An Interview with Lori Cohen, A school Leader in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, on What She’s Learned as a First-Year Principal During the Covid Crisis.
Photo by ckturistando on Unsplash
By Jessica Hamman, Founder and CEO of Glean Education (Also published on Medium.com)
It was early April, only two weeks into the Coronavirus school closures in the US, when I first heard about Lori Cohen and the work she was doing in her small suburban school district in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. I was told she was a first-year principal dealing with the monumental task of supporting teachers, staff, and students with the shift to remote learning during the Covid crisis. I was also told she was doing well…really well.
We reached out to Ms. Cohen and she graciously offered us an interview so we could learn more about how she was managing, what she had learned along the way, and how she keeps working to move forward. Thanks for reading.
Jessica Hamman: Thank you so much for being willing to be interviewed for our blog. First off, we know you live and work as an elementary school principal in North Jersey which has been particularly hard hit by the Coronavirus. How are you and the families in your school doing?
Lori Cohen: I am doing well. My family and I are all healthy and we have adjusted to working at home. There have been several families in my school community who have been directly affected by the Coronavirus, but they have made full recoveries. Unfortunately, some staff members lost loved ones and that is a tragedy. Governor Murphy has just announced that schools will not reopen for the 19-20 school year so we are all digesting that news.
JH: Can you tell me how long you've been in administrative work? What lead you to this position?
LC: This is my first year as a school administrator. I have 22 years of classroom teaching experience, primarily as a 4th-grade teacher. After many years of teaching, I felt ready to take on the challenge of becoming a school principal. I wanted to have a more global impact in a school and implement initiatives to promote a love of learning with an emphasis on the importance of social and emotional learning, as well as core content subjects. I am now working as the principal of Franklin Elementary School, a K-6 school in Saddle Brook, NJ. I am thoroughly enjoying my new role and feel blessed to work with such dedicated teachers and a supportive administrative team.
JH: Let's talk remote learning. When did your school close down and what were some of the first things that concerned you as the leader of your school with the closure and the switch to learning-from-home?
LC: Our students left school on Friday, March 13th with two weeks worth of work. Teachers provided their students with packets of activities and assignments to engage them and keep their minds and bodies active. Primarily, my greatest concern was how can I keep my school community connected despite everyone being isolated in their own homes? How can I make sure that students are doing their work and not feeling overwhelmed? How can I make sure my teachers are feeling supported?
“Without a doubt, this experience has taught me just how amazing and remarkable teachers are.” -Lori Cohen
JH: Can you set the scene for us about what that first week of remote learning was like? What were some surprising successes? What were some unexpected barriers?
LC: The first week of remote learning was an "all hands on deck" type of approach to communicating with our students and families. I created a communication log and shared it with their entire staff. Homeroom teachers, specialists, our school counselor and nurse and myself, all pitched in to reach out. We made phone calls and sent emails just to see how everyone was holding up. One initiative that was helpful in keeping the community connected was having families email pictures of their students working at home and I would post them on the school Instagram account. It was a way for our students to see their friends' smiling faces. I also began having teachers make Voice Memos of our Morning Announcements and I would email those memos each morning. The response was amazing! The students and the parents loved hearing the voices of their favorite teachers and resuming a bit of their routine. The PTO was also involved by organizing school spirit days each week for the students. Spirit days included Pajama Days, Wacky Wednesday and wear your School Spirit Wear. That helped to boost spirits and also encouraged families to send in their pictures to the Instagram account.
JH: We are now on Week 8 of remote learning. In what ways does week 8 look different from week 1?
LC: So now in Week 8, and remote learning is vastly different than how it began. Our district made great efforts during Week 1 and 2 to provide each student in need of a technological device with a Chromebook so that they could be prepared to transition to virtual instruction which began the Week of March 30th. Each teacher set up a Google Classroom for their students and our youngest students in K-2 were issued an email address in order to access the Google Classroom. Now, teachers post assignments each day for their students to complete, and students have to complete an attendance question each day. Teachers offer Google Meets throughout the week as opportunities to connect with their students and offer help and support. Instruction is asynchronous which allows students to log on to complete their assignments according to their own schedule and they are not required to attend any live instruction sessions. Teachers have been posting videos of themselves teaching lessons and have been providing feedback and comments on students' work. Every night, students are treated to a bedtime story that a teacher has recorded which I email out to the community and post on their Google Classroom. It sometimes feels like the school day never ends and that the amount of work to do and emails to respond to becomes overwhelming. So on Monday, May 11th our district is offering an SEL day where students will participate in activities to promote health and wellness and teachers will not be posting new academic assignments. And now that school is officially closed, we will begin our preparations for how to celebrate the graduation of our 6th graders to middle school in a new way.
“Though the current health crisis is so unfortunate, we have to focus on how lucky we are that we can still connect with our students, friends and family due to the power of technology. As a community, we can stay connected despite the challenges of not seeing each other physically.” -Lori Cohen
JH: What are some successes in remote literacy instruction you are seeing among your teachers?
LC: For the upper grades, students have internet-based tools at their fingertips that allow them to better edit/revise written work. Using Google Docs for assignments allows teachers to use it as a formative assessment of a student's skills and level of understanding. It also is a way to provide personalized feedback in a seamless and timely manner. Google Classroom's comment feature is a fantastic way to allow students to remotely confer with the teacher and their peers. Additionally, students are reading and responding to more short stories. Our Kindergarten teachers are using Raz kids. They have the students record themselves reading and then they provide feedback through a comment section. They have been posting video lessons to teach new letters, sounds, dictation, rhyming, cvc words, etc. They have done characters/setting lessons and are currently working on problem/solution. They have the students listen to the Bedtime stories again and give assignments to reinforce these story elements. Google Meets have focused on different aspects of learning. For example, recently students read aloud their Weekend News. Google Meets have also provided teachers to connect with their students for fun activities where they can work on their listening and speaking skills. Many teachers have a Fun Friday or Wacky Wednesday where they can bring something to the Meet to share with their classmates, such as a favorite stuffed animal, toy or book.
JH: Should this remote learning happen again in future school years, what are some things you would like to have in place to ensure successful implementation?
LC: We have learned so much in such a short period of time. To ensure success in the future, we are already planning for how we ensure that each student has access to technology at home. As.a district, we are working on a one to one initiative that would provide each student entering 7th grade and above with a school-issued Chromebook. We will be looking to repurpose Chromebooks from our HS to the lower grades in the elementary schools. This would allow for all students to borrow a Chromebook for home instruction from the get-go should this type of crisis happen in the future. Having students set up with online learning experiences prior to actually having to rely upon it as the only mode of instruction would help the transition process.
JH: What has this experience taught you as an educator?
LC: Without a doubt, this experience has taught me just how amazing and remarkable teachers are. Not only did the teachers at my school and in my district and nationwide have to adapt and change to new teaching platforms and strategies in a moment's notice, but they also had to do this while taking care of their own families and their own health and well-being. They had to put on a brave face for their students and enter the unchartered territory without a roadmap to help them navigate the way. And throughout, they remained focused and positive and made their students the priority. Though the current health crisis is so unfortunate, we have to focus on how lucky we are that we can still connect with our students, friends and family due to the power of technology. As a community, we can stay connected despite the challenges of not seeing each other physically.
If you’d like to learn more about Lori Cohen and the work she’s doing at Franklin Elementary School, you can visit her here: www.sbpsnj.org/Franklin.
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