Learning Gaps due to COVID-19

Educators Identify Learning
Gaps due to COVID-19

More than half of public K-12 educators say the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a significant loss of both academic and social-emotional learning for students, according to a March 2021 Horace Mann Educators Corporation (NYSE:HMN) report.

The report, Closing the Learning Gap, shares insights from the March 2021 Horace Mann Voice of the Educator Study, which surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. K-12 educators to gain insight into the educational challenges caused or exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the findings:

• Over 97% of educators reported loss of learning by their students over the past year when compared with children in previous years.

• A majority (57%) of educators estimated their students are behind by more than three months in their social-emotional learning progress.

• When asked what the biggest obstacle to return to a “normal” education environment was, nearly half (47%) of educators cited a wider gap between academically struggling and high-performing students.

“For 75 years, Horace Mann has been dedicated to helping educators achieve lifelong financial success, driven by our desire to help those who are taking care of our children,” said Horace Mann President and CEO Marita Zuraitis. “That appreciation and respect has only deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Educators are working harder than ever to meet the needs of their students through an environment of constant change, and we are inspired by their enduring commitment to help each student reach their full potential.”
 

The good news for students is the 2021-2022 school year has strong potential to look more like a pre-pandemic learning environment. Teachers are eligible for COVID-19 vaccines in all 50 states. The Centers for Disease Control lessened social distancing requirements to three feet from six feet for students in most classroom settings, a development largely expected to spur more schools to re-open. Several manufacturers are testing their vaccines on children and expect to release clinical trial results over the summer.

With that in mind, educators have a wealth of ideas to best support students’ progress going forward:

• 53% see a need for a narrower focus on grade-level standards to ensure students learn the most important concepts for their grade level.

• 34% would like more paraprofessionals to provide targeted support to struggling students.

• 30% requested access to more social-emotional learning resources to help students process the events of the past year.

In the Horace Mann study, teachers stressed the need for transparency and involvement in workplace decisions as administrators weigh how to adjust academic practices and curriculum. Many educators emphasized the need for flexibility in adapting to the ever-changing challenges of the pandemic, and patience as teachers, administrators, students and parents navigate an environment none of them have ever faced before.

“In the midst of the upheaval of the 2020-2021 school year, 93% of educators said they were proud of how they adapted their teaching to meet the needs of students, whether in a remote, hybrid or socially distanced in-person learning environment,” said Horace Mann National Business Solutions Executive Kelly Ruwe. “Teachers’ experience on the front lines will be invaluable in charting the way forward: Surfacing new issues that need to be addressed, sharing successful approaches, and advising how our communities can band together to help our children succeed.”

The full report, “Closing the Learning Gap: How frontline educators want to address lost learning due to COVID-19” is available at horacemann.com/closing-the-learning-gap. And for information on ways VHES can help your child catch up in their studies, please visit our website. 

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Taking Notes 101

Sitting in class and listening to a lecture packed full of information can be a little overwhelming, especially when you have to take notes on everything that the teacher covers. With so much new knowledge being introduced to you at once, how can you retain it all?

As a student, learning to take quality notes is the key to obtaining all of the information you need from a lecture in order to be successful. We are offering some tips to help you master taking notes during class.

Write, Don’t Type

With the rise of technology in the classroom in recent years, many students have taken to typing their notes instead of handwriting them. Since most people can type faster than they can write, students who take notes on a laptop often end up with more notes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are learning more.

Studies have shown that students who take notes on a laptop actually perform worse on conceptual questions than students who take notes by hand. Researchers believe this is because laptop-users tend to take notes verbatim, typing out every word the professor says during a lecture, whereas students who take notes by hand have to rephrase and summarize information in order to keep up with the lecture. This process of digesting and summarizing the information while taking notes helps with comprehension and retention of the information.

To get the most out of your notes, swap out your laptop for a good old-fashioned pencil and paper combo. If you have to take notes digitally during a lecture, try rewriting them by hand after class is over to reap some of the comprehension benefits.

Find a Format That Works For You

There are tons of different formats for note taking, and each one has its own benefits. Some methods may work better for you and your learning style than others, so it is important to find the one that is going to help you gather information the best.

We’re sharing a quick overview of some formats below!

• The Cornell Method: Divide your paper into two columns: a small one on the left for writing out main ideas, prompts, and questions, and a larger column on the right reserved for notes and details. At the bottom of each page, write a quick summary of the information on that page.

• The Outline Method: Use headings and bullet points to put information into a hierarchy. Indent to the right as your notes become more detailed and shift back to the left for each new main topic.

• The Mapping Method: Each main topic gets its own page for notes. Draw lines and boxes to branch out from the main topic to write subtopics and add finer details below or around each subtopic heading.

• The Charting Method: Divide your paper into columns and label them by topic or idea. Fill out the details of each topic below.

For a more in-depth look at the different methods and their unique benefits, check out this article. It outlines some popular note taking methods and pairs them with great examples. Then, try out some of the formats that seem interesting to you to determine which one suits your needs. You may even want to use different formats for different subjects depending on the information that you have to process.

Prioritize Information You Can’t Get Elsewhere

It’s pretty near impossible to write down every single detail, definition, and diagram that is presented to you during a lecture. In order to take good notes, you need to prioritize what information is worth writing down. In fact, one of the best things you can do to become a more efficient note-taker is to learn what NOT to take notes on. Yes, you read that correctly. Not everything needs to be included in your notes.

Prioritize taking notes on information that you can’t get after class or from another resource. Things the professor talks about such as stories, examples and answers to questions are often valuable learning materials that aren’t typed out in their presentation, so it’s more important to jot these down than a definition that you can look up in your book later. At the beginning of class, ask if the presentation will be made available to you afterward so you know what you can safely omit from your notes for the time being.

Make It Colorful

If you find it easy to get lost in all of the text on the page while studying your notes, brighten them up a bit by using different colored pens or highlighters. Colors are a very versatile tool when it comes to organizing information. Try using one color for each main point and its corresponding details to keep everything together, or try developing a color-coded system for different categories of information (ex. red is for a main idea, blue is for details, green is for a definition). Not only is this a great way to help you organize your notes, but the visual variation can also help make those long study sessions a bit more bearable.

Keep It Brief

Sometimes it can be hard to keep up with the professor when taking notes, especially if you have one that talks quickly. Stay in the game by making your notes as brief as possible while writing them. Abbreviate any words that you can and try using acronyms or other key words for terms that appear frequently in the lecture. You can always go back and revise your notes later to write out the full words and phrases

Re-Write or Type Notes After Class

Speaking of revising, going back through your notes after class and typing them up or re-writing them can have huge benefits when it comes to your learning. Viewing all of the information a second time can help you to retain more of it, and cleaning up your notes during this revision will make it easier to study them again later on.

Keep in mind, re-writing is not the same thing as copying. Taking the exact same set of notes again word for word will not do nearly as much to help you comprehend and retain the material. Instead, look at re-writing or typing up your notes as an editing process: Fill in missing definitions or phrases, fix sentences that don’t make sense, reorganize points for better flow, and summarize what you learned at the end to truly enhance your learning.

Compare Finished Notes with Friends

After finalizing all of your own notes, meet up with classmates to compare what you each took away from the lecture. You may find that someone else took notes over an important point or example that you missed, and you may be able to help some of your peers in return.

Tips for Academic Success

Finding the right routine:

Allowing enough time to get ready for class, study for an exam, or complete an assignment can be tricky.  The key is to always do what must be done first. This usually involves studying, reading, projects, and weekly homework assignments. Worry about what can be done later, after completing what needs to be done now. If you’re getting ready for a test, don’t check text messages, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, or start any Google internet searches. Enjoy the entertainment side of things after the task at hand is completed.  This strategy reduces a lot of stress that comes with doing things last minute: waiting to study the night before, starting your paper the week it’s due, working on your presentation the morning of, etc. 

Try to stick to a routine or tentative schedule.  This is because time management can be tough for some students. Mainly, because students overestimate the amount of time they have for a task and underestimate how much time it will take for them to do it. All of the student's professional meetings, such as counseling or tutoring, should be pre-arranged.  Most students do well with structure, so meeting at the same time and on the same day works best.

Staying focused:

Students usually retain more information when they study in different locations. If possible, change the studying location from time to time. There are students that do better in a busy area – think of your local public library, the school’s library, Panera Bread, Starbucks, Barnes N Noble, worship center, community center, etc.  Then, there are other students that know they must have silence. These students may prefer a bedroom, basement, home office, private study room, even their home patio, or sun-room.  In case you didn't know, the best place to study is outside. So, try to change the study location when you can!  

You can put your phone across the room or in another room and leave it there.  If you want to check your messages from your friends, you have to get up and walk to it.  Students say that this significantly limits the amount of phone distractions.  If this is too hard for you, set the timer for 15  minutes, and work as hard as you can during that time.  When the timer goes off, get up, check your messages for one minute, and then get back to work.

Playing songs by your favorite artist is fine for routine assignments that do not require too much. However, music should not be played when intensely studying for a big exam. Playing music can negatively impact long-term retrieval.  

When students are having a tough time getting started with homework, it’s always a good idea to begin with an easy task, followed by a difficult one, and then an easy assignment again.  

 

Being organized:

Record all school assignments on a calendar. You can use a tablet, laptop, smart phone, desktop, or a wall calendar. Record the final due date and then set incremental due dates and associated tasks to get it done on time. By week one, perhaps your topic and introduction should be completed. Then, going into the second week, start doing research on supporting points and arguments.  When large tasks, like a final paper or studying for a mid-term, are broken down into direct, manageable chunks, they are more likely to be completed on time. For instance, if a test is coming up on Friday, the student should record tasks like “complete 1-10 review problems on page 19” and “create flashcards for math steps,” etc. on Monday or Tuesday.  Being specific with your tasks can be far superior to simply jotting down a vague reminder like “study for my math test.”

Tasks that you record should be no more than 30-35 minutes.  When tasks end up taking longer, students are far more likely to procrastinate and avoid doing it altogether.  

Every student should schedule a “binder and backpack sweep” session to help stay organized. Set aside 30 minutes each week and conduct a clean out.  Sundays are perfect for doing this. This also lets the student plan ahead for the week – what’s due and when, starting a long-term assignment, and planning what to work on.  Enter the 30-minute clean sweep on your phone calendar, monthly planner, room calendar, or make sticky notes to remind yourself.

 

Reading and studying:

Active reading should be utilized when preparing for an exam.  Active reading includes writing notes in the margins and highlighting pertinent information.  As reading becomes more complex, these strategies help students to understand more advanced topics. 

Tips:
Read one section at a time.  After you’re done, go back and highlight the important information. The color of the highlighter does not matter at all. Yellow, blue, green, pink, or orange - just pick one!    

Use margin notes. Margin notes are another interactive way of studying. It’s better than just reading the information and moving along. In short phrases, summarize the main points in the margins of text books. Doing so, will help with retaining the information that was read.  

Engage in “self chat” at the end of each section.  The student should ask, “What did I just read here?” or “What’s the takeaway from this section?”  Self chat helps students comprehend what they are reading better.

If you are reading, try the SCAN strategy.  Simply put, before reading do the following:

S = Survey Headings and Turn Them into Questions
Find each heading, and change it into a question.
C = Capture the Captions and Visuals
Review pictures or charts and read the captions beside them.
A = Attack Boldface Words
Hone in on the terms in bold; read these words to gain an understanding of the main idea.
N = Note and Read the Chapter Questions
Check out the questions at the end of the chapter.

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