Kim Cole's Blog | Chris Howse's Blog
2020 so far
What a year. The rural public school where Chris and I teach shut down abruptly in early April and ended the school year for most students not long afterward. We watched the majority of our kids disappear from online contact, even those with internet access at home. Despite sending home laptops and wireless hotspots, very few students check their Google Classrooms or respond to emails. All of us have spent hours on the phone to contact our kids to make sure they are okay and finalize their grades for the year. This summer and next year will be about schools figuring out ways to teach the kids when they can't be in the classroom. One thing Chris and I have become even more sure of is that face to face instruction is the gold standard. Videos and websites can only do so much. Kids need teachers.
Despite all the gloom and doom, we are excited about the future. We have spent a lot of time working out the best ways to teach face to face over the internet. We are the midst of our third Zoom bootcamp, and we are delighted at how well they are working out. We don't record our sessions. You have to log in and learn with us in real-time. When you take travel and location out of the mix, it's easier to offer options for folks who are working different shifts. For the first time, we will provide a morning bootcamp for the July test. We are also grouping the coaching so students interested in just one or two subject areas can skip the other parts of the test. (The ACT will begin offering subject area tests for their new Superscore in September.) The current crisis won't last forever. Colleges will reopen, programs will be choosing next year's students, scholarships will be awarded. Let's not miss this opportunity to better prepare our kids for success!
Despite all the gloom and doom, we are excited about the future. We have spent a lot of time working out the best ways to teach face to face over the internet. We are the midst of our third Zoom bootcamp, and we are delighted at how well they are working out. We don't record our sessions. You have to log in and learn with us in real-time. When you take travel and location out of the mix, it's easier to offer options for folks who are working different shifts. For the first time, we will provide a morning bootcamp for the July test. We are also grouping the coaching so students interested in just one or two subject areas can skip the other parts of the test. (The ACT will begin offering subject area tests for their new Superscore in September.) The current crisis won't last forever. Colleges will reopen, programs will be choosing next year's students, scholarships will be awarded. Let's not miss this opportunity to better prepare our kids for success!