Progress 2020 - Education

Minot Daily News SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 2020

Education

MinotDailyNews.com • Facebook • Twitter

Minot State students pursuing dreams in

ENTREPRENEURSHIP CLUB

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com A club for entrepreneurs at Minot State University has long been helping students to pursue their dreams of becoming their own boss.

In March – weeks before face-to-face classes at universities and K-12 schools were called off due to the coronavirus pandemic – club officers Madison Tiedman and Juliana Alarcon Diaz and club adviser Chuck Barney said local businessmen and women have shared their experiences with people in the club.

Owners of restaurants, breweries and bakeries, people in property management or who run a travel agency and some who have more than one business have spoken to the club.

Tiedman said the club has tried to invite speakers with diverse backgrounds so every type of interest is represented.

Tiedman is interested in working as a consultant for the bridal industry and has researched wedding trends for 20-somethings.

Entrepreneurs who have spoken to the club have taught her the importance of planning for different eventualities and of doing the needed research into things she might not have thought of previously, such as research into intellectual property rights and obtaining a liquor license for a business.

Alarcon Diaz is interested in starting a business that would sell authentic bubble and boba tea, a drink that is popular in shops on the West Coast.

Submitted photos

Juliana Alarcon Diaz, right, and her business partner, Hiromu Ogahara, left, have come up with an idea for a bubble/boba tea business called Megami Drinks Bar. There is one authentic bubble tea shop in Fargo, said Alarcon Diaz.

She said the flavored drink is sweet and, while it is not necessarily healthy, it is fun and tasty.

Alarcon Diaz said she has

learned that an entrepreneurship cannot be afraid of taking calculated risks when launching a business. Planning and the location of the business is also important and the marketing for the business will be different

based on whether it is an online business only or has a physical location.

Barney said another member of the club is interested in launching his own See MSU — Page 3

Aviation tech students learn to

F LY

HIGH

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Students in the aviation technology program at Minot High School will be flying high thanks to the opportunities they have had to study piloting an aircraft while they are still in school.

In February, a month before schools in the state were closed due to the coronavirus outbreak, juniors and seniors in Meric Murphy’s class were seated in front of simulators preparing for a symposium that was to be held in early March.

Students were practicing the flight simulations that they would demonstrate at the symposium.

One group of students had mastered a flight that would save the lives of all the passengers on United Airlines Flight 232 that, in reality, crashed into the gateway in Sioux City, Iowa in 1989, killing 112 people and injuring 171 after its engine exploded in midair while they were at cruising altitude at 37,000 feet.

Students explained that a fan disk exploded and took out the hydraulic lines on the airplanes. The pilot’s ability to control the plane had been severely compromised and the pilot was forced to crash land at Sioux City.

Murphy tasked the students with improving on the outcome faced by the actual pilot at Sioux City and to land the plane without killing anybody.

Students in the class had initially thought they would reroute the plane to Edwards Air Force Base but then decided the plane would not have had enough fuel to make it there. Instead, they decided to reroute the plane to Minot See FLY — Page 2

Photos by Andrea Johnson/MDN

TOP LEFT and ABOVE: Minot High School aviation technology class students use flight simulators to learn how to handle serious situations.

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Page 2

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

Saturday, April 11, 2020

MSU’s addiction studies program lauded by Great Value College

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Vicki Michels, director of the addiction studies program at Minot State University, said addiction counselors are always in high demand.

On average, there are about 40 addiction studies majors at any given time, said Michels, and she has never had a student who was interested in working in the area who was unable to find a job.

According to a press release from the university, Minot State’s bachelor of science in addiction studies was recently named No. 16 in the country by Great Value College’s 23 Most Affordable Bachelor’s in Addiction Studies for 2020.

Fly

Minot State offers the only fouryear addiction studies degree in the state.

Michels said that most graduates of the program end up staying in Minot or in Bismarck or elsewhere in the state. Jobs are available at hospitals and human service centers or in private practices, as well as in other areas.

Students go into the field for a variety of reasons. Some may have a history of personal addiction or have family or friends who have battled a substance use disorder but others are simply very interested in the field.

Michels said a personal history of addiction could be helpful for counselors in some instances because it gives them a certain perspective. It could be a hindrance in

others if counselors believe that a client’s problems will exactly mirror their own. Personal experience of addiction certainly isn’t necessary for a counselor to do an excellent job of counseling someone dealing with addiction.

Michels said the field has also changed over the years. There is now a greater understanding that a person dealing with a substance abuse disorder is dealing with a medical condition that must be managed throughout his or her life.

Just as a dieter might battle to keep the weight off and to find motivation to stick with a diet, a person who has battled addiction must find motivation to resist cravings and old friends who try to persuade him to use drugs with them. People with addiction need support and

help maintaining recovery.

Treatment programs are also now recognizing the need for support. If a client has a relapse and uses drugs, Michels said he is less likely to be kicked out of the program than he might have been in the past. Programs are more apt to help the client figure out why he had the relapse and how to manage potential triggers.

Minot State was lauded by Great Value Colleges for its excellent reputation and its excellent faculty.

The site’s remarks for Minot State’s addiction studies program include: “If you’re looking for a well-established low-cost addictions studies programs that isn’t afraid to change with the demands of the profession, take a good look at

Minot State University’s cheap BS in Addiction Studies. In fact, their program has been around for nearly 30 years, dating back to 1987. A 9month supervised practicum with the Northwest consortium and the Confluence consortium is required.

This hands-on experience will not only put theory into action but also allow students to take the exam necessary to qualify as a licensed addiction counselor. An on-campus psychology and addiction studies student club is also an option for students who want to get involved with like-minded peers. Sample classes include Dynamics of Addiction, Advanced Counseling, Psychopharmacology, and Professional Relations & Ethics. MSU is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Continued from Page 1

and to land there because the airport in Minot had a longer runway than the one in Sioux City, Iowa, and proper fire fighting equipment if it ended up being needed. The students came up with a solution that would have saved all the lives on board.

Students in the class are also given the opportunity to practice simulations of other challenging real-life emergencies, like “The Miracle on the Hudson” on Jan. 15, 2009, when Chesley Sullenberger successfully landed U.S. Airways Flight 1549 on the Hudson without any loss of life after the plane struck a flock of geese and lost all power.

A flight simulation program allows students to practice other challenging scenarios for any pilot, such as landing on a really short runway at Monument Valley, Nevada at night with very little light. A pilot who overshoots the runway will hit a plateau. In real life, most pilots would avoid performing the complicated maneuver because a pilot really has to know what he’s doing to successfully land the plane. But practice makes perfect.

LEFT and BELOW: Minot High School aviation technology class students use flight simulators to learn how to handle serious situations.

Photos by Andrea Johnson/MDN

said they have an interest in making aviation a career and have earned or are interested in obtaining a private pilot’s license and have piloted a real plane.

Simulations are a big part of aviation training these days, they said, and they would not be as far along as they are without the aviation technology class.

Minot High offers Aviation Technology I and Aviation Technology II. In the first class, students perform basic piloting skills using the flight trips and learn from guest simulator and also take field speakers. They cover aviation concepts such as the basics of aircraft, airspace, navigation, The Thrifty White Pharmacy weather, communications, flight planning, weight and teams in Minot are committed balance and human factors In another simulation, students practice a take off from the shortest runway in the world, experiencing engine failure after takeoff, and then successfully landing a plane on an aircraft carrier.

Landing a plane on a carrier is challenging under the best of circumstances because a carrier has a short runway and is a moving target. When they first started practicing the simulation, students came in either too short or too low. Eventually they became more proficient.

Several of the students

to the health and wellness of the communities we serve. ®

Chief Pharmacist, Bryce Bergeron (1015 South Broadway)

Chief Pharmacist, Donell Kjos (Inside Marketplace Food & Drug North Hill)

If you take multiple medications enroll in our Rx MedSync 6\QFKURQL]HG 3UHVFULSWLRQ 5HƓOO Service and your maintenance medications can be mailed directly to your home.

6\QFKURQL]HG 3UHVFULSWLRQ 5HŵOO 6HUYLFH

Call your local Thrifty White Pharmacy to enroll.

Let us care for you while you stay safe at home.

Your maintenance medications can be mailed to you with enrollment in our Rx MedSync 3UHVFULSWLRQ 5HƓOO 6HUYLFH

Enrollment is free and easy!

NEW HOURS AT BOTH MINOT LOCATIONS!

2211 16th Street NW Inside Marketplace Food & Drug North Hill (701) 852-0388

Pharmacy Hours: Mon- Fri: 9 am - 6 pm Sat: 9 am - 4 pm • Sun: Noon - 4 pm ®

1015 South Broadway (701) 852-4181

Store Hours: Mon - Fri: 9 am - 6 pm Sat: 9 am - 4 pm • Sun: Noon - 4 pm

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

affecting flight.

In the second class, for juniors and seniors, students prepare to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s private pilot’s verbal exam, according to the course cata-

logue. They also cover advanced flight topics and work in teams on different scenarios such as the Miracle on the Hudson or the problem of successfully landing a plane that has lost power.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Page 3

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

Standards referenced grading helps improve skills

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Some parents in the Minot Public School system may notice some differences when it comes to grading.

For some grades, the school district is moving toward standards referenced grading. Instead of just giving a student an A, B, C, D, or F, teachers will be using a proficiency scale that demonstrates where students are at an proficiency scale which assigns points based on how well students have mastered a particular skill included in the standard for their grade level.

For instance, the report card for mathematics might show that a student has 92 percent proficiency, or an A, for the quarter and then give a break down of scores on different skills. The A student would get scores of 3, demonstrating proficiency, on modeling fractions, relate area to the operations of addition and multiplication, and using strategies to multiply numbers within 100. He receives scores of 2, which is below proficient, on using multiplication and division within 100 to solve word problems and measuring lengths using halves and fourths of an inch.

A student who earns a 4 demonstrates mastery beyond the standard and a student who earns a 1 is a beginner.

schools and grade levels.

Kaley Chick, a third-grade teacher at Edison Elementary, said in an email in February, before schools were closed due to the coronavirus, that the move to standards based grading has been positive.

“SPG has transformed my teaching practices,” she said.

“Using learning scales to guide instruction, I know the exact skills and pre-requisite skills that my students need to master in third grade to become successful fourth-graders next year. Using scales-aligned assessments, I can identify specific skill areas that my students need additional practice or instruction in and then I can tailor my lessons to meet their needs. My students also have a better understanding of the skills that they need to master each day in the classroom – and can also verbalize what portion of the standard and scale that they are working on.

“My class as a whole (myself included) has become so much more focused and intentional in our math practices each day as my students want to continue progressing through the sequential levels. Using SRG will be a continuous learning process for Submitted Photo teachers, students, and parents A teacher discusses benchmarks with students earlier this but the impact that it will have on teaching and learning in MPS year. will be evident immediately.”

Cathy Griffin, a parent of a The standards referenced gram at some schools but will third-grader at Perkett Elemengrading was used in a pilot pro- eventually be expanded to other tary, also said the new grading

MSU

Chuck Barney stands by a sign advertising entrepreneurship activities.

Continued from Page 1

leather working business.

Not all members of the entrepreneurship club are business or entrepreneurship majors. The club draws students from all majors who have an idea for a business and want help and resources to pursue their dreams.

The university added a major and a minor in entrepreneurship last year and it also now offers a certificate in entrepreneurship, popular with people who are interested in starting a business.

Barney said there are currently about 20 entrepreneurship majors.

Professors have also focused on outreach to area schools, some of which have had students compete in entrepreneurship competitions, and attracting more students into the program.

scale will be useful.

“I think Standard Referenced Grading will be great because it will show specific areas my child knows and/or where he needs help. It gives me a better understanding of what my student learned during the entire quarter and not just an overall grade.”

The district has prepared materials that helps explain the grading scale and what it demonstrates.

One example given to demonstrate the standards is the stages a child goes through in learning to ride a bike.

A student at the top of the scale rides a bike so well that he can “pop wheelies … can do tricks on ramps and stairs … can ride on different terrains, like mountain biking.”

A student who is proficient, or at level three, can ride a bike on his own and can “steer, pedal, turn, and balance without any help … can go fast and slow … can go up and down hills … can take corners without tipping over … (and is) in control on the bike.”

At level two, a novice biker can ride with training wheels or with someone holding onto the bike. He has a hard time steering the bike and keeping his balance.

At level one, the student knows what bicycling is but cannot ride a bike himself. He is like a passenger on the bike with someone else in complete control of the bike.

Andrea Johnson/MDN

Madison Tiedman, left, and Juliana Alarcon Diaz are officers of Minot State University’s entrepreneurship club.

Andrea Johnson/MDN

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Page 4

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Submitted Photo

Minot High School-Magic City Campus has a vocational and technical center addition that was built in recent years. The school building is attended by juniors and seniors.

Overcrowding at middle schools, high schools

Submitted Photo

Bell Elementary, pictured, is located in rural Minot.

will still be a concern when pandemic is over

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com

Submitted Photo

Minot High School-Central Campus is attended by students in grades 9-10. At one time, the district had considered building a second high school and converting Central Campus into a third middle school.

Submitted Photo

Bel Air Elementary, pictured, is located in northwest Minot.

Events have been canceled or postponed and schools and businesses have been closed across the state as well as nationwide and worldwide to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

But even though doors to Minot Public schools are shuttered, perhaps for the remainder of the school year, the problem of overcrowded middle and high schools will still be there whenever face-to-face classes resume.

Last month, Minot Public Schools Superintendent Mark Vollmer said Jim Hill Middle School is currently over capacity, with portable classrooms in use to handle the overflow. Erik Ramstad Middle School, while not as overcrowded, will also be at capacity. Larger class sizes are moving through the school system and younger students will soon also be of high school age.

As of last fall, enrollment stood at 7,722 students, with enrollment in K-5 at 4,017; at 1,704 in grades 6-8, and at 2,001 students In grades 9-12. Enrollment has been holding steady, with larger class sizes at the elementary and middle school level than at the high school and officials believe that trend will continue.

Schools at Minot Air Force Base, including Memorial Middle School and North Plains and Dakota Elementaries, are not considered when the district calculates space needs since those schools are attended by children of military personnel only.

To address space needs at schools in Minot, voters approved a $39.5 million bond issue in the spring of 2014 that paid for the construction of the new John Hoeven Elementary in southeast Minot, classroom additions at Edison and Perkett Elementaries, and safety improvements at the schools. The stated goal at the time was to eliminate portable classrooms at the elementaries. At one time Washington Elementary – which had been converted from the former Medical Arts Clinic more than a decade ago and at the time had extra classrooms that district personnel thought would amply provide for the district’s anticipated space needs – was surrounded by portable classrooms because it was over capacity.

The new Erik Ramstad Middle School and an addition at Longfellow Elementary were completed after the Souris River flood of 2011, in part with funds received from the government after the old Ramstad and Lincoln Elementary were destroyed by the flood. The district also used some local funds to pay to build the 127,000 square foot Ramstad a bit larger than its predecessor. Classroom additions were also added at Lewis and Clark Elementary and Sunnyside Elementary in recent years, as well as at Jim Hill Middle School. A vocational and technical center addition at Magic City Campus as well as its athletic fields could potentially See SCHOOLS — Page 5

Live your best life with RTC.

z z z z z

Internet Phone TV Business Services Camera Systems www.RTC.coop 888.862.3115

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Submitted Photo

Additions were added at Edison Elementary, pictured, and Perkett Elementaryafter voters approved a bond issue in 2014.

Submitted Photo

The new Erik Ramstad Middle School, pictured, was built to replace the old Ramstad that was destroyed in the Souris River flood of 2011.

Submitted Photo

Jim Hill Middle School, pictured, has so many enrolled students it is over capacity. The district has added portable classrooms to help address the overflow.

Submitted Photo

It was added to the Minot Public School District when the John Hoeven Elementary, pictured, was built. Hoeven Elementary is the district’s newest elementary school. It was built after voters approved a bond issue in 2014.

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Schools

A classroom addition was added at Sunnyside Elementary in the past several years.

Continued from Page 4

be utilized by students at a second high school if one is ever built Voters had rejected a grander bond issue in December 2013 that would also have paid for the construction of a new high school and to convert Minot High School-Central Campus into a third middle school. Voters thought the price tag was too high and chose to put off the needs of the middle school and high schools for a few more years.

The Minot school board has held planning sessions this year and discussed how to address overcrowding.

Last month the district announced that it has acquired 70 acres of property south and east of Erik Ramstad Middle School for the nominal fee of $1. The land was owned by Northern Lights Idlewild, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company. Though they made no plans for what to do with the land, board members speculated that it might be a good location for a second high school if voters in the district eventually approve another bond issue. It might also be put to any other use that the school district sees fit.

At a recent board meeting, board members also discussed rebalancing school attendance boundary lines so that class sizes at schools within the district are more evenly balanced.

Lewis and Clark Elementary, for example, has been growing more in student numbers because of people moving into that area and other schools are less crowded.

Board members expressed an interest in maintaining neighborhood schools where possible and minimizing the number of students who might be required to change schools because of a boundary change but also to pay attention to fiscal considerations and maximizing the use of the buildings.

Page 5

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

Submitted Photo Submitted Photo

Jim Hill Middle School was constructed in 1963.

It is over capacity.

Submitted Photo

An addition at Longfellow Elementary, pictured, was intended to replace Lincoln Elementary, which was destroyed in the Souris River flood of 2011.

Washington Elementary, pictured, was formerly the old Medical Arts Clinic. The Minot school district remodeled the clinic and converted it into an elementary school after the old Washington Elementary was torn down.

Submitted Photo

Submitted Photo

McKinley Elementary, pictured, is among the smallest of the schools in the district.

Submitted Photo

Additions were added at Edison Elementary and Perkett Elementary, pictured, after voters approved a bond issue in 2014.

Submitted Photo

Roosevelt Elementary is located in northeast Minot.

Minot Public Schools located in-town

Minot High School - Magic City Campus Year constructed: 1973 Vocational and technical center addition added in 2006 Minot High School-Central Campus Years constructed: 1917, 1965, 1968, 1983 Erik Ramstad Middle School Year constructed: 2013 Jim Hill Middle School Year constructed: 1963

Bel Air Elementary Years constructed: 1956, 1958, 1961, 1989 Edison Elementary Years constructed: 1954, 1959, 1962, 1981, 2015 John Hoeven Elementary Year constructed: 2016

Longfellow Elementary Years constructed: 1949, 2013 McKinley Elementary Year constructed: 1962

North Hill Elementary Years constructed: 1963, 1968, 1972, 2010 Perkett Elementary Years constructed: 1964, 1968, 2016 Roosevelt Elementary Years constructed: 1964, 1968

Sunnyside Elementary Years constructed: 1940, 1953, 1960, 2010

Washington Elementary Year remodeled from old medical clinic: 2007 Jefferson Early Childhood Center Year constructed: 1959

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Page 6

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

NO PROM, NO GRADUATION:

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Life for a senior in the time of coronavirus

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Grace Wiedrich, a senior at Rolla High School, found out after the fact that her senior year of high school was essentially over on Friday the 13th.

Friday, March 13, was the last day of school for most students around the state.

Governor Doug Burgum closed schools across the state to try to slow the spread of the new coronavirus and directed that thousands of K12 students finish their classes through online or alternative education.

Students are aware of why it is necessary to close schools and want to protect themselves and their loved ones from getting the virus. Wiedrich, who works as a CNA at a nursing home in Rolette, perhaps understands the threat the virus poses better than many teens, but it is still naturally a disappointment to miss out on so many traditional milestones.

“Prom, for sure,” said Wiedrich, who said she and a friend had gone shopping for the perfect prom dress and she had planned how she would do her hair. “We were so pumped to go to prom,” said Wiedrich. “Now … it’s not happening.”

Submitted photo Graduation parties that had been planned Wiedrich is a senior at Rolla Grace for seniors all over the state are also up in the High School. air because students do not know whether formal ceremonies will be held.

“I don’t know if be active and mother and should order (invitadaughter have been doing tions) right now beyoga together. cause I don’t know if I’m Wieidrich also has contingoing to graduate on ued her work at the nursing May 24.” said Wiedrich. home in Rolette, which has “… It’s kind of just put a been in quarantine according “We were so pumped kibosh on 2020.” to Center for Disease Control to go to prom,” said Wiedrich said she guidelines to protect the vulwas born within days of Wiedrich. “Now … it’s nerable patients. Patients the Sept. 11, 2001 atspend most of their time in not happening.” tacks and it is strange their rooms and must be kept that this world crisis is at a physical distance from happening during the each other. Wiedrich cares for —Grace Wiedrich year that she is graduat- Rolla High School senior about 13 patients and says ing from high school. she walks about six miles Like other students, during each shift.

Wiedrich was finishing her coursework onWhile some of her friends might be able to line after schools closed. get together in small groups, Wiedrich said This was not much of a change for her that is not an option for her because she cansince her classes were online before the gov- not risk becoming infected with the new coroernor made his announcement and she has navirus and transmitting the virus to her also taken college classes online. The change vulnerable patients. Wiedrich also does not in format has been more challenging for other want to risk infecting her parents or other famstudents who aren’t used to learning online. ily members.

Wiedrich said she recently had to help one of She said the pandemic could make her reher cousins to understand the instructions for consider her own future career plans. her online classes.

“I wanted to go into nursing,” said Wiedrich’s mother also encourages her to Wiedrich. “After this pandemic, I’m not sure.”

I dependent Independent endent and Enjoy our spacious ious private apartments, delicious home-cooked meals, caring and dedicated staff, while indulging in a wealth of fun social activities with new friends.

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Page 7

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

MSU professors adapt to

TEACHING ONLINE

By ANDREA JOHNSON

Staff Writer ajohnson@minotdailynews.com Some professors at Minot State University were confronted with an unexpected challenge in March – converting face-to-face classes to ones that are entirely online. Universities across the country, including in North Dakota, went to distance education only to help slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

Robert Kibler, chair of the English and foreign languages department at Minot State, said in mid-March that he has been teaching three courses this semester, including one focused on Shakespeare and two others that are writing and research based.

Kibler, like other professors, said there will be a need for more flexibility and consideration for each students’’ individual situation.

“We’re in uncharted waters,” said Kibler.

MSU utilizes a platform called Blackboard that also includes live video and audio and the ability for students to meet in groups online.

Many professors like Kibler will be using that option so that students can meet in a session group at a particular time and carry on discussions using the video and chat.

Professors like Kibler can also pre-record lectures that students will be able to play back at their leisure. Professors have always done recorded lectures that are uploaded for students who were not able to attend class or wanted to review what was said, but some of their contact with students had been face to face.

Erik Anderson, chair of the the division of music, and assistant professor of music Emerson Eads said music faculty at institutions were all in the same boat and trying to figure out how to convert their classes online.

“All my colleagues (at universities in other states) were like, ‘Oh, my god, how do we do this. This is crazy!’ “ said Eads.

But they said 21st technology provides amazing tools to bring students and professors together so they can collaborate via video chat and virtual chat rooms.

Anderson spent the better part of

Andrea Johnson/MDN

The season has ended prematurely for the Minot State University Beavers, where face-to-face classes have been canceled and classes will be offered only online for the remainder of the semester to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. a week contacting other faculty and trying to learn and troubleshoot setting up a classroom using the video conference style. Students received several emails providing information on the technological investigation they had done, including advice on what equipment to buy, how to optimize the sound experience for musical instruments using the platform Zoom, how to tweak the different settings to make it work better, and helpful articles they had found.

There were questions about how to adapt certain course requirements, such as the 10-minute program that music students perform for faculty and as a final exam. They weren’t sure whether those performances could go forward using video conferencing.

Students could be asked to record their performances and submit them to professors.

Anderson said he believes it is possible to successfully teach music courses online but there are some

experiences that cannot be duplicated online, to being there in person and seeing and hearing the students.

During a lesson, Anderson said a music teacher might physically adjust a student’s posture and technique, model the correct hand position by placing his hand right next to the student’s on the instrument, or put his hand over the student’s and signal how to play by subtly applying pressure and guiding his student’s performance.

“The most important thing in all of this is to keep in mind that education in its best sense is caring for the growth of another person,” said Anderson. “... The technology and the distance between us is far less important than trying to keep that relationship between teacher and student and peer and peer alive and keep people involved in asking questions and growing as people.”

At the end of this experience, professors all over the country will have taken a giant leap forward in

terms of online education, said Anderson.

Eads said the choir had already performed on tour at Watford City and Stanley, which took care of the performance requirement for the classes he teaches. He was also looking at the possibility of his classes doing a recorded online performance.

“It’s going well, it’s interesting,” said Eads. “It’s causing everyone to be creative.”

Daniel Conn, an assistant professor of teacher education and kinesiology, said practicum placements that had been pre-arranged for education majors all fell through, which will require the departments to make some adjustments. Classroom practicums are a middle step that helps prepare students for the next step, which is student teaching in a classroom. The circumstances may make all of those things harder for students to do.

Education professors were trying to find alternative, meaningful ex-

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

periences. He said education majors will be preparing online education standards-based lesson plans that can be accessed by teachers and parents who are teaching at home and online tutoring might be set up for students.

MSU professors who are teaching from home also deal with additional challenges if they are parents and must supervise their children at the same time say they are teaching online classes.

Kibler and his wife, Alexandra Deufel, a professor of biology at MSU, have a 10-year-old son who is also and is also doing his school work from home. Conn has teenagers and said he has noticed that the internet is a little more slow in his neighborhood because adults and students are both using bandwidth to do their work from home. working from home, said professors who are parents also have added challenges because K12 schools have also been closed due the virus.

Page 8

Minot Daily News • PROGRESS: Education

Visit us online at www.MinotDailyNews.com

Saturday, April 11, 2020