As of Monday, October 12, we're officially in Phase Green. Thankfully, this was also the week of Fall Break, so we only had 3 days of school before a 4 day weekend.
Case numbers and percent positivity remain low in Monroe County. We're averaging 2 or 3 COVID cases in the high schools per week, but these seem to be acquired in the community and isolated quickly so that we haven't had noticeable in-school transmission.
I had previously been nervous about having all of the in person students in the building at once, but so many students have switched to all online that the in person numbers are not too high. My largest class has 17 in person students, which I can fit in my room while maintaining physical distancing. My smallest class is 8 in person students.
Things don't look as good in the rest of Indiana or in much of the country, so I'm not sure how long we can maintain our Monroe County bubble.
- I now only have 2 groups of students to keep track of: in person and online, instead of 3 groups during Phase Yellow: in person A-K, in person L-Z, and online. It's surprised me just how much easier this is!
- We've returned to our normal maroon/gold alternating block schedule. During hybrid, we had a modified block schedule of maroon maroon gold gold alternating Fridays. It took me about 5 years to get the hang of a regular block schedule, and this new twist nearly pushed me over the edge. Students had two days of class in a row, followed by almost a week off, which is terrible for language learning. Not to mention keeping track of who is where on which day. I don't recommend it!
- It's more practical to teach a lesson in person now than it was on a hybrid schedule. I've been using the flipped classroom model and pre-recording lesson videos, which works well for some students, but many don't have the self-discipline to watch the video carefully and take good notes. On Wednesday I taught the lesson live for in person students. That way I could make sure that they were following along and could check for understanding. Most of them preferred this method, and it definitely gave me a better feel for their comprehension.
- This isn't specific to Phase Green, but I LOVE my contact-free bathroom signout! It is even better than my bathroom pass flowchart. I'm keeping this forever!
Overall, it's really a year of figuring things out as I go and doing what I can. I'm super grateful to be half time because all of the changes/new procedures/worries are exhausting!
A teacher in Mishawaka (northern Indiana) expressed it eloquently to her school board this week:
