As we begin to close up this year’s winter, we can begin to look back and consider the oddity it has been. From snow on Halloween to 55-degrees on Christmas, we truly have no clue what to expect from the weather in the upcoming months.
Due to last year’s arctic blast, which caused temperatures to drop to almost -30 degrees Fahrenheit and emptied schools for almost a week, District 204 has prepared for the eventuality of more bizarre weather phenomena. This preparation came in the form of e-School learning.
Although there have been none so far, in the event of a snow day or other school-preventing event, teachers have been instructed to utilize their online resources and create a lesson plan for their students. The expectation of schools is that students spend an equal amount of time working on school work as they would on a normal day. The primary reason e-School learning is possible is because District 204 has given standard-issue Chromebooks as an investment in their students’ education. All that teachers must do for e-School to function is take whatever assignments they intended for their students and send it out to them, often through the Google Classroom program.
The creation of e-School learning is highly practical for several reasons. The most obvious benefit is the guarantee that schools can now give parents regarding the last day of school. In the past years, snow days have forced the districts to extend their school year to accommodate the required number of days students must attend.
The second reason, lesser known to teachers, is the assistance a unique and different learning experience can have for young students. All students are different, and therefore have educational requirements that are not all the same. For many students, the ability to learn independently and at their own pace can greatly improve their ability to comprehend the material given.
So let’s buckle down and see what else Chicago weather can throw at us, and maybe our students can try out this new system for themselves.
