Lynn teachers challenged to keep students focused

LYNN – School Committee member Vincent Spirito said teachers are challenged to keep students on course when faced with the number of snow days they?ve experienced during the past month.?The safety of the students is the top priority, but the snow days are very hard on teachers,” he said. “You start a lesson, you?re out for a day or two and then it?s hard to get back on track. Kids become unmotivated. They?re staring out the window thinking about what fun they could be having in the snow.”Lynn Classical Mathematics teacher Kerri Altieri agrees.?We?ve had to work really hard to re-focus the students,” said Altieri. “We need to get the momentum back to get them on track. It?s been all business in the classroom lately.”Altieri said she notices that students have been slightly unmotivated because of all of the days off.?We haven?t had a full week of school since Christmas and I think students still feel like they?re on winter break,” she said. “I tell students that they really need to go home and get right into their homework. They can?t have nights where they just turn on the TV and stare out the window waiting for the next snowfall. They understand that they have a responsibility to uphold, as fun as snow days are.”Schools Superintendent Catherine Latham says the school cancellations have impacted teachers? scheduled MCAS preparations.?There is cause for concern when it comes to preparing students for MCAS testing,” she said. “As a former teacher, I know that it is difficult to have your lessons chopped up like this but I think teachers have risen to the occasion.”Lynn Classical teacher Ellen Moriarty said teachers of Advanced Placement (AP) courses are planning on extending the school day until 3:15 p.m. on days of AP classes, which are once a week.?It?s been difficult because the exam dates don?t change, so we needed to figure out solutions in order to make sure students are still prepared for the exams,” said Moriarty, who teaches AP biology, anatomy and physiology and biology.She says she?s had to cut small things out of lesson plans in order to make room for more important curriculum.?I have cut out some small classroom activities and added more reading here and there,” said Moriarty. “Instead of dedicating an entire class to reviewing for a test, I?ll dedicate half of the class to reviewing and the other half toward making up missed chapters.”Still, Moriarty remains confident all students will be prepared for MCAS exams in early spring.?We?re taking small steps to make sure we don?t pile a ton on students so they don?t feel overwhelmed,” she said. “At this point, students have been doing fine. We still have plenty of time to properly prepare them for MCAS.”Classical senior Derek Paru said there are pros and cons when it comes to snow days.?We get more sleep, but it slows everything down a little bit,” he said.Paru adds that he hasn?t felt like lessons have been impacted at this point. “The lessons have pretty much just carried over to the next day when we have a day off,” he said. “Some nights you?ll have a little more homework than other nights, but that?s just something you deal with.”