Although school sites are empty as Goleta Union School District students began their academic year online, staff recently offered a glimpse into their typical day to show how virtual meetings and Zoom calls have become their new normal.

“We are trying to make it feel like school as much as possible,” said Abby Vasquez, principal at Hollister Elementary School. “I know our teachers and families are working so hard to make everything feel as normal as possible.”

Vasquez no longer gets the joy of greeting students and their families outside of the classroom before the morning bell rings. Instead, her days are filled with hopping in different Zoom calls for classroom observation.

“For me, it’s different. I used to say hi and talk to families every morning,” Vasquez said. “I loved being out front and greeting all the kids.”

Libby Baker, a fifth-grade teacher at El Camino Elementary School, gets to campus at 7:45 am every day to welcome students from her classroom virtually on Zoom.

She conducts online sessions with different students from 8:30 a.m. to noon before a whole class session later in the afternoon.

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around this all myself,” Baker said. “I can’t really walk around the classroom and eavesdrop on conversations anymore to get to know my students. I’m still learning.”

However, beginning the school year virtually was much easier for Baker after having to make the immediate transition to online teaching back in March, when COVID-19 first erupted.

“It’s been good so far, I’m really impressed with students showing up to Zoom,” she said. 

“I think my biggest challenge is making sure that everything was communicated effectively,” Baker said.

She spent her summer looking back at how things worked in the spring, and making sure she could better her practice and communication for the new academic year.

She got creative in finding ways to promote more student engagement online. She has found solace in tools such as Google Forms and Google Slides, through which she can create exit tickets and games that students can play against each other. 

Baker’s fifth-grade class was reduced to 18 students, which makes student discussion much easier, she said.

“I try to build in student-on-student interaction as much as possible,” she said. “Thankfully, students discussing with each other is more suitable for smaller groups.”

On the more administrative side, Vasquez makes sure all classes on her campus are running smoothly by joining class Zoom sessions.

“It’s like I’m a fly on the wall when I join the calls and see what the students are learning about,” she said.

In between leadership and staff meetings, Vasquez spends the day talking on the phone with parents and hearing how things are working out for students at home.

Vasquez has had to remind herself to schedule breaks in her calendar to provide an interruption from staring at the computer all day.

“So much of my day is at my desk, where my eyes are glued to my screen, I have to go walk to the playground and back just for a change of scenery,” she said.

She orchestrates community building for staff by having ‘pandemic picnics’ for teachers on their lunch breaks. Teachers wear their Hollister Elementary gear and space out on beach chairs all over the lawn to keep in touch while still socially distancing.

Vasquez put together pictures of teachers teaching in their classrooms to share with parents to make her campus feel more connected.

“We miss the kids, but we’re making sure that our engagement remains solid,” she said.

Vasquez is “in awe” of the work being done from every side of this situation to make sure students are still getting their proper education.

“We’re not just surviving this right now, I think we’re thriving,” she said. “We still have a long way to go, but I feel like we are on the right trajectory.”

— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.