As 2018 comes to an end, so does the use of Edgenuity in all physics and Spanish 2 classes. Its departure brings three new staff members, filling all of the current vacancies.
Principal Adam Littlefield said that the new physics teachers will be creating their own lessons and curriculum to replace Edgenuity for the second semester. However, for the rest of first semester, the teachers will review Edgenuity material to get students caught up, forgoing a final. The last day of Edgenuity for physics classes was Dec. 7.
“There are always kids who struggle, and it doesn’t matter what class it is,” new science teacher Keith Callerame said. “We are [trying] to make sure that the transition is as smooth as possible.”
Littlefield said that if some students complete Edgenuity without a full comprehension, it likely will not affect their ability to comprehend the new material presented in the second semester.
“Fortunately, the way the physics curriculum is designed, it’s not necessary that you have to know something first before you know something later on,” Littlefield said.
Physics teacher Dorota Sawicka will continue to teach her two physics classes, moving from the Edgenuity curriculum to the science department’s. The other classes are going straight from Edgenuity to a new full-time teacher, Littlefield said.
“[Students] could easily get away with [not paying attention],” said junior Sophie Hall, who was in the honors physics Edgenuity course with Sawicka. “[It is] a really harsh contrast to sitting and listening to lectures. The switching from Edgenuity back to normal teaching is more of a problem than Edgenuity itself.”
Littlefield said reviewing the material allows students who have completed different percentages of the course to get caught up.
“[While reviewing], we’re not going from where we left off in Edgenuity,” Hall said. “Some people are going to have to relearn things, and some people are going to not know what’s going on.”
With Spanish 2, specifically, Edgenuity did not offer the speaking practice which builds the foundation of the course. However, all of the students are on track to finishing the semester curriculum, assistant principal Irma Muñoz said.
“The teacher has to take a look at how [their] students are performing and what [they] need to do to support them so that they’re going to be successful in the class that [they are] teaching,” Littlefield said.
At the start of the school year, PHS had six sections of Spanish 2 that were using Edgenuity. After the first progress report, Spanish teacher Jessica McMillen filled five of the sections and taught without Edgenuity.
Callerame will begin teaching five classes, full-time, at the start of second semester. While the administration initially hired him in October with the intent that he would teach full-time, complications lead him to teach three classes, Littlefield said.
Science teacher and PHS alumnus Teddy Mefford will take over for science teacher Sara Plowman during her maternity leave second semester. He will teach three classes at MHS: biology, chemistry, and physics, as well as a co-taught biology class with teacher Andy Willats, Littlefield said.
Spanish teacher Violeta Gomez-Fierro will be covering the Spanish 2 class that used Edgenuity throughout the first semester, Muñoz said.
“There’s gonna be some adjustment because [Gomez-Fierro] will want to get to know her students,” Muñoz said.
Edgenuity supplies two grades, a grade based only on assessments and assignments and one based on completion. The final grade will reflect assessment and assignment scores as well as any work that was done before or after Edgenuity. The percentage of the final grade based on Edgenuity will correlate with the percentage of time spent working with it, Littlefield said.
“I’m more interested in what students are learning rather than just the pacing grade,” Littlefield said.
Littlefield said that all students will likely pass the Edgenuity course.
“I want to make sure that students have that ability to earn the grade that they want to earn,” Littlefield said. “I’ve given [students] opportunities to make up some [quizzes and assignments] in Edgenuity.”
Another addition to the staff is long-term social studies substitute Alex Geller who will be taking over for social studies teacher Todd Berry during his single-semester extended leave to take care of his newborn, Littlefield said.
“[Geller] has been here substituting, and we identified [him] as the most qualified person [for Berry’s replacement],” Littlefield said.
Geller said, at his last job, he was the co-head of the social studies department.
“As far as the way he teaches, and the style that he teaches, [Geller] was the most seamless, smooth transition from me to someone else that we could find,” Berry said.
Geller has been working with Berry and social studies teacher Alison Cota to make sure that he covers the curriculum planned for the modern world history and U.S. history classes to the best of his ability, Geller said.
“I’m getting to know the classes, the procedures, the faculty, and the school,” Geller said. “[I am] putting together lesson plans in units that I’m going to be teaching at the beginning of the semester.”
