Community Reflects on Rotation Schedule
Fiona Burton ‘23
The second semester of the 2020-2021 school year will begin on Wednesday, January 20th. The school is halfway through its fifth month of in-person learning. The beginning of the second semester marks the start of the third rotation of the new schedule that was introduced at the beginning of the school year. Upon reflecting on the new schedule, Head of Upper School Andrew Jones called it an “unqualified success.” “It’s doing the thing we want, which is getting into school in person, and allowing us to focus on our classes as much as possible.”
Assistant Head of Upper School Justine Fellows listed out the pros and cons of the rotation schedule thus far. “I think there’s something to be said about a more college-like mode of focusing - really immersion wise - in three or four classes versus six or seven classes, so I think, from what I hear from the students, they really like that.” Fellows also pointed out that the 90-minute classes work better for subjects, that are centered around project based learning, such as science.
According to Fellows, one of the cons of the rotation schedule is the return to world language and math classes that are typically more difficult for students to come back to after a long break. “The argument could be made that we take a pretty long summer off, and the kids do just fine coming back in the fall and that there are also different things to do with your memory where if you take a break from something and then relearn it or refresh your memory to it, it actually is a better way to learn.” Fellows added.
Many members of the GFA community are concerned about beginning a new rotation after a long absence from their first rotation classes. However, the Upper School administration has reminded students that the community has gone through this many times before. “They [teachers] run review sessions at the beginning of the year every year, this will be a little different obviously, but I think how to do it best depends a lot on the subject, and depends a lot on the class, but that’s definitely on their radar for the beginning of the third and fourth rotation.” said Jones.
Once teachers review the material learned in the early fall, they hope to move forward and cover new material. “The research says that's actually a really good way of approaching it, a quick review, and quick immersion back into the subject.” said Fellows.
As GFA enters the winter months, some families are choosing to keep their children home to do virtual learning. Other students, who have recently traveled or been exposed to the virus, are also required to stay home and do virtual learning. Sharing travel plans, and information about contact tracing with the school has become an essential part of maintaining the safety of students. “It’s just so important that people are open…” Fellows said.
Teachers have been working to ensure that all students, both in-person and virtual, feel as though they are a part of the class, and are able to participate. Before students came back from Winter Break, the upper school faculty were advised on how to best handle hybrid learning classrooms. Depending on the subject, teachers have dealt with hybrid learning differently. “Sometimes I’ll see the student’s face up on the board during all class instruction; sometimes I’ll see breakout rooms with maybe all the kids at home in one group, all the kids at school in other groups, or mixed.,” Jones said. “Faculty are really hustling, and getting super creative about how to keep everybody engaged. My sense is that there has been a lot of experimentation, and they’re sharing with each other things that have worked, and things that haven’t worked so well.”
Teachers are also finding time to meet with virtual students outside of class to make sure that they are clear on the class material, and feel as involved in the class as they can be from home. “This schedule was not made for online classes,” Fellows said, “We were very upfront that if you're learning from home it's not going to be perfect, it’s not going to be perfect because it was really was made to be here, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do as much as we can to engage students, to make sure they’re taken care of, and to just make sure they’re okay.”
