 I'm Grace Lottig and this is Educating Ourselves in These Difficult Times on ThinkTech Hawaii. I am a communications major at Hawaii Pacific University and intern here at ThinkTech. In my series, I cover the unique challenges presented by coronavirus and how it has impacted education. In today's episode, we will be shedding light on the challenges of being an educator during the coronavirus pandemic, the shift of a secondary school classroom experience to an online setting, and the impact of the pandemic on hallmark high school social events such as prom, senior theses, sporting events, and graduation. Today, my special guest is Mrs. Eileen Keane, Humanities Teacher and Drama Director at a small private school in Kailua. She will give her role as an educator and give us an inside look on what secondary school education looks like today during a pandemic. Thank you for being a guest on my show today, Mrs. Keane. I'm so happy to be here. It's a pleasure to have you. So to start off our discussion for today, could you tell us a little bit about your educational background and the school that you currently teach at just to give some context for our viewers today? Absolutely. I've been teaching in Hawaii for over 10 years. I've taught for the DOE, both in a regular high school on the Woodward side and also at a reform school. For the last six years, I've been at a small private Christian school on the Woodward side. It's a really beautiful school with great families and great kids, a real close knit group of people. We're a classical Christian school with small class sizes and we put a lot of our heart into not only our classes, but our extracurricular activities. It definitely sounds like a very well-balanced school. I'd like to get some insight today on how the coronavirus pendentator. To just give us a framework, could you let us know what subjects you're currently teaching and how many classes you're teaching? Sure. I think I have about five classes. It gets a little mixed up because we have clubs and extracurriculars. I teach seven through 12th grades. I have humanities classes, which are a combination of English and history. I also have the drama club. We normally do two shows every year, one spring and one in the fall. I teach writing classes. This year I have 10th, 11th, and 12th grade writing. The senior rhetoric class, as it's called, focuses on a senior thesis, which is a 20-minute memorized presentation. It's controversial and then the students actually defend their thesis with 20 minutes of Q&A after that. That's normally the big culminating experience of our seniors' experience at our school. We also have houses. It's sort of like Harry Potter. I've been a house dean for six years. I love my house. I'm a little biased, but I think we have the best one. Let's see. I teach seven through 12th grade in our secondary and mostly English-related classes. Overall, with our current shift from a classroom setting to an online setting, what types of platforms are you currently using to teach your classes? We are still having classes. We actually started right away. We didn't have an extended break or anything like that. We meet with our students via an online platform. We're using Microsoft repair service teams. It's okay. I've tried using Zoom. I've tried using Teams. It's not the same as meeting in class. It's a little harder to motivate students. You're not in the room. You can't sit down next to them and help them work out a problem or write something down a different way for them on the board. There's definitely a learning curve in teaching online. I know that some teachers are amazing at teaching online. As a passionate classroom teacher, I find it honestly difficult. The connection is not there in the same way. I'm reaching out to students. I can schedule teams meetings and I can do the teams chat. But it's really different online than it is in person or than it was in person. All of our classes are online. We do not meet with our students at all. Unfortunately, spring sports had to be cancelled. Also, the spring play had to be cancelled. Most of our major wonderful events that we really enjoy at the end of the year, including dances, were all shut down because it was deemed unsafe, of course, to meet in person. There's no exchange of work physically. There's no physical interaction. Students turn in their work online. Students receive their assignments online. They are still actually doing assignments. We're reading plays together. They're writing papers. I'm grading their papers and giving them feedback. They are still working. I think the biggest change is definitely with senior thesis, where normally right now in the year, we would be having daily live practice sessions, daily live Q&A practice sessions. Of course, we can't do that. The students are actually sending me videos, three videos a week of their speeches. It's really different practicing in your living room to stuffed animals or your dog compared to practicing in front of your class and other classes and other teachers and getting their feedback. It definitely has been a huge change, not only at the educational level, but just for our social events as well, whether it be for senior thesis or sporting events or prom or graduation, for example. You mentioned that one of the biggest challenges of the shift to an online setting was just feeling that loss of passion and excitement of being in the classroom and having a harder time to motivate students. In what ways have you been trying to continue to inquire for your students that may be struggling during this time? Sure. In seventh grade right now, we're reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare and I happen to love Shakespeare. I try to be as energetic and involved as I can through the camera. It's a whole different format than in class teaching. I tend to be pretty energetic as a teacher, so I try to communicate that through my computer camera. I send jokes through our teams groups and memes. The other day, I was looking at old yearbooks with my daughter and I found pictures of our seniors as eighth graders and sent some of those through teams. I do check in with students quote-unquote one-on-one, so I'll send them messages through teams and say, hey, how are you doing? If you need help on this assignment, let me know. I'm happy to work with you on it. I do try and check in as much as possible and then not all the time because it would take up a whole class, but pretty often we'll check in and I'll literally go down the roll and ask, how are you doing? How did you find this assignment? Are you struggling with this? Do you have any questions about this? What hobbies are you taking up? Do you have a sourdough starter? Are you growing things in your garden? How's your dog? I'll ask about their lives and their other activities. Also, to be honest, I'm commiserating with some students. Our spring play was cancelled and we worked really hard on it. It's actually our school's very first musical. I do work at a smaller school and we have focused on straight plays and more classical pieces. So this is our first musical and the kids have been singing and dancing. I've made them learn the waltz, the polka, a polonaise, etc. Huge, beautiful costumes that people were fitted in and, you know, I've been sewing for hours. So normally you perform the play. Everyone gets flowers and you're sad it's over, but there's this huge sense of accomplishment. So, you know, same thing with sports. Everyone is feeling this huge loss where it's over, yet you didn't get to experience doing it. So there is this really empty hollow sort of ending feeling and I feel that too. So just validating the students' feelings, telling them I understand, encouraging them to find healthy ways to deal with their emotions and move forward. That's what I'm trying my best to do. I think that's amazing that you're definitely trying to reassure and comfort and check in with your students during this really challenging time. I think that students definitely feel more safe and feel a little more comfortable when they feel like they have someone that genuinely cares about them and is regularly checking in on them. You mentioned that the extracurricular realm for the secondary school has changed drastically. As the drama director, what is for the musical? Are you guys going to conduct it online instead? Is it going to be delayed for a future semester perhaps? So unfortunately, I don't think we're going to delay it for a future semester simply because several students are moving. We do have a decent number of military families and so at least two of our cast members are moving to different states with military moves. And then for fairness, you can't really do the play and only recast two roles. You'd have to recast the whole thing. Then how do you motivate students who already know their lines to put in all their energy when the new cast members are learning it from scratch? It's very possible that we could do it a few years from now. For example, we did The Importance of Being Ernest twice in five years. It's a beautiful play. It's actually a retelling of Cinderella called The Slipper and the Rose. It's written by the same people who wrote Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which is a very family friendly, funny musical from back in the day. So I would love to do it in future years. I don't think we'll do it in the future. We've talked about the possibility of filming it and doing some sort of Brady Bunch intro style Zoom recording. But to be completely frank, we don't have an audio visual class that has that skill set to really produce that. So unfortunately, along with many other schools in the nation, our spring play is canceled, which is pretty heartbreaking. Sports have also just been canceled. I know that our athletic director is so supportive of our athletes and very passionate about her wonderful program. So she's still working hard to make the second semester special for her athletes, but can't have the games and the tournament and all that. So unfortunately, with extracurriculars, it's canceled. Speech and debate also canceled. Lots of students pour their hearts and soul into speech and debate work so hard on whatever sections they enter. And I have students who have done speech and debate for years and absolutely love it, states version of it, and it was just done. It's definitely difficult because I feel as though these Hallmark extracurricular activities definitely are the highlight of high school for so many students. Overall, what would you say that this shift to online learning has revealed to us about what high school students are really getting out of their education, both social and within the classroom? Well, I hate to say I'm right about something, but I've always said that in high school, at least 50% of it is social and 50% is academic. And I think that's really true. Even students who, in the past, complained a lot about school are missing school and they're missing their friends, they're missing the interactions. They're also missing the learning environment. And a lot of schools work so hard to provide a wonderful learning environment and learning opportunities. So aside from health and safety, which is a major issue for people across the state, there are students who don't get hot meals outside of school. There are students who are unsafe in their homes. And that's a huge issue. The learning environment is really missed. And I think students really are seeing that they miss the organization and the structure of school. I'm missing that too personally. I enjoy the structure of school. So yeah, we're missing our regularly scheduled activities. And even the things that we didn't appreciate so much before, maybe like school assemblies that were mandatory, we're now missing that and realizing how much we did get out of those things. Hopefully we'll come out of this all being not as whiny and more appreciative, more appreciative of every hug of every handshake. I hope we'll all be better hand washers. Honestly, I mean, year after year working in a school, kids are covered in everything. And you know, kids pick their noses and then touch the door knobs that everybody else touches. And so I'm always saying, wash your hands or wipe down the room with Lysol. Because flu season happens every year, COVID or not. So I do hope that we'll all be safe, but also will be less whiny about the mandatory things that we have to do and just appreciate our schools and our teachers, our administrators, all the work that they do to give us a safe and supportive learning environment that I think most of us really miss right now. So in a moment, actually, Mrs. Keene, we will be taking a short break. I definitely like to continue our discussion about facilitating a better learning environment for an online setting after our commercial break. Again, I'm Grace Lottick and you are watching Educating Ourselves in These Difficult Times on Think Tech Hawaii with my special guest, Eileen Keene. We will be back shortly. Aloha, my name is Duration. I'm the host of Finding Our Future here on Think Tech Hawaii. I'm here every other Tuesday from 1 to 1.30 p.m. Here on this show, I cover issues around sustainability, you know, global issues that matter for young people for future generations, and other social justice issues. So please join us. It's live streamed on Think Tech Hawaii and also uploaded on YouTube. Welcome back to Educating Ourselves in These Difficult Times with my guest, Mrs. Eileen Keene. Humanities teacher and drama director at a small private school in Kailua. Prior to your discussion, prior to the break, we were talking about how online learning definitely does have a different feel than the classroom. So in what ways have you been trying to instill a more healthy or formal learning environment with the shift to an online setting? A lot of students will have technical difficulties and you can't really hold, it's hard to hold them accountable for things like working microphones and working cameras. So maybe they had a working camera when we started at home learning, but maybe it broke since then. Obviously families are having difficult times. I know that the Department of Education is working really hard to make sure that all students have access to adequate electronic support for online learning, but it's really difficult. There's parts of some islands that don't have very good internet connections. So it's really difficult. With those who are able to log in regularly and have a good Wi-Fi connection, I try to make sure that I call on students regularly, encourage them to follow along. I try to stay really positive. I don't think this is a time for threatening students with grades or harsher techniques of trying to get them to focus. I think it's definitely a time for understanding management and a bit of commiseration. So just trying to keep it positive and engaging and interesting and making sure that I regularly call on every student so that they know that I'm listening for their responses and checking on their responses. I think that's important. Different platforms that allow us to see all our students at one time, I think are much more helpful than platforms that limit the number of feeds you can receive. There are some platforms where you can only see maybe four students at once, and it's not as conducive to us making sure that students are following along and paying attention. I do think the major challenge is students having adequate supplies and materials like microphone, cameras, and Wi-Fi because without that, how can they join an online class successfully? In the event that students don't have these adequate resources, have there been any instances where you've had to make modifications to assignments or projects or perhaps the way in which you're grading students during this time? Well, grading is definitely being done with a lot of grace and understanding. So things like penalties for late work, especially if there's a technological issue, that I think it's safe to say is mostly being waived by most teachers at most schools. Of course, I don't speak for everyone, but I think that's one thing that people will be pretty easy on. In terms of adjustments, so our students all have a school email. If for some reason they're not able to use Teams or something that isn't working, we're able to email assignments to them once again, that relies on Wi-Fi. So we can, if we absolutely need to resort to things other than Teams, like email, like using the phone. I've spoken to parents and relayed assignments to parents. I have emailed assignments. I've received assignments through email instead of Teams. I've spoken via FaceTime instead of Teams to students who needed help navigating the Teams system through one platform, just for continuity, but it's not always possible. So I think that most teachers in this case, and I know lots of teachers at other schools who are just really doing the best they can to reach their students, and they might have to try a few alternate methods to get there. So definitely talking on the phone with parents has been helpful. We're just doing the best we can to get what the kid needs, where it needs to be. I've driven to students' houses and dropped books off in their driveways, maintaining social distancing, of course, just to make sure that they have their materials. So I think that stuff like that is pretty common. You're seeing stuff on Facebook where teachers are driving by students' houses and wishing them happy birthday and just doing what they can to show that they're still connected and still care. Wow, that's definitely impressive. And I think that that really shows that teachers really do impact students, not just within the classroom, but teachers can definitely act as life mentors as well. I had no idea that teachers were actually going around to students' houses, like dropping them, but I know that as a high school student, I definitely would have appreciated having that kind of support during a time like this. Has the school that you work at given you any time frame of when we're going to resume to going back to normal classes? Does your school have a summer school program perhaps that may be converted to an online format? Well, I know that schools have to follow safety regulations because, of course, the health and safety of students and faculty and staff are the primary concern for everybody. Also, I should say I'm not administration, so I do not have any role in decision making for my school. I can just reply as a teacher. So as far as I know, because the State Home Order in Hawaii has been extended through the end of May, we as in the faculty and students are not returning to school this school year. There will be a pick up date for year books, stuff like that, but that will follow social distancing guidelines, be managed in a safe way, and will not have a swarm of people or students at the school at all. To my understanding, summer school may still run if it is deemed safe to do so, and the school needs to wait for guidelines and regulations from the government before they can make those calls. I was looking at art classes at the Honolulu Museum of Art for my daughter and other summer school programs where it seems like ones that are in June are planning to go on as scheduled, but that ones in July are planning to go on as scheduled, but ones in June are sort of on hold. And I think that that's not because of the individual organizations, but more because they have to wait and see what happens in terms of health globally and in the state. For our final leg of the show, I'd like to focus more on the social events and the future of high school students beyond this pandemic. Hence, for high school students are prom and graduation. How are these activities being conducted at your school? The truth is we don't know yet. We do have a smaller private school, so I know that if we are able to do something in a safe manner where social distancing is respected and health and safety is not, you know, risked in any way for our students, if that is possible, the school would really like to celebrate and honor our seniors. The seniors have worked very hard just like seniors across the state and across the nation, across the world. This is such a weird situation where really every answer is a global question and global answer. So because we have very small classes at our school, it might be possible for us to do some sort of celebration for graduation, but I know that the administration is looking at possibilities and will definitely consider health and safety for some foremost. If we can't do something live, I don't know what we're going to do, but I know they will do something, whether it's through email or Facebook or YouTube. I'm not sure what, but I know that our school will celebrate our seniors. I'm not sure how yet. That's still being examined and discussed. That definitely is frustrating not being able to have the ultimate culminating experience for your high school graduation, but I think it's definitely amazing how schools have been getting creative about ways to accommodate and still manage to have seniors have their own special celebration day. So looking towards the future, especially for the class of 2020, how have you seen that the pandemic has affected perhaps college decisions or what students' plans are for the upcoming semesters? Well, a lot of parents are wondering if they want to pay out of state tuition if their students will have online classes. This question a lot from parents, what's the point? And I've never lived through this type of situation, so I honestly don't have an answer. I have worked at universities and I went to universities. I really loved my college experience. I always encourage my students to attend college if it fits with their goals and ideals. I don't know if I can say that you should pay out of state tuition for online classes. My daughter is in middle school, so I'm not yet in a place where I need to consider the price of out of state tuition personally, but I know it's really expensive in state tuition is expensive. I'm an extrovert and I prefer in-person classes. I really loved the classes that I took in college and I had a mentor. I had teachers that I adored and I learned so much. I can't imagine having that same experience online is amazing online. Personally, the in-class experience was so meaningful to me. My seniors have already made their decisions. They've chosen their schools, they've been accepted, most had several choices and they've made their decisions and they're waiting for information from their schools telling them when they're moving. To my understanding, none of my seniors have chosen not to go to a school because of COVID, but some schools I've heard are discussing some universities and colleges are talking about not having live classes in fall. Because so much is in the air, I know that parents and students are anxiously awaiting decisions from colleges and universities across the country. I know that the college national deadline used to be set for May 1st, but in light of the pandemic, has the deadline been altered for some universities to allow students to have more time to make a decision? The truth is I'm not too sure. I've heard that for some, but I don't know how many or in which states. I'm sure it varies per institution. Overall, what do you think that the future will look like beyond this pandemic for education? Can you perhaps think of any areas in which education may be significantly altered? Well, I think that schools are going to have to have this plan be, hopefully we don't have a situation again and hopefully it can end and we can go back to school as usual in the fall. But I think it would be very short-sighted for any school to think that this will never happen again. So schools are learning that they have to have a plan in place for technology. As we think of equity of learning, we say that every student deserves a fair and equal education, but now we really have to support that. So students with IEPs, with learning differences who need different types of assistance for a fair and equal education, we have to see how can we actually support the internet or their microphone breaks. If we're going to hold them accountable for the learning and for demonstrating their learning, then we need to make sure that they have the materials that they need. So I think that a lot of big questions, especially about inequity, have come to light because of the situation in private schools and in the DOE across the nation. So I'm glad that those issues have come to light and hopefully there will be more equity for more students. I think it's not an easy issue to solve and it'll take some time. I think there's definitely much to be learned during this pandemic, both for educators and for the students themselves, but I'm confident that as we continue into the future, we definitely will be able to achieve a new normal once more. This actually wraps up the final segment for our show, but I just wanted to thank you again, Mrs. Keane, and thank you for watching Think Tech Hawaii. It was a pleasure to have you as a guest on my show today. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Thank you, Mrs. Keane. We had challenges presented by coronavirus for educators and that we gave you a better understanding of the experiences of teachers and high school students during this challenging time. Again, I'm Grace Loddick and you're watching Think Tech Hawaii. Thank you.