It is hard work for the educational supporters
ICT employees work long hours to make the lessons digitally accessible. Caretakers and teaching assistants take care of students of parents with vital professions, but are also already working on the future. "When the school reopens, everything will be spic and span."
picture: Type tank
Ain Wijting is an IT employee at Teylingen College in Noordwijkerhout. Normally he is the only one working with computers at school, but since the corona crisis, Whiting has had the support of two teachers. “The first week we worked from early morning until late at night to get all the lessons in a digital environment. So much came to us, so many questions from teachers, students and parents. We had to spar and juggle a lot to find the best possible solutions for everything. ” Teachers who want to show YouTube videos in Hangout, but have no sound, cite Whiting as an example. Or students with login problems or a broken computer at home. "And then we are lucky that we have been working with our school in a google environment for five years, so that the students are used to the programs."
Overwhelmed
Benjamin Baars is an ICT coordinator of a primary school of Scholengroep Veluwezoom. “It is hard work”, he also says. “I had in my head how we should do it at school, and that's how it worked. We rolled out the online lessons and tasks in three phases, so that students and parents were not overwhelmed with explanations and access codes. ”
The impact of all the new measures is great
Baars works together with I-coaches from the school group. “The collaboration is going well. But the impact of all new measures is huge. ” Many parents have questions. But many teachers also have questions. Baars is at school two mornings a week to help as much as possible with login codes, live chats or lending devices. Non-Dutch speaking parents are sometimes more difficult to reach online. They can come to school on these days for questions. On other days Baars works from home. "Teachers want to know how to share a white board or how to chat live on Teams." He is satisfied with the result. With the exception of a few students, everyone now works online.
Vital professions
One day a week, Baars also takes care of students of parents with vital professions. He is not only an ICT coordinator, but also a teaching assistant. The school group takes care of 6 to sometimes 22 pupils. "They work on their weekly task and can then play outside or do something creative."
Parents like that we call and keep a finger on the pulse
Teacher supporter Rosalinde Stins started calling all students in her class last week to ask if working online is successful and how they are doing. Stins has grade 6 from Rosj Pina primary school in Amsterdam. “We started with the students who had not yet appeared online. Whether you are successful with logging in. Some students do not follow the online explanation because they do not need the explanation and continue to work themselves. Parents especially like that we call and keep a finger on the pulse. ”
Quiet
Then it became known When the schools were closing, Stins made sure that the notebooks were ready for students to take home. She scanned the teaching materials and then the answers from the textbooks so that parents can check the answers with their children. The school is open until 6 am every day and teachers and educational supporters take turns at the school. Parents who don't have a computer or laptop can pick up a chromebook from school. “For the rest, I am more relaxed than usual. I teach history and geography in grade XNUMX and normally would like to have more time to prepare the lessons. When the school reopens, language and arithmetic will take precedence. "
The school will shine like never before
Occasionally, the head of head concierge Louis Coenen is already on the day the school reopens. He works at the Bonnefanten College in Maastricht. “Normally more than a thousand students are walking around here. Now we are only busy with a handful of people. That is very unreal. I miss the students. ” He is at school every day from nine to twelve to do minor maintenance. The toilets need to be flushed. The plants are watered. “The cleaners are busy disinfecting all tables and chairs. They come to places they would otherwise never have time for. The school will shine like never before. We are preparing for a fresh restart. ”
Trots
Next week will be an exciting moment for ICT employee Ain Whiting. “Then we start with remote testing for final-exam students who have to catch up on a test. That is completely new. That will be shivering and fingers crossed that things are going well. ICT professionals have a lot of extra responsibilities these days, but if everything goes well, you are extra proud. It is nice to see that we have reached the point where we can technically run a school remotely. ”
Everyone is doing their part during the corona crisis. read here more about teaching in times of corona. And finds here tips from your colleagues for distance learning.
