July 22, 2020

As a veteran educator, I started this blog as a way to help your family and other teachers as we navigate remote learning and homeschool.  We find ourselves in an unprecedented health crisis that has made educating our children a real and serious challenge.  I believe that it is imperative that parents and teachers work together to nurture and grow young learners.

Hi! I am Cindy Lange Pesa and I got my first teaching job in 1985, fresh out of Baylor University. I have taught first, second, and fifth grades in self-contained classrooms.  For the last five years, I have been a reading and dyslexia interventionist.  This basically means that I work with small groups of struggling readers and help them get up to speed.  As the mother of five children, I also get the struggles that keep moms and dads up at night.

The large Texas school district where I teach will be starting school in a little over a month although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow and infect more people of all ages.  I have to admit that I am nervous. Although I love my job, I am concerned about catching COVID-19 at work and infecting my five kids.  I got an email today saying that I can pick up my keys and work in my classroom starting tomorrow.  A part of me can’t wait…

My best guess is that school will be a hybrid of in-person instruction and remote learning. Remote learning can work, but it requires the guiding hands of parents to work really well. After talking to many parents over the past few months, I know that many of you are planning to homeschool your children.  I know that it is scary and a lot of responsibility, but also understand the desire to protect your children and your family members.

My hope is that I can help you through the rough patches and provide information and insights to help you be more successful as you support your kids in homeschool or remote learning.  You may find that you have problems where you don’t expect them.  Kids can be incredibly stubborn at times!  You may not know how to get the information across and make it stick.  That’s all okay because we all start where we are and grow from there.

I know for sure that nothing is more fulfilling for me than watching a child make the journey from confusion to understanding.  Teaching is rarely easy and takes planning and a lot of work from the teacher and student.  My hope is that you can experience  the wonder of watching your child grow into a successful and independent learner.

Update: February 6, 2023

At the school where I teacher, remote teaching with students, as a general rule, doesn’t happen any more. Something new has happened where technology is concerned. I find that classroom teachers are using more technology in a variety of ways to supplement and support classroom instruction. In addition, colleges and universities continue to use distance learning as appropriate or in situations where it might be necessary. Students are much more comfortable with instruction online than they were in the past, particularly in the upper elementary grades on up. In a world where remote work is becoming more and more common, familiarity and mastery of technology is a great skill.

As we move forward from the COVID-19 crisis, it is vital that we find ways to make remote learning more effective for students. During COVID, schools were in “crisis teaching” mode at a time when we had few options. Teachers know the importance of social-emotional for learning for students (and adults). Schools should find ways to make learning more engaging and create a community of learners. We should think about what we can improve and then work on actually doing it.