Havre Middle School works through distanced learning

Havre Middle School is among the other public schools in the district that began its remote learning program Monday.

Principal Dustin Kraske said the students are using Google Classroom to connect and communicate with their teachers.

Each day a student will receive a check-in from their teachers on the multiple classes they have, he said, 

“Activities are pushed out based on the pace of the class. It isn’t a traditional school set up because, obviously, we aren’t in school, and that’s five days of instruction on a consistent basis where the teachers, for the most part, lead the way and kids have the ability to ask questions right away in a class, so this is a little bit different,” he added. 

He said the teachers are looking to push out activities or lessons three days a week, and the other days are intended for the students to be able to communicate with their teacher on activities that have been assigned.

“I would imagine our kids are a little overwhelmed because they will be receiving, for the most part, they should be receiving seven different lessons over the course of a couple of days, because that’s what we’re doing, so we’re discovering is communications is the biggest issue positively or negatively, but at school it’s easy to communicate and online it’s a little more difficult,” Kraske said. 

The teachers at Havre Middle School have set up hours and are communicating through Google Classroom, he said, so that a student or an adult can get ahold of them if they have questions on an assignment.

He added that teachers are also using the programs Google Hangouts and Google Meets to communicate to their students.

At a determined date and based on the safety and health for the students, parents and faculty, he said, students will have an opportunity to receive items from their lockers, instruments and so on. 

He said at least two students out of each grade level do not have online connectivity, and the school is working to provide to them packets of the material that is seen online for the other students.

“Our teachers are doing a real nice job reaching out, communicating, with kids and then we’re taking their information and then passing (it on). If kids need something, we are doing our best to get it to them,” Kraske said. “We all need to get back into the rhythm of school. We had some spotty connectivity at first, but now our teachers are very consistent with that and then post assignments by 8 o’clock in the morning. So our kids, they can’t be afraid to, number one, get on there and check it every day, and then, number two, reach out to our teachers for some assistance. I know we’ve got some Google Voice, I know they have teacher’s cell phones, home phones, just communicate, use those office hours if they don’t understand something and don’t be afraid to reach out.”

Kraske said parents or students who have additional questions or for more information can contact him via email at [email protected] 

“I think communication will probably be the biggest thing we will have to overcome,” he said.