Bellefontaine City School staff, like schools across the U.S., are finding new methods to provide instruction and communicate with students while they cannot physically meet in person during the pandemic.
BCS teachers said the Zoom has been the online platform they have most frequently used.
Teachers have been innovative in their efforts, using Zoom for basic class check-ins, question and answer sessions, to say “hello,” providing one-on-one reading conferences, conducting “office hours” for students, and attending professional development opportunities. Zoom meetings are happening daily throughout the city.
In addition, therapists in the district are using Zoom to provide related services to their students, which resembles Telehealth services.
Many department meetings and collaboration sessions also are taking place via Zoom. Katie Davis and Leslie Regula and some of their BIS students recently participated in a meeting to play Stories with Holes by Nathan Levy – a creative thinking questioning game.
BHS Spanish teacher Jeanie Denkewalter hosted a Zoom conference so students could have full class discussion in Spanish about the novel the class has been reading.
Krista Belser’s sixth-grade class recently participated in a scavenger hunt, and BMS teacher Eric Fatzinger hosted a virtual science escape room. He sent the students into breakout rooms of three students each, where they could only hear and see what those members were doing.
Many of the younger grades utilize Zoom for class show and tell, teacher read alouds, and a time to reconnect with students.
“When we can’t be together, we appreciate the chance to have technology that helps us connect and check on students and help them feel like they are loved,” first-grade teacher Katie Galloway said.
“Just seeing their faces and hearing their voices helps us stay connected and brings me joy,” said Stacy Calton, high school and middle school choir teacher.