Rescuing the Grade 7 Science classes, a case of Covid19 lockdown

by Maria Pineda

The news broke out the second Thursday of March this year that the Congress declared a lockdown and starting March 15 there will be a Community Quarantine in the whole of Luzon island.

We were busy in the office preparing a trip to Marawi City in Mindanao for that weekend. Our team was supposed to deploy a computer laboratory in a school in Marawi City, Lanao del Sur and I was scheduled to deliver a training for the teachers coming from Marawi and Maguindanao. But all of those activities were cancelled.

Most schools in Metro Manila were caught off guard. Many teachers even failed to bring home their books, lesson plan,  the exams to be checked and other daily teaching materials. How will they finish the school year? For the non-graduating students, they still have three weeks including the final exam. 

I reached out and called the public school teachers I know to check on their situation. It  was not that easy. This was a sensitive time, the knowledge that the Covid19 is a very deadly virus had just started to sink in. It was also a clear crunch time, that even though the students do not have access to technology, the teachers had to find ways to send the remaining tasks and the students had to submit their work  to complete the academic activities. 

One of the teachers I asked openly admitted she needed a platform to be able to distribute the assignments of the students. She was a Science teacher, handling 4 Grade 7 classes. She had been broadcasting announcements and communicating with her students via FB group. She also had limited training on Moodle.

I assisted her to have access to a cloud-based Moodle. We arranged for the following:

1. A set of procedures was prepared for her students to be able to do self-registration in the Grade 7 Science class in Moodle via web and via the smartphone.
2. The set of procedures was to be announced in their Facebook group.
3. Two of my colleagues and myself became part of the Facebook group so we could answer student inquiries and concerns.
4. She posted her assignments and references on the Science class site with clear deadlines. 
5. A period for self-enrollment was enabled and was later extended to accommodate as many of her students.

Grade 7 students in the Philippines are early teens and are not acquainted with many details of instructions. But given the perseverance and creativity of their teacher, the students were able to accomplish the remaining tasks, perceive a sense of gratification and appreciation of the additional learning they had for the Science course.

 

The teacher was admirably very patient, always available and keen on giving the initial instructions to her students. We discussed concerns through phone calls and messaging. In terms of teaching techniques, she managed to put together a set of requirements eliciting research, analytical exercises and reflection on the pandemic that had disrupted their undertakings. She also solicited proof of validation of their work by asking the students to have photos with their parents.

She was a hero on a rescue mission while she continued to be steadfast and assuring to her students. It is a rare talent to be inventive at teaching and resilient in the face of pandemic challenges.