NMU alumnus and 5th-grade teacher Brandon Wislocki ('02 BS) is featured in a USA Today education piece presenting a “parent's guide to online school.” He works at Stonegate Elementary in Irvine, Calif., which is among a growing number of K-12 districts that plan to start the new academic year with online-only instruction.
Wislocki's NMU degree was in media production and new technology, with a minor in theater. At Stonegate, he converted to distance learning classes this past spring, when COVID-19 escalated. His students covered math and English core standards normally covered in person, but he also injected some technology-fueled creativity.
“The Zoom sessions featured guitar playing, group discussions about literature, live math lessons, checks for understanding through Zoom's chat function, and silly games such as Oreo stacking and household scavenger hunts,” the article states.
“The remote lessons featured something many students didn't get this spring when the coronavirus forced instruction online: the learning of new material. The experience suggests online learning doesn't have to be bad. There are ways to make it more engaging and effective, education experts said.”
After profiling Wislocki's efforts, the article continues with nine questions to help parents with back-to-school choices. Read it here.