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Educators are readying curriculum for reopening of Catholic schools
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August 5, 2020
Jennifer Russell Photo by Lawrence Chatagnier
The 2020-2021 school year is already proving to be a challenging one and students have not yet arrived to the 11 campuses located across the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. In an effort to inform Catholic school parents of the diocese, the diocesan Office of Communications has been producing informational videos on the plans, procedures and roles of everyone involved in Catholic education.
Jennifer Russell, curriculum specialist at St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Thibodaux, says that teachers have been planning benchmark assessments ahead of this school year to help parents and educators gauge where students are academically and where they should be. “It is not something new. We do it every year. The assessment is not graded on a grade level content. The previous challenges that were presented with distance learning gave us data to guide us in our curriculum decisions going forward,” says Russell.
The beginning of the school year will be a time of knowing where the students are, identifying their needs, and retracing a skill they may not have reached.
It has been a short summer for the educators at St. Joseph. “Our educators didn’t have much of a summer. Beginning in June, they met every Tuesday for ‘Tech it Out Tuesday’ where they participated in professional development activities for implementing technology in the classroom,” says Russell.
"Tech it Out Tuesday"
In addition, 16 Catholic educators throughout the diocese came together to create Tech Tool Boxes for Teachers. “The program is linked directly to an amazing wealth of digital resources. With just one ‘click’ teachers have access to a various tech tools that can be used to enhance their daily instruction,” Russell says.
Catholic Schools Superintendent Suzanne Troxclair explains, “In an effort to enrich the learning environment of both learners and educators, K-8 teachers from across the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux worked remotely to create a grade level specific ‘Tech Toolbox for Teachers.’ Made by teachers for teachers, our team worked to locate various digital resources that align to our Mathematics State Content Standards. Now, teachers are only one ‘click’ away from accessing high-quality digital resources that align to the content standard(s) that they are teaching.”