 And welcome to Crossroads in Learning, where we contemplate and discuss topics that matter to education here in Hawaii and across the country. I am your host, Keisha King. Today's show talks about none other than COVID-19 and it's titled Engage and Empower Exceptional Learners, while we are distance learning and special education right here in Hawaii and again throughout the country. In these unprecedented times, teachers and students are being asked to teach and learn outside the classroom. Three local teachers, special education teachers, in fact, of fully self-contained classrooms, Kevin Matsumoto, Charlene Curry, and Derek Gobin, will discuss their unique challenges and innovative solutions for the Hawaii Department of Education distance learning program. Extended school closures will continue for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year during COVID-19 global pandemic. Educators are committed to providing high quality educational enrichment and teacher collaboration to differentiate lessons to adapt to this new online format. Today, I'd like you to welcome with me Derek Gobin. Aloha, Derek. Hi, Keisha. Thank you for having me today. It's a pleasure. In fact, it's a pleasure to have you back as a guest. You are very, very important to this discussion regarding special education, especially as it pertains to the fully self-contained classrooms. I understand that at the very beginning of this pandemic, if we can show Derek's graphic, he immediately gathered like-minded teachers to discuss the fully self-contained classroom. Can you talk to us about your virtual sessions? Sure. Yes. Thank you, Keisha. The thinking was, again, I'm Derek. I'm a teacher at Roseville High School. I'm a community-based instruction teacher, so I teach our students with severe special needs as well. And the thinking is that teachers that are like-minded, that are teaching a specific curriculum in the way that we are in community-based instruction or these fully self-contained classrooms, these teachers need support. These teachers need to know that we have a network, that we can collaborate as professionals and be respected as such, and that we can share resources and best practices with each other to support student growth and student success. And so in doing that and thinking, moving forward with the pandemic, of course, a lot of thoughts around pandemic, or how are we going to do virtual learning? This can't happen. I can't do distance learning. And I found myself in that dark circle, too, at first thinking, I can't do this with my students. This will never work. And then I started thinking, I have to be solutions-oriented because that's what we, as educators, must do for our students. We have to think outside the box and think, how can we support them during any time? That's what we do as public educators. And so moving forward, I thought it's powerful that I've got to create a group where we can network and we can share resources and we can collaborate as teachers. And that's what we did. I threw out an idea, threw it up on Twitter. The picture you saw was so that everyone could network and collaborate and a beautiful thing has happened. We have about just under 40 FSC teachers, like-minded, not only in Hawaii. We have some on the mainland as well that joined in and say, you know what? This is a great initiative. This is something we want to be a part of, and teachers have grown and they've stepped outside of the box. And that's why I'm so glad that Keevan and Charlene are here today because they're going to be able to tell you some of the great things that even they've been able to expand in their, and their resource and their kit to be able to support our students during this time. Thank you so much. That's exactly right. And we know right here in Hawaii, teacher collaboration is of high importance. As a matter of fact, it is a part of our five promises to our students. So I would like to next introduce Keevan Matsumoto. Keevan, please tell us, how long have you been teaching here in Hawaii and what exactly do you teach and where? Akisha, my name is Keevan Matsumoto. I've been teaching at Kamuki High School for about 10 years now. Similar to Derek and Charlene, I teach a community based instruction, which is for our moderate to severe disability students. The easiest way to describe those students, for those of you that don't know the DOE lingo as far as what our classes look like, if you've ever been in the community and involved in Special Olympics, that organization generally caters to the kids at our level. So that's the, you know, the population that we service. And our classrooms, you know, have about, mine has about 13 students and a whole different range of needs. And we provide instruction that meets their individual needs. But we also look at the whole child and looking at our whole class needs when developing that curriculum. So I'm very happy to be here and thank you for having me. It's totally my pleasure to have you. And I can't wait to talk about more of what you're doing in your classroom with your unique group of students. Community based instruction is highly important to me. That is also what I teach on the middle school level. And you are at the high school level. So hopefully I get them prepared for what you're going to do. And next, our next guest is Charlene Curry. Please tell us what school you're from and how long you've been teaching and what exactly do you teach? Thanks so much. My name is Charlene Curry. I am currently teaching over on the island of Kauai at Kauai High. I also am a FSC fully self-contained teacher. We, I am actually one of three fantastic FSC teachers at our school. We serve as students from ninth grade all the way until the age of 22. And like Derek and Kevin said, we run the gauntlet of things that we do. And we're just trying to prepare them for life after high school. Excellent. Now, how long have you been teaching? Yes, sorry. I have actually been teaching for seven years. This is my second year at Kauai High. I moved here three years ago and bought a house and I'm here to stay. So hopefully a lot more years to head. Wonderful. We are certainly glad to have all of you here teaching right here locally in Hawaii and we are most especially proud of the fact that you all are Hawaii public school proud. That is amazing. I'm so grateful for that. We all are, in fact, very proud of the work that you all are doing. So now we found ourselves in the middle of this pandemic, COVID-19, while we were on spring break. And if you recall the first week, they said we would have an extended spring break. Did any of you begin preparing for a distance learning program during that first week? I'll pose that question to you, Charlene. Did you anticipate that we would not return to school? I'm sorry. We at our school, we definitely had that discussion of the what if. And so the three of us kind of sat down, threw out some ideas of what are we going to do? Is it going to look like paper packets sending home? How can we tackle this? And it was very overwhelming at that point to even kind of think of it. We were all kind of just staring at each other going, what will we do? So it was very scary. But yes, we did kind of start thinking along the lines of preparing. Yes. Many have referred to that week as week zero. And the following week as week one, because during that week, it is my understanding that many teachers began the process of preparing for some format of distance learning. Kevin, can you talk to us about what options you had for distance learning, whether it was going to be packet based, which is paper and paper and pencil, or if it was strictly distance learning online? And what did you select and why? So in the beginning, Keshia, as you know, everything was all up in the air. So we needed to put everything on the table. So it was either going to be online paper packets or foam check ins or video conferencing. So kind of everything was on the table. But the first thing that really helped me is that establishing and building on the relationships that I had cultivated with my parents, because our kids have such unique disabilities and unique needs. The teleconferencing media is not the best for instruction or for the phone or online. They need help accessing those materials. So having the parents support using those materials has been the most important part of this distance learning experiment. And so as far as what I'm using, I'm using a combination of everything. So I have a classroom website with instructional materials. I do phone check ins. I do video conferencing just like this to resume. So I have a 15 minute session in the morning and a 15 minute session in the afternoon with each student in my class. The parent sits in on those lessons and they help as like an e-helper to help them access the technology and or the paper packets so they can use that learning material. Just to review, you have paper packets, distance learning, 15 minute class sessions, an e-helper, parent participation, student participation. Well my goodness, you're working really hard. It's all for our kids and trying to look for the best way to reach them. That's our job. And I think again referring to our five promises, empowerment is one of the key promises that we were seeking in developing this five promises plan for the next 10 years. And that embodies, it states that students will develop their authentic voice as contributors to equity, excellence, innovation by providing input on what, how, and where they learn. So they were forced to learn at home or outside of the classroom. And so the where they learned was determined not by us but certainly having student voice. Now, how do we demonstrate that in this new learning environment? Before you answer that, in fact, we're going to take a quick break and we're going to talk about student voice. After this, you're watching Crossroads and Learning with me, your host and my Hawaii Department of Education guests will be right back after this break. Aloha, I'm Kili Ikeena, the host of Hawaii Together on the ThinkTech Hawaii Broadcast Network. Hawaii Together deals with the problems we face in paradise and looks for solutions, whether it's with the economy, the government, or society. We're streamed live on ThinkTech biweekly at 2 p.m. on Mondays. I want to thank you so much for watching. We look forward to seeing you again. I'm Kili Ikeena, Aloha. And welcome back. You're watching Crossroads and Learning. I'm your host, Keisha King. And today we have three wonderful educators, or as we like to refer to ourselves, sped educators, talking about distance learning for our very unique learners. And that is our group of exceptional learners in the fully self-contained. Sometimes it's a CBI classroom and at others it's simply a fully self-contained classroom. While we're doing this distance learning during COVID-19, certainly a year that we will never ever forget. So before we went on our break, we discussed student voice. And I'd like for Charlene to lead us into how her students have options with a choice board. And in fact, all three of you can discuss what choice boards you're using and how students are engaged. Thank you, Keisha. So my students, we don't utilize so much as a choice board, but I give them an array of options every week. They have a list of assignments that I would like them to complete. And they go through and they choose the assignment that they think suits them best. And then they respond, report to me of which one they've chosen. And then I work with them through the week. I don't meet with my students every single day like Kevin does. We do a one-hour session once a week. And they report back of things that they are having challenges with. And I get to visit with their parents and they get to tell me all about how they're handling this epidemic and what they're doing at home or pandemic, I should say, and what they're doing at home to keep safe and keep entertained and stay busy. So it gives them the opportunity to really like let me into their world and tell me how they're handling things and what I can do to help them. That's wonderful. You know, I wanted to say right there that I've noticed a lot more parent participation with their students. Have you all noticed that as well? Absolutely. Yes. Yes. Yeah. What has that been like for you? I'll start with Kevin. I'm sorry. See, I mean, it really is a partnership and because we could never do distance learning on our own. It just does not lend itself well to our population. So having that parent support has really helped helping, you know, going over with them, having that individual time with the parents to go over the kids' schedule for the week. So I made them a schedule with choices that they can choose which activities they want to participate in. I do give them a full day of activities to do, but they have the choice, you know. So if they, you know, if the parents want them to work all day throughout the day, they have the activities to support that. As a means to support student voice and empowerment, I have each kid do a weekly presentation to their classmates via Zoom on a daily living skill. For example, cooking a basic meal or showing like a cleaning skill, like doing laundry or vacuuming. And it kind of allows them to show their skills, right? And teach and be the teacher. And we don't often see our students as teachers. They teach us a lot, I know. But as far as teaching their peers, they don't get that many opportunities. But through this media, it's been very effective having them, giving them that empowerment to sort of be the teacher for the day and show their classmates how to do a skill. I'm certain that the response has been overwhelming for all of us, as it pertains to how our students interact with one another during this time. Derek, I'm going to let you answer about what your schedule looks like. But I wanted to mention for my classroom, one of the things that we do is provide on my website, which I want to applaud you all because you did it all in one week. And as we collaborated together, we were able to put all of our ideas together to develop unique resources for our students. My daily schedule consists of following a home morning routine, including hygiene and preparing breakfast. They have practice for their yoga class that we have once a week and stretches through Special Olympics, who provided their stretching routine via their website. They practice their morning greetings with their family members. They have their online class with me every day at 10 o'clock. And we have a fitness class at 10 o'clock on Tuesdays and Thursdays, where we all participate in a fun time of Zumba and other aerobics. That's what I like to see because my parents get on line with us. We are using Webex and they're getting fit right there with their child. And that's a lot of fun to witness. Like you, Keevan, we have a very full day. And I think it's so important for parents to participate with their child and their teacher so that there is a full scope of learning taking place for everyone. Derek, why don't you talk to us a little bit about what your day looks like. Eric, if you don't mind showing the visual schedule for the morning routine. Sure. Thanks, Kisha. Thanks, Eric. So for my students, like Charlene, I use a one-hour virtual meeting time. So I meet with my kids. I set up a one-hour time with my students, one hour per week. We sometimes have some more where we throw in some group activities, but I do have a set hour time dedicated for each student for a per week. And so in that time, with the visual that you're going to see, is I set up a morning and afternoon and an evening schedule. But with my parents, I established that this is invasive. I place a lot of value on classroom culture, and I want that message to convey also to a time of virtual learning. So I tell my parents, this is invasive. Thank you for allowing me into your home today. My students and I, we give the student an independent activity. We actually engage in like a parent console. We discuss things that are working at home, things that are not. And then I ask the parent, hey, I have an activity I would like to now do with your student. I'm going to show you the resources. I'm going to engage with the student if you can support as that aid at the side. And then I'm going to show you the prompting hierarchy and show you when I'm not there, how you can still support your child during this time. Because it is about putting the learning over and putting the supplies into the parents' hands. And we have to give them respect and all the love because they didn't sign up for this. This isn't the career they signed up for. They just now have a hand that's been dealt to them and some have other children in a home. And I can't sympathize, so I can only empathize that some have children in a home and there's multi-generational families in one home and limited internet access. And all of these different factors we have to think about in terms of equity and supporting our students. So in the schedules, I tell my parents, just like Keevin and Charlene, you can have a full day's worth or you can even use just a portion of this. And that's totally up to you and that's totally okay. Just know that we care most about everyone staying safe and healthy during this time. That's right. I love it. And I think one other thing Charlene mentioned at one of our meetings, so it's a social story about COVID-19. Are any of you using that for the social emotional learning of your students? Please talk to us about that whoever's using a social story. Okay. So I was afraid we were both going to share that at the same time. So again, thinking of those students and the students that are in your class, we all have individual eyes and specific needs within our classrooms. So just sharing that resource out there for a social story, those of you that are not familiar with the social story, it's a way that we can convey a message to our students with the use of pictures and a very simplified text so that they can understand the context of the lesson. So there are social stories out there regarding COVID-19 to answer the questions of why is my routine different? Why am I not getting on the bus? Why am I not going to school? So the parents can help them understand that it's okay to be frustrated, that we're all a little frustrated right now, that's okay. This is what frustration feels like and that's a valid experience and emotion for you. And then we want to help them to learn how to cope with that during this time because it is important. Indeed. Thank you so much. Thank you to all of you for being guests today. I know I've heard from you a little bit, but Derek, I want to give you the opportunity. Oh, looks like we might have a question. Oh, okay, we don't. Derek, I wanted to cut to you and talk a little bit more about the importance of teacher collaboration as it pertains to the fully self-contained special education group that you formed. Sure. So if you think about the number of educators we have, and again, I love using that term, Speducators, I'm very, very proud of my like-minded people. The Speducators that are on the island, some are in areas that they're the only FSC teacher at their school. Some, like Charlene and I, we have three. You know, we have a network even within our school, but there are some people that are at schools that they do not have that network and they might be the only FSC or CBI teacher. They may even be unlicensed. They may have been, have walked into this job and truly do not know how to do this and they may have a school-level mentor, but it's a little different if that mentor isn't specific to our content area. We do teach curriculum that's specialized. It's individualized and we need to support each other. And so my pitch and my thinking is, how do we take this time of COVID and this pandemic and keep this virtual learning and this time for us to collaborate? How do we take it moving forward? I don't see why we can't actually keep this moment I'm going and keep positive things going to keep virtual learning as time for professional collaboration. Even when we go back to school physically, who's to say we can't keep time together to meet virtually and keep great things coming out? As these educators have showed that they're producing and they're sharing resources, making things happen for the kids. Awesome. I couldn't agree more. And I thank you. The extended school closures due to COVID-19 has caused educators and families nationwide to restructure the location and format of instruction. Teachers developed innovative and equitable learning for all, including those in fully self-contained classrooms. For many, the results have highlighted student empowerment, student and family engagement, high participation and an overall sense of accomplishment. For many of our exceptional learners and their families, we must celebrate the dedication, commitment and remarkable collaborative achievements of our teachers, who in one week created our new way of learning that has become our normal for now. So as you go throughout your day, hopefully you're staying safe and staying inside. But if you're ever at the grocery store or walking in the parks once they reopen, thank a teacher. To teachers, we here at Think Tech Hawaii simply say, I'm going to practice my Hawaiian Mahalo Nui Loa kumu. Mahalo Nui Loa. Thank you so very much. To the three of you, Derek, Kevin, Charlene, I thank you so much for being my guest today. Continue doing the work you're doing. And Derek, you're right. I hope that this continues beyond this pandemic. Thanks so much for the work you're doing. And thank you for joining us here at Crossroads in Learning. Aloha.