Reflective Essay: Case Study
Due to the pandemic, the EFG school has decided to start with online learning and plans to resume traditional in-person classes on a modified basis when safe to do so. The EFG school leader worked closely with the government and health officials to assess the situation. It was mandated that it is best to start online and continue monitoring public health before resuming school in-person.
Over the course of the summer, all teachers and support staff will receive professional development, ideally spread out over the summer, in how to teach using online learning environments, and professional learning will be ongoing throughout the school year. All academic instruction will be conducted online for the duration of the school year, while plans for in-person learning (when safe to resume) will focus on advising and building teacher-student relationships.
In-person schedules will allow teachers, support staff, and students to rotate through the buildings following a half-day schedule every day or full-days one to two times per week. In-person classes may not be fully attended, since it will be up to parental and caregiver choice, so teachers and support staff will be expected to maximize their limited time to support students with technology troubleshooting, mental health, social-emotional learning, relationship-building, and special services that are difficult to provide over the internet.
Upon implementation of online teaching, the educational leader observed Ms. Asma, a fourth-grade teacher, while delivering one of her online classes. Ms. Asma has high expectations for her students. She believes that pushing students to reach their potential is very important for their success. Ms. Asma fills up every single second of the online session with instructional content. From the time the students join the online class at 8:15 a.m. until the time they leave, Ms. Asma is presenting new content to her students. In language arts, science and mathematics, Ms. Asma addresses all of the core standards. After attending the online class, the educational leader commended for her strenuous pace and content-driven classroom. Ms. Asma has those students working hard all of the time.
1. Based on this scenario, write a reflective essay (of no less than 500 words) to reflect on and evaluate the following:
The approach adopted by the EFG school to lead the professional learning and development of their educators and support staff to deal with the present situation due to the pandemic.
Asma’s approach towards engaging her students
Feedback provided by the educational leader
2. As a school leader, what other approaches would you adopt to support your educators and support staff professional learning and development during the pandemic.
3. Is there any additional advice that you would like to provide to Ms. Asmaa to enhance her teaching practices?
This assignment must be submitted and uploaded to Canvas in one of the following formats: .doc., .docx., \.