Hi World of Learning Friends,
These are exciting times for the World of Learning, diving into who we are and how we want you, our partners, and our team to experience learning. In our last episode we talked with two of our virtual learning specialists, Courtney and Ashley, to hear about their experience in making the virtual classroom feel like HOME. We hope they feel home at the World of Learning, too.
Talking with Don Vogt in this episode sure makes me feel at home. Don is a principal at Ridgedale HS in Ohio. His commitment to helping his students, in his small rural community, just warms my heart. He and our own Lauren McMinn have worked together for years to instill a sense of belonging and comfort (Home) for Don’s students. It is always a joy to have Lauren’s insights.
The challenges our IU8 districts face when it comes to finding teachers for World Languages and the upper level science and math courses are the same issues Don faces in his small Ohio town. We were lucky enough to meet Don from a previous district where they got and email about us from a mutual connection - and then searched the internet and thought we might be worth a try.
Our discussion centered on the value WOL brings to small and rural schools. Don and Lauren highlighted our Live Sessions with students that encourage engagement with the adult in the virtual room, versus just having an asynchronous course (modules). And while there can be a time and place for them, you cannot underestimate the value of having a face-to-face experience with a teacher, on the screen, when it comes to creating that relationship with the student. We have always said, we are the ‘next best thing’ to having a teacher in the room. As Don walked the halls of his school during his regular walk-throughs, he sees the engagement with the virtual instruction that he did not see when they used only asynchronous courses.
The 'door opens’, in an almost literal way, like Ashley and Courtney talked about in our previous episode. Which brought us to the importance and value of fostering connections. Lauren lifted up the importance of these connections and learning about students' lives. When we know the students and can make the content more relevant - it IS more engaging. Don seconded Laurens’ insights and affirmed that not only our teachers (Virtual Learning Facilitators), but also Lauren and the teams’ effort to establish the connections with Don’s team - supports the success of each child.
As we wrapped up we got down to the harder topics of teacher attrition, the challenges of teacher shortages, and our mission of supporting small and rural schools. And while virtual programs like the WOL Institute can help to solve the problem of shortages and attrition, Don was careful to point out the need for patience, adaptability, and giving students a chance to adjust to new learning environments. Lauren reminded us, too, that in order to help students get comfortable it is important to have systems and support for teachers, who are delivering this high quality education. Connecting our teachers with their support team in the district they work with is key.
Looking ahead, we hope to continue to learn and grow together. Don’s experience and commitment to students in rural schools makes me want to find even more ways to collaborate and support not only Don’s students, but also the many others who would benefit by having access to a teacher - when their district can’t find one. It would be so much fun to spread the word with Don at a conference or even in a webinar. His experience and insights could certainly help others.
We are grateful to be able to help Don and the whole team at Ridgedale. We look forward to continuing to build and support learning experiences for school that look like our IU8 districts and Don’s. We are all in this together.
If you can’t find a teacher and want to find a creative solution - give us a call, we are here to help.
Have a great week,
Pat
WOL is Home at Ridgedale High School