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Lesson of the Day: ‘13,000 School Districts, 13,000 Approaches to Teaching During Covid’

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Lesson of the Day: ‘13,000 School Districts, 13,000 Approaches to Teaching During Covid’

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Featured Article: “13,000 School Districts, 13,000 Approaches to Teaching During Covid” by Kate Taylor

In a series called “Schools in the Pandemic: A Report Card,” The New York Times closely examined seven school districts across the country in an attempt to see how public schools are navigating the pandemic. The featured article is the introduction to that series.

In this lesson, you will learn about what going to public school looks like right now and how it is affecting students. Then you will share your experiences about learning during the Covid-19 crisis and have a chance to read more about one of the seven districts The Times covered.

Note: The featured article, and all seven related articles, are available in English and Spanish.

How well is your school district handling teaching and learning during the coronavirus pandemic?

Create a report card that assesses your school or district’s Covid-19 response. What grade would you give it why?

If you are in a classroom context, share your grades and reasoning with a small group and discuss what you notice and wonder. How similar are your scores? What criteria appear to be most important to you based on your explanations? Is it how much students are learning? Their mental health status? The school’s safety protocols? Equity across different groups?

If you want to change your grade after discussing with your classmates, do that now and explain why you changed your mind.

Read the article, then answer the following questions:

1. Kate Taylor writes that what it means to go to public school in the United States during a pandemic “looks so different in different parts of the country.” What evidence does she use to support that statement?

2. Ms. Taylor lists some figures about students and schools that are not being officially tracked. Which of those data points is most interesting to you? Why do you wish we had more information about that particular figure?

3. Ms. Taylor writes, “The disruption of education, like so much else about the pandemic, has not affected everyone equally.” Choose one example from the article that illustrates this point.

4. What resources and services — beyond education — do some students rely on in school? How has the pandemic made it harder for students to access those resources?

5. What do we know about how the pandemic has affected young people’s mental health?

6. According to education experts, what are some of the conditions under which schools can open safely? What does, or what would, make you feel safe going to school?

7. What are some expectations about what might happen to schools in the next several months through the 2021-22 school year? What do you predict will happen?

Option 1: Tell us about your school’s Covid-19 response.

Imagine The New York Times has contacted you to find out more about what’s going on in your school or district for its “Schools in the Pandemic” series. What would you want The Times to know about your experience?

You can report on anything you want, but if you need ideas, you might consider some of the following questions:

  • What type of learning is your school or district using during the pandemic? In-person? Remote? A hybrid? Something else? Do you agree with the decision your district has made about in-person or virtual learning? Why or why not?

  • What is helping you to learn this year? What is making learning harder?

  • Have there been cases of Covid-19 in your school or in your community? How has your school responded? How does the response make you feel about the safety of attending school in person?

  • Do you think students are succeeding — and struggling — equally in your school? Or has this year been harder or easier for certain groups of students?

  • If you are attending school in person, what safety measures are students and staff members expected to take? Does everyone respect these rules?

  • Who is making decisions about Covid responses in your school district? Are students, parents, teachers, administrators and district officials all in agreement?

  • What is one change you would like to see at your school when it comes to teaching and learning during this time?

Write a paragraph that highlights what you think are the most important points about your school or district’s handling of the pandemic.

Another option? Use these same questions to interview a classmate about his or her learning experience and summarize the main ideas. How similar or different are your experiences to one another? Why do you think that is? What can you learn by talking to other students about what it’s like for them to go to school right now?

Option 2: Research other school districts around the country.

The featured article was the introductory piece to a longer series about schools during the coronavirus pandemic. Choose one other article from the series to read:

Los Angeles: Teachers and students struggle with “no human contact.”

Cherokee County, Ga.: Schools vowed to stay open, until staffing ran out.

Edison, N.J.: The pandemic has brought a new teaching style.

Washington, D.C.: Teachers are going in search of missing students.

Providence, R.I.: Unlike in many cities, most children are in classrooms.

Wausau, Wis.: Parents revolted after the board voted to keep schools closed.

Lubbock County, Texas: What a tiny district did to keep students from failing.

After reading, answer these questions:

  • What are three struggles the district is facing?

  • What are two solutions or strategies that the district has put in place to try to support students and the staff?

  • What is one quotation that you found particularly meaningful?

  • What is one connection you can make between the district featured in the article and your own district?

About Lesson of the Day

• Find all our Lessons of the Day in this column.
• Teachers, watch our on-demand webinar to learn how to use this feature in your classroom.

Persigue tus Sueños

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Persigue tus Sueños

Author : Miguel Martinez
Degree : Bachelors
Major : Industrial Engineering
Country : Argentina
Language : Spanish

View Author Profile
Visit Atlantic International University

The post Persigue tus Sueños first appeared on Atlantic International University.

Penn Engineering launches new Introduction to Programming with Python and Java Specialization

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Penn Engineering launches new Introduction to Programming with Python and Java Specialization

Penn Engineering Online Learning has just launched a new Specialization called Introduction to Programming with Python and Java. This Specialization moves quickly; it starts out by teaching basic concepts in Python and ramps up to more complex subjects such as object-oriented programming and data structures in Java. By the time learners complete this series of four courses, they will be able to write fully-functional programs in both Python and Java, two of the most well-known and frequently used programming languages in the world today.

Introduction to Programming with Python and Java is for students and professionals who have minimal or no prior programming exposure. It’s for motivated learners who have experience with rigorous coursework, and are looking to gain a competitive edge in advancing their career. It’s for folks who are thinking about applying to the University of Pennsylvania’s popular Online Master of Computer and Information Technology degree (MCIT Online) and want to sample some of the lecture videos and content from the first course in the program. The Specialization certificate will be viewed favorably by the admissions committee so be sure to mention it in your application. If admitted, MCIT Online students can get reimbursed for the Specialization.

Hear more about the course here.

Why should you consider taking Introduction to Programming with Python and Java? “Programming will be a transformational force in nearly every industry in the foreseeable future,” says course instructor Brandon Krakowsky, Lecturer for Penn Engineering. “With this Specialization, anyone with determination can quickly get up to speed.” Learners will encounter in-depth coding demonstrations, hands-on coding exercises and assignments with real-world applications.

The four courses in the series are:

Get started today!

 

Virtual Historic Home Tours

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Virtual Historic Home Tours

Have you ever had the dream where you take a test that you haven’t studied for? Or the one where you’re caught in a public place in your underwear? Here’s another common one: You open a door in your home and discover a room you have never seen before. To make this one a reality, just charge your laptop.

Since the pandemic began, tours of historic American homes, once strictly in-person events, have proliferated online. There are houses with architectural significance, while others had famous former owners or are merely — and wildly — opulent. Encountering these domestic spaces through your screen means sacrificing vestibular sensation and any hope of surreptitiously stroking tablecloth or tapestry. But if you are looking for ways to increase your square footage — no contractor required — here are a handful of options.

The Gilded Age rarely gleamed as brightly as in late 19th-century Newport, R.I., which hosted summer cottages for the nation’s wealthy, assuming your definition of “cottages” extends to 70-room masterpieces of marble, alabaster and platinum leaf. With most homes currently closed, the Preservation Society of Newport County has made video and 3-D tours available of some of the more fabulous ones: The Elms, Marble House, Chateau-sur-Mer, Chepstow, Kingscote, Hunter House, and Isaac Bell House. Scroll and click through Italianate fantasia, Louis XIV pastiche, Gothic extravagance and high-end Victorian clutter. There’s also a tour of the Elms’s servants’ quarters, for a better understanding of the labor and austerity behind the that kept all of that splendor. newportmansions.org

Purchased in 1886 by Sarah Winchester, who inherited a fortune from her gun magnate husband (the second president of Winchester Repeating Arms), this San Jose, Calif., mansion underwent almost constant expansion until her death in 1922. (Why? A popular if unsubstantiated rumor holds that the design was meant to confuse the spirits of those shot by Winchester rifles.) Live tours of its 160 rooms are currently suspended, but the corporation that owns the house has prepared a 41-minute video, available on Vimeo ($5.99 to rent, $13.99 to buy), with an interactive 3-D tour ($8.99) that includes areas not usually shown. Both allow access to the creepy stained glass, the numerology-influenced light fixtures, the stairways to nowhere and the insane number of doors (2,000!) that Winchester bankrolled. Paranormal enthusiasts might particularly enjoy the séance room, with its single entrance and three exits. Neither viewing includes glimpses of the ghosts visitors have reported seeing. winchestermysteryhouse.com

In 1874, Samuel Clemens (pen name Mark Twain) and his family moved into this Hartford, Conn., mansion designed by Edward Tuckerman Potter. The lavish interior, designed by Tiffany’s Associated Artists, came seven years later. Asked about the style of his house, Clemens said, “I guess we’ll call it ‘eclectic.’” Highlights of the free virtual tour include the library, the conservatory and the billiard room, which doubled as a writing room. It was a source of great sorrow to the writer when financial problems forced the family to abandon the house in 1891. “To us, our house was not unsentient matter,” Clemens wrote, “it had a heart, and a soul, and eyes to see us with.” To learn where and how other writers and artists lived, also consider a 3-D tour of Alice Austen’s house (aliceausten.org), a video tour of one of Georgia O’Keeffe’s homes (okeeffemuseum.org), a live feed from Winslow Homer’s studio (portlandmuseum.org/homer#) and a remote tour of Edgar Allan Poe’s Baltimore house (poeinbaltimore.org). marktwainhouse.org

Before it rebranded as a sumptuous museum, this Upper East Side mansion, designed by Thomas Hastings, housed the wealthy industrialist Henry Clay Frick. A new renovation will close the building for at least two years, with its art collection moving to the Frick Madison (the former home of the Whitney and the Met Breuer). In the meantime, a detailed 3-D guide with a helpful audio component moves viewers through the ground floor rooms of the Garden Court, the Fragonard Room (once a drawing room), the music room and the Boucher Room (once a boudoir), to name a few. The free tour includes close-ups of the art and baroque furnishings that surround it, as well as archival photographs. The second and third floors? Those remain largely out of sight, even online. frick.org

Big Eraser

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Big Eraser

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Use the image above to inspire the opening of a short story or poem — or tell us about an experience from your own life that this image makes you think of.

Post it in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Explore the World With These 100 Country Quizzes

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Explore the World With These 100 Country Quizzes

How much do you know about Cape Verde? What about Colombia, Bangladesh or Montenegro?

Since 2017, the Learning Network has been publishing a five-question “Country of the Week” quiz based on The New York Times’s travel coverage, news reporting and photojournalism to help build students’ geography skills.

Each Monday morning during the school year we release a new quiz, and this month we published our 100th one. To mark the milestone, we organized all the quizzes we’ve published so far by continent below. But by no means are we finished; for example, look for our Egypt quiz next week, and for Greece the week after that.

Here’s how the quizzes work: We begin by asking students to find the country on a map. The rest of the quiz unfolds by exploring the country’s geography, culture, politics, economy and history. When students select an answer, they unlock additional background that includes a photo or video, as well as relevant context from Times reporting. At the end of every quiz are additional links to related Times articles if students want to learn more.

English teachers have told us they use the quizzes to accompany global literature they’re reading in class, about countries like Cuba and Germany. World history and E.L.L. teachers have told us that their students eagerly await new quizzes each week. One teacher emailed us to say:

The class still loves your Country of the Week quizzes … It helps the students learn a lot about one another, and make sure those who are homesick feel much more included in the curriculum.

While we have students in mind when we write the questions, we still hear from adults who enjoy taking these short quizzes too — even turning them into informal competitions between friends.

We hope this quiz index makes it easy for teachers and students to find the countries they’re most interested in.

How have you been using our Country of the Week quizzes? Do you have requests for countries we haven’t covered yet? Let us know in the comments section or at LNFeedback@nytimes.com.

Stars and Stripes

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Stars and Stripes

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

Take a close look at the image above. Where and when do you think it was taken? Why? What does it convey to you? How does it relate to or comment on society or current events?

Does it inspire any emotions in you? What and why?

Tell us in the comments, then read the related article to learn more.

About Picture Prompts

• Find all our Picture Prompts in this column.
• Have an idea for a Picture Prompt? Tell us about it.
• Teachers, discover more ways to teach with our Picture Prompts and learn how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

Word + Quiz: lampoon

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Word + Quiz: lampoon

verb: ridicule with satire

noun: a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody else’s style, usually in a humorous way

_________

The word lampoon has appeared in 32 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on Feb. 26 in the obituary “Claire Bretécher, Satirical French Cartoonist, Dies at 79” by Katharine Q. Seelye:

Claire Bretécher, a satirical, fearless and lacerating French comic artist who was one of the first women to break into France’s male-dominated cartoon industry, died on Feb. 10 in Paris. She was 79.

… She brought a mordant wit to gender issues and was so incisive about the human condition that in 1976 the philosopher Roland Barthes called her the “best sociologist of the year.”

She specialized in holding up to scrutiny the affluent urban female in all her angst, melodrama and hypocrisy. Ms. Bretécher embodied many of her characters’ traits, and she readily lampooned them.

_________

Lesson of the Day: Amanda Gorman and ‘The Hill We Climb’

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Lesson of the Day: Amanda Gorman and ‘The Hill We Climb’

As its name suggests, occasional poetry documents and reflects upon particular occasions, events both public and private, grand and less grand, from Tennyson’s “The Charge of the Light Brigade” to Frank O’Hara’s “The Day Lady Died” on the death of Billie Holiday. Often occasional poems are commissioned and intended for a public reading.

Through the ages, kings and queens have summoned poets to celebrate their triumphs. Since John F. Kennedy, most incoming Democratic presidents have invited poets to mark their accession to the highest office in the land. While presidents have typically taken a hands-off approach to the poem’s composition, President Kennedy asked Robert Frost specifically to read “The Gift Outright” at his inauguration and suggested a revision to the last line. At the president’s request, Frost changed “Such as she was, such as she would become” to “Such as she was, such as she will become.”

In 2013, President Barack Obama asked Richard Blanco to be his inaugural poet. Mr. Blanco’s occasional poem, “One Today,” describes a country under “one sun” and “one light,” where people toil on “one ground, our ground.” Reminiscent of Carl Sandburg’s “Chicago” and Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” the poem celebrates the common work of uncommon individuals.

Fortunately, writing occasional poems is nothing new for Ms. Gorman. She composed “In This Place (An American Lyric)” and performed it at the Library of Congress for Tracy K. Smith’s installation as U.S. Poet Laureate. After watching Dr. Christine Blasey Ford testify at the confirmation hearing of Justice Brett Kavanaugh, she wrote “We Rise.” She described that experience and read the poem in a PBS interview with Alicia Menendez.

Ms. Gorman was contacted by the Biden inaugural committee in late December. She was given no specific instructions on what to write but was urged to focus on unity and hope. The Times reports:

[Ms. Gorman] joins a small group of poets who have been recruited to help mark a presidential inauguration, among them Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Miller Williams, Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco.

But none of her predecessors faced the challenge that Gorman did. She set out to write a poem that would inspire hope and foster a sense of collective purpose, at a moment when Americans are reeling from a deadly pandemic, political violence and partisan division.

The article also describes how she had written most of the inaugural poem before the Jan. 6 siege at the U.S. Capitol, but stayed awake late into the night to finish, “adding verses about the apocalyptic scene that unfolded at the Capitol that day.”

Before you dive into the poem itself in the next section, put yourself in Ms. Gorman’s shoes. If you were asked to write a poem by the Biden inaugural committee, what are some things you might want it to communicate? Why?

What Is Your Reaction to the Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

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What Is Your Reaction to the Inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris?

Students in U.S. high schools can get free digital access to The New York Times until Sept. 1, 2021.

On Wednesday, Joseph R. Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States. The ceremony took place on the steps of the Capitol, where then-President Donald J. Trump’s supporters rioted just two weeks earlier.

What is your reaction to President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’s inauguration? Did you watch the swearing-in ceremony? What does this transition in national leadership, taking place in an exceptionally turbulent period in American history, mean to you?

In your view, was the attendance of leaders from opposing parties a convincing display of unity — a major theme of Mr. Biden’s inaugural address? Did you see Mr. Trump’s absence from the ceremony as further evidence of the country’s division? How effectively do you think Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris will be able to govern the fractured country they inherit?

In “Biden Inaugurated as the 46th President Amid a Cascade of Crises,” Peter Baker writes:

Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States on Wednesday, taking office at a moment of profound economic, health and political crises with a promise to seek unity after a tumultuous four years that tore at the fabric of American society.

With his hand on a five-inch-thick Bible that has been in his family for 128 years, Mr. Biden recited the 35-word oath of office swearing to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” in a ceremony administered by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., completing the process at 11:49 a.m., 11 minutes before the authority of the presidency formally changes hands.

The ritual transfer of power came shortly after Kamala Devi Harris was sworn in as vice president by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, her hand on a Bible that once belonged to Thurgood Marshall, the civil rights icon and Supreme Court justice. Ms. Harris’s ascension made her the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States and the first Black American and first person of South Asian descent to hold the nation’s second highest office.

In his Inaugural Address, Mr. Biden declared that “democracy has prevailed” after a test of the system by a defeated president, Donald J. Trump, who sought to overturn the results of an election and then encouraged a mob that stormed the Capitol two weeks ago to block the final count. But he called for Americans to put aside their deep and dark divisions to come together to confront the coronavirus pandemic, economic troubles and the scourge of racism.

“We must end this uncivil war — red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal,” Mr. Biden said in the 21-minute address that blended soaring themes with folksy touches. “We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts, if we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we’re willing to stand in the other person’s shoes, as my mom would say, just for a moment.”

The article continues:

In characteristic fashion, Mr. Trump once again defied tradition by leaving Washington hours before the swearing in of his successor rather than face the reality of his own election defeat, although Mike Pence, his vice president, did attend.

Mr. Trump flew to Florida, where he plans to live at his Mar-a-Lago estate. But within days, the Senate will open the former president’s impeachment trial on the charge that he incited an insurrection by encouraging the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 in an attempt to stop the formal counting of the Electoral College votes ratifying his defeat.

The sight of the nation’s newly installed president and vice president on the same West Front of the Capitol occupied just two weeks ago by the marauding pro-Trump crowd underscored how surreal the day was. Unlike most inaugurals suffused with joy and a sense of fresh beginning, the festivities on the nation’s 59th Inauguration Day served to illustrate America’s troubles.

Students, read the entire article, then tell us:

  • What is your reaction to the inauguration of President Biden and Vice President Harris? What, to you, does this transition in leadership represent?

  • In his address, Mr. Biden said that “democracy has prevailed” just two weeks after the riot by the former president’s supporters at the U.S. Capitol. Do you agree? Why or why not? How do you think Mr. Biden should approach the residual anger and distrust of many of Mr. Trump’s supporters? Do you think Mr. Biden’s message of unity is realistic?

  • Did you watch the swearing-in ceremony, or have you ever watched one before? If so, what parts were most compelling to you? The oaths of office? Lady Gaga? The inaugural poet, Amanda Gorman? What is the function of political ceremonies of this kind? Do you think they are they meaningful rituals for the country to observe, or empty pageantry?

  • Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first Black person and first person of South Asian descent ever to hold the vice presidency — and the highest-ranking woman in the history of the United States. What do these “firsts” mean to you? What, if anything, do you think they say about the country’s trajectory?

  • While Mr. Trump did not attend the ceremony, leaders from both parties did, including the departing Vice President Mike Pence and former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. What message do you think party leaders who attended the ceremony were trying to send? What message did Mr. Trump send by skipping it? What is the significance of opposing party leaders gathering together to observe the transfer of power just two weeks after a riot at the Capitol disrupted the democratic process?

  • Immediately after taking office, President Biden unleashed a flurry of executive actions to overturn President Trump’s policies on the pandemic, the environment, immigration and the economy. How do you feel about the policy changes underway now that the Biden-Harris administration has begun? How much of President Trump’s legacy do you think Mr. Biden will be able to effectively dismantle? To what extent do you think Mr. Trump’s agenda will live on beyond his administration?

About Student Opinion

• Find all of our Student Opinion questions in this column.
• Have an idea for a Student Opinion question? Tell us about it.
• Learn more about how to use our free daily writing prompts for remote learning.

Students 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public.

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