there is a very active extra-curricular program, but these activities were mostly curtailed this year due to Covid-19. The breakfast program, which Rotary supports, carried on, but a bit differently as a lunch box.
The semester system changed to an octomester system, utilizing 8 blocks of time of 22 days. The students took one course at a time, all day every day for 22 days, to allow for less movement within the school. The grade nine students adapted very well to this arrangement. Some subjects worked better with this type of set-up. There were many restrictions and limitations in place. There has been a loss of school culture this year, and the energy is missing.
Dr. Leslie Cuthbertson: She shared her screen to show her google classroom and how to teach and learn in a pandemic. There were challenges changing from the semester system to the octomester system. Last July, they were preparing for online teaching, and in August it was changed to a quadmester system, and in September it all changed again. Courses collapsed, and she ended up teaching a new course she had not taught before, so she designed the course to suit the new situation. Her students were amazing. She taught Grade 10 Math four periods a day. The students were able to see the schedules in detail, which was helpful to them. She posted daily schedules and resources; there were places for announcements, course work, daily agendas, and schedules.
The difference with online learning is that the teacher is not able to see the students as normal. Small group work was a struggle. Labs were difficult. In order to provide the attention the students needed, she provided resources and made herself available outside of classroom time. Regarding examinations, it was necessary to prevent academic dishonesty, and promote academic honesty.
Emily Christensen: Emily was very thankful for her teachers, especially this year. She expected online learning to be a challenge; it really affects the school experience, with less participation and missing the social connections. She is very involved in the music program, and learning music online was very impersonal. Students miss seeing their friends in the old way, and the “hallway buzz”, as well as all the extra- curricular activities.
Advantages of online learning – students can be encouraged to be more independent and work on their own. There are more resources and tools. A program called Soundtrack was brought in to allow music to be played in conjunction with other musicians, which was very good. Online, it is easier to ask the teachers for help, by just typing in the query.
Questions:
Mary: Could see both sides of the issues for teaching.
Hugh: Congratulated them all – it was enlightening to learn how they all adapted.
Ron: Congratulated Leslie, as another Guelph grad, for picking Huntsville to live and work.
Tim: How did academic results compare to normal years? Ans: Superficially, success rates were increased with the octomester, but online results had higher failure rates.
George: Asked about quality of the internet. Ans: Last year, there were 42 households without internet, but by Sept. 2020 there were only a very few students without internet. Every student is provided with a Chrome Book computer.
Mary: Are these devices passed on to Grade 9 students after four years? Ans: No, usually 4 years is the approximate shelf life of the devices.
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