Within a few weeks of the initial school shut down (SY 2019-20) several teachers at Luis P. Untalan Middle School volunteered to create educational videos that were made available to the school district and were aired on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Those videos continue to be available of the Guam PBS YouTube channel. Additionally, a group of LPUMS teachers volunteered to create Hard Copy lessons for students that was distributed physically and through an online portal. Hundreds of copies were distributed during the remainder of SY2019-20. LPUMS was the first and only to create an online learning portal with lessons and resources within the first week of shutdown. These resources developed right after the initial March lockdown were creatively initiated by LPUMS teachers before the GDOE district followed suit, given the example of certain schools, notably LPUMS. The initiatives were put in place in order to safeguard rigor and relevance to meet the district expectations, as well as address the void in student learning.

In March, Social Emotional lessons were provided by our counselors. These were later shared by teachers school wide as a uniform lesson plan at the beginning of the school year. These lessons were designed to address student social emotional needs coming back to school under unique circumstances and help teachers all parties ease into online learning. The online learning portal continues to host counseling resources that students and parents are able to access.

The school developed SOPs to maintain safety and a plan for reopening ahead of the district. In preparation, during the summer administration and staff prepared the school for face-to-face instruction by painting arrows and lines of travel, spacing guides. They also posted reminders in the hallway, listing room occupancy, and painted designated off limit areas.

The administration, faculty, staff, PTA, and community stakeholders collaborated to host a 8th grade Drive-Thru Promotional Parade. Club organizations such as NJHS had an Induction ceremony, team virtual awards ceremony, and Sports Club virtual awards ceremony. Teachers Jennifer Flory and Juvy Carino handmade hundreds of masks for the graduating students and teams also gave out certificates, gifts, and vouchers. These events were planned with adherence to follow all social distancing and mask wearing guidelines and was live-streamed on school social media platforms.

Before the opening of SY 2020-2021, 60% Untalan teachers attended three different training sessions on Google Classroom in July. Initially conducted by Neil Rochelle, from the Guam Department of Education Project Enhancing Education through Technology program, LPUMS teachers Juvy Carino and Joanne Matanane-Sosa conducted Google Classroom training on July 17, 27, and 29 through Zoom. The teachers sent out a survey to teachers who would like to volunteer to receive training, offering both a morning and an afternoon session for 90 minutes. The teachers, along with Rozalyn Pama, also conducted training to two elementary schools. In August and September, the teachers continued to provide training and tech support for Google Classroom.

LPUMS was proactive in addressing the needs and concerns of the faculty by providing google classroom training. These training sessions helped to ease the transition from traditional teaching to online. By increasing our faculty’s comfort level they were better prepared to address the needs and concerns of the students once it was determined that the district will open the school year online. Teachers also attended the Division of Curriculum & Instruction Distance Learning Training Series in the Summer. (Module 2 Google Classroom & Online Apps, Module 3 Working with Diverse Learners, Module 4 Family Support for Distance Learning, Module 5 PSSTs, Module 7 Online Course Management Overview.) All faculty and staff were required to attend and complete Covid-19 safety training from WHO.

LPUMS also provided tutorials for parents and students to help with their transition to Google Classroom and how to access and use their GDOE student email prior to the opening of the school year. The LPUMS staff and administration were available to assist parents with registering their child and informing them of what was needed for all three models of learning. Parents had to select between three models of learning: face-to-face, hard copy, and online learning. Due to the Pandemic Condition of Readiness 1 (PCOR-1) initiated by the governor all students were given two options for distance learning hard copy and online learning.

The faculty and staff contacted parents to identify the child’s Model of Learning by email, Google Forms, phone call, and Swift announcements. Some teams created social network chat groups to obtain information on the student’s Model of Learning and continue the groups to maintain communication with students and their families. Teams have created communication logs along with administration and the School Resource Officer to monitor the attendance of students. Communication Logs are also to document which students were contacted and not contacted to provide additional support.

Teams were given guidelines to adhere to in regards to class schedules and then, after much discussion, allowed to independently create class schedules that best fit the teams’ unique needs. Consideration for accommodating elective classes was given by each team as much as possible based on the team scheduling needs which may be synchronous and asynchronous.

LPUMS Teachers, counselors, and the librarian created Google Classrooms for their students to access lessons, supplemental materials, and other resources needed to succeed in learning. These online classrooms are accessible to all students and parents of the three models of learning. Teachers take attendance, grade assignments, utilize the Google Meets link or personal Zoom link to hold classes. The training helped ease the transition to online learning for most faculty and it is still an ongoing process of learning.

During online learning through Google Meets or Zoom teachers teach the standards and skills based on their content. Teachers have also included “Daily Check Ins.” Individual teams have implemented systems that enable them to check on their students' emotional and academic states. The Counseling Department also created a Social-Emotional Google classroom where teachers can access resources to go further in these topics. LPUMS continues to reach out to all students to provide access to online learning through the GDOE Laptop Distribution.

During our most recent professional development, teams each shared their obstacles, means to address them, and best practices. One of the frequently mentioned topics was personalizing student learning. Many teams shared the activities they have done to achieve this, as well as create a team spirit and feeling of community that comes more easily when we are physically present. Some examples include raffles, spirit weeks, team assemblies, games, and other activities. These could be done both online and through grab and learn modules.

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