A couple of weeks ago, as we began approaching Thanksgiving break, the KO Community received an email from Head of School Tom Dillow with the news that we would be moving to remote learning for the weeks directly following Thanksgiving and winter break. In addition to this new remote learning news, we also found out that there would be a slight difference in the weekly schedule compared to how it was during remote learning last spring. The community was introduced to the concept of “Remote/Asynchronous Wednesdays.” This new concept was met with much confusion by both the students, and evidently, the teachers as well.
Mr. Dillow described Asynchronous Wednesdays as something that “will help to solve some of these issues and will provide a more sustainable pace for teachers and students.” The issues being referred to are the strain on students and teachers as well as the lack of opportunity to meet one-on-one for extra help if need be. This was the only provided explanation of what these Wednesdays are for, leading to some confusion among the community about what should or should not be scheduled on these days.
Some teachers have scheduled extra class sessions during these Wednesdays, others have scheduled extra help sessions, others club meetings, and still others extra work for students to complete. The disorganization and lack of communication between teachers led to a day in the middle of the week in which students feel even more stressed and overwhelmed than before. This is quite the opposite of the result that was introduced in Mr. Dillow’s email.
On Tuesday, Dec. 8, KO students received an email from Director of the Upper School Dan Gleason clarifying how Asynchronous Wednesdays should be spent. “You should not have any synchronous classes on Wednesdays,” he wrote, which was a common stressor for students on the first Asynchronous Wednesday. The email outlined Wednesdays as a time for optional review sessions or extra help over Zoom as scheduled with individual teachers. With this year’s schedule modifications to comply with COVID-19 guidelines, meeting with teachers is much more difficult than before; emphasizing Wednesday as a time for this is extremely helpful to students with otherwise busy schedules and we would love to see them continue to be used for this purpose going forward.
Dr. Gleason also stated that the day should be reserved for any work assigned by a teacher to be completed at a students own pace, but then went on to say that some of this work may be due by Wednesday afternoon or evening. With the loss of a potential third class for teachers, it makes sense that they would want to use Asynchronous Wednesdays to make up for lost time. However, going forward it will be important for students that teachers communicate with each other about Wednesday assignments. If multiple classes assign work due during the day on Wednesday, students lose valuable time for extra help or review sessions in classes they’re struggling with. On top of all these academic demands, many clubs are also using Wednesdays for meeting times since the new schedule has forced many clubs to be put on the backburner.
The concept of having a break in the middle of the week to either catch up on work, meet with teachers, attend extra help sessions, or simply pause and take a break is one that we are deeply in favor of. However, with the aforementioned lack of organization and communication, Wednesdays have become the center of confusion and stress for some students.
In order for this concept to work properly and to successfully give students a break from the chaos that is 2020, then there needs to be better communication from the administration to the community, as well as amongst the teachers, as to avoid any unnecessary overload of work on the students.
The world we live in today is one already full of stress and confusion. The last thing anyone needs right now is something to add onto the pile. The idea of Asynchronous Wednesdays has the possibility to be a saving grace for many, as long as their intentions are properly explained, well-organized, and well-executed.
