Maȟpíya Lúta Owáyawa / Red Cloud School
Lessons Learned
When Red Could become the first school in South Dakota to switch to distance learning, staff and families mobilized quickly. By responding to what worked — or didn’t — our educators effectively built their own pandemic playbook.
The Tech Challenge
Red Cloud’s 1:1 technology status — meaning that every child had a computer — put the school in a better position than most. It had the tech, but not all the right tools.
“We already had a 1:1 environment,” said Moira Coomes, superintendent of schools. “That is a huge shout out to our technology planning from years earlier.”
So Red Cloud fired up new initiatives: A new website enabled parents and teachers to share lessons. Teachers took a crash course in Canvas, a digital-classroom software that helped shift lessons to online formats. Class Mojo, an instant messaging app, kept families in the loop on day-to-day changes. AT&T hotspots were delivered to any home with broadband problems.
The Immersion Challenge
Imagine teaching a toddler to speak—but with Zoom calls as your only tools. That’s similar to the challenge Red Cloud teachers faced in the nation’s first K-12 Lakȟóta language program.
In a normal year, total physical response is a key part of learning in grades K-2. When the teacher says something in Lakȟóta, kids who understand, do it. Listening and moving shows the comprehension. But in the world of “frozen” Zoom calls, students who didn’t understand the Lakȟóta instructions would easily detach from class.
“Most of those young kids have had zero experience with school — and also with the language,” said Matt Rama, assistant superintendent. “Teachers had to find ways to be creative and innovative. But there weren’t that many models for us to follow.”
So teachers stepped up. During three training sessions every week, they invented their own solutions, like singing prayer songs through the day or adding other activities that were uniquely Lakȟóta.
“It was ‘Let’s tweak this, let’s tweak that’ as immersion educators,” he said. “It’s hard enough to get students to pay attention when you’re there in person!”
The In-person Challenge
As COVID rates improved, a new normal arrived. By the end of the school year, students returned to face-to-face classrooms, but in a “virtual hybrid” format. That meant two days in person, the rest online.
“After being online for a year, you’re very happy to be back with the kids,” Moira said. “But trying to teach kids in person and online at the same time is a big challenge.”
This school year, Red Cloud is building on the lessons of 2020. In some ways, the school has never been stronger. Teachers have newfound digital expertise. Guest speakers from across the country are beaming into Red Cloud classrooms.
“Teachers had to learn the skill set in lots of programs,” Matt said. “When we come back to school, that big technology learning will help enhance instruction for all teachers. That helped us be a better staff.”