School counseling complicated by distance learning

MOSES LAKE — Staff and students are still adjusting to the changes implemented for the new school year after kids returned to classrooms last week, having missed the first few days due to lingering smoke from wildfires.

Starting the year by working remotely, Chris Mason, a school counselor at Chief Moses Middle School, is learning to navigate new obstacles to assist students who are themselves grappling with new challenges.

Not having the ability to meet and work with students in person makes things more difficult, but he said in a Monday interview that he’s doing his best to adjust to meet the needs of his students. Face-to-face conversations have been limited to begin the year, but he said he has had the opportunity to meet with a few students through Google Hangout and Zoom meetings.

A Google Classroom was set up through the counseling office for each grade level where students can submit questions or comments that staff respond to on a daily basis.

“We’ve had a ton of that,” Mason said.

Progress reports from remote-learning teachers are beginning to roll in this week, checking in to see how students are managing the workload so far. Mason said he is already seeing signs that students are having a difficult time engaging with their coursework, but he’s going to wait a few more days for the rest of the reports to come in before diving in and seeing where students might be struggling.

“If I keep getting emails that kids are not engaging, then part of what I’ll be doing is reaching out to see how I can help,” Mason said.

He said he has seen mixed responses from remote students on how they are handling the workload. Some students, he said, are happy with work they’re doing, while others would like a little more to do.

For remote students, he said that counselors have been reinforcing the importance of keeping eye contact with teachers during Zoom classes, helping the instructor know their students are engaged.

“Just like I would tell a student if they were in the classroom, the teacher needs to see your eyes, you need to follow the teacher with your eyes so the teacher knows you’re following them,” Mason said. “They can track that you’re paying attention. They don’t have any way to know if you’re not doing that.”

Mason said he has told students, and parents, not to take it too personally if a teacher reminds a student to keep eye contact during class time. Staff will need to work with students who aren’t learning in person to develop these social- and emotional-learning skills, he added.

He said it doesn’t surprise him to see some issues with eye contact and remote learning early on, and he added that it is important for teachers and staff to remain patient with kids as the year gets going.

Talking with his fellow counselors who are working in school, Mason said he hasn’t heard of any major behavioral issues so far. He said there have been a few minor cases where students have needed to be reminded of how to properly follow social distancing guidelines, but only a few.

Mason said he is focused on building relationships as the school year gets rolling. A positive relationship with an adult, whether it is a teacher or staff member, can have a huge impact for students, especially those who may not have an ideal situation at home, he said.

The quirks of schooling during 2020 aren’t necessarily all bad, Mason added. Once all students are able to return to in-person classes, he hoped to see students bully and harass each other less.

“I am really hopeful, with this time away, that when kids come back they’ll be kinder, they’ll understand the importance of being able to be close to somebody, not have to be six feet away,” Mason said. “We won’t have the issues that we’ve had in the past where kids are just so cruel to each other.”

Far too much time, he said, is spent in any given year dealing with students mistreating one another. Mason said he’s been telling online students to leave those behaviors behind when they return to the classroom. School should not be a place where kids don’t want to come because of how they are treated, he said.

Mason is working remotely to begin the year as he cares for his mother at home. He said he and his therapy dog, Brodi, are looking forward to the chance to interact in-person with students again, where they can have the greatest impact.