SANDPOINT — Just before COVID-19 arrived in Sandpoint, fifth grade teacher Jason Murray from Farmin Stidwell Elementary School was constructing bridges out of popsicle sticks and analyzing geometric designs with his students. Now Murray is at home abiding by the six-feet-apart rule, waving hello to his students and parents, one email at a time.

“We are used to being around each other physically,” Murray said. “It just feels so weird and inhuman to stay away because we are such social creatures. To take that away from an elementary teacher and their kids, that is pretty significant.”

The distance learning model was enacted prior to the last two weeks of the third quarter. Many teachers in Sandpoint have shared their experiences with the model.

“Instead of face-to-face interaction and listening to their stories of how hard they worked on their homework, I make an appointment to talk with them on the phone,” Southside Elementary School fourth grade teacher Terese Luikens said in her LTE, "My Quiet Classroom." “I want to hear them tell me how they are doing with their assignments.”

Lake Pend Oreille School District Superintendent Tom Albertson said there is a vast difference in teaching strategies for kindergarten through sixth grade as opposed to seventh through twelfth grade. For example, upperclassmen were able to bring home school-owned smart devices and primarily operate on Schoology, a virtual learning environment for teachers and students. Sixth graders and below, however, were given review packets and have focused on capitalizing student creativity.

“In one sense I would say we were a step ahead of some school districts because we had made that commitment (to online learning) five years ago, not that we were fully prepared,” Albertson said. “We were able to quickly transition. Elementary is a little different, it’s a bigger partnership at the K-6 level and we were trying not to burden the parents with new learning.”

Albertson said a decision about extending the soft school closure was not made during the last Idaho State Board of Education meeting, but will likely be announced during their April 6 meeting. He has been participating in regional conference calls with many Idaho school superintendents to stay connected and work together during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Given the unusual circumstances, many teachers have been turning to online resources to bridge the learning gap. One national trend has been for teachers to read books aloud to kids over the internet.

“I know one teacher had all of the stuffed animals out in front of her in the class while she read the book, just trying to keep that sense of community going while still trying to deliver instruction,” Murray said.

While students in Sandpoint and Bonner County were on spring break, Murray and his colleagues were designing a new curriculum for the second version review packet that will be prepared for parent pick up on April 7, including optional items for those with internet access.

Fifth grade teacher William Holland also started his own YouTube channel, which has quickly caught wind with other teachers at Farmin Stidwell Elementary School. The teachers plan to offer subscriptions to students so they can comment on the videos and interact with other students.

“What makes it hard is we are having to go to places that we’ve never had to go to before,” Murray said. “Even though I have been teaching for 21 years, no teaching program or experience has ever prepared me for this, so I feel like in some ways I am a new teacher. It’s a completely different style of teaching.”

Murray’s workload has doubled, sending a smattering of emails daily and juggling the needs of a 5-year-old and 10-year-old at home with his wife. After pulling his 5-year-old out of preschool for his own concerns, Murray has been struggling to develop a structured schedule for his kids while working at home.

“Now we are being teachers and parents at the same time and so are other families,” he said.”It’s exhausting.”

Murray gave two teaching tips for parents who are now sharing the role of teacher as well. His first tip is to establish a routine. For him, his family uses a calendar for the kids so they can see their daily goals. Murray said examples of a structured schedule have also been provided in the review packet.

The second tip for parents is to ask a lot of questions when interacting with their child.

“Parent involvement is huge because we are not there to hold the kids accountable like we usually do in our classrooms,” Murray said. “Ask probing questions and really try to get your child to do more of the thinking.”

Murray and his students were exploring Makerspace before the school closed, which is a 3-D printing tool provided by Farmin Stidwell Elementary School. They spent their last few days exploring products to make for a class business project.

“Then I look on the news and see how 3-D printers are being used to make face masks for health care workers,” Murray said. "I want to get parent comfort levels about this, but I want to actually talk about COVID-19 a little bit and bring it into our society we created.”

Uncertain of when he will see his students again, Murray wanted to remind his students and parents that he is always just an email away.

“We are all just trying to get through this and maybe people are feeling guilty, like I don’t want to bother this teacher,” Murray said. “What I would say is that’s what we are here for. As teachers, we want to know that we are still making a difference.”