EDUCATION IN TIMES OF CORONA: PART ONE

by Nora Thomas

Remote learning is difficult for everyone. But preschool and special education present unique challenges.

Emily Paddon is a head teacher of an 8-1-2 class at the Kennedy Children’s Center in the Bronx. She is responsible for teaching communication and practical skills to eight preschoolers with cognitive delays. When she was still operating out of a physical classroom, she had two assistants and a one-to-one paraprofessional. On top of her job, she is also finishing up her Masters of Science in Teaching in Early Childhood Special Education at Fordham University.

Paddon says a crucial part of her job as a special ed preschool teacher is getting her students adjusted to a concrete daily schedule so they can learn to be independent. Kennedy Children’s Center starts school in July, and over the span of a year the students add more tasks and skills to their daily routines.

“We do something called aided language stimulation during breakfast. We use a lot of visuals to help them ask for the things they need and to understand the items we’re giving them, so it helps promote communication [and] vocabulary development because a lot of these students are non-verbal or emerging verbal.”

Consequently, when school abruptly moved online to stop the spread of COVID-19, Paddon found herself lost as to how to proceed.

“Because, kind of in my mind, I was like, how are we supposed to do this remotely? There’s no way to do such a thing that relies on how we interact with a child remotely.”

Paddon also says when it hit her that school would not be returning before the end of the year, she was devastated that she most likely would not be able to see her students in person again.

She says her job has essentially shifted from teaching kids to teaching parents how to help their kids. Paddon now sends weekly newsletters with lesson plans for the week. But despite her efforts to keep school in session, she feels like her students’ education is not much of a priority in all the chaos.

“A lot of parents have multiple kids, they’re trying to work with their third grader or their sixth grader on their learning, so I don’t think they’re really thinking about their preschooler’s online learning.”

Paddon says the hardest part is the lack of control. “Because in the classroom, we really started to see improvement and growth, and it was so exciting. And now, granted I see pictures, I get to talk to parents, but I don’t get to see it and I don’t know what’s happening.”

However, she is optimistic the coronavirus outbreak will inspire parents all over the country to feel more confident communicating with educators.

Paddon hopes schools will open up again before the start of her next school year in July, but experts say it is likely social distancing measures will need to continue through the summer.