Landmark’s Daily One-to-One Virtual Tutorial

By Hazel Crowley

In early March, I (like so many in our community) was thriving with a routine. Every day, I would arrive at school early, sit down at my favorite computer, and begin organizing the day’s lesson plans. I would greet Deidre Mulligan as she fed Buddy and Bridges, the EMS campus turtles. I would print documents on the machine Dean of Students Kirk Swanson had warmed up on his morning rounds. I would walk to class, judging my punctuality by exactly what stair I passed certain students and colleagues on, each of them following their own streamlined morning rituals.

Then, school closed and everything changed. I frequently forgot what day it was. I “ghosted” my students, sometimes leaving our virtual classroom by accident. One evening I looked at the clock and realized, with horror, that I’d been watching YouTube videos on “how to make remote learning fun” for over two hours. It was well past midnight.

I share my experience because I know I am not alone. At first, the shutdown made us all feel truly out of sync. “It was daunting,” admits teacher Maureen Flannery, referring to the immense task of translating certain Landmark essentials (cursive practice, card sorts, spelling worksheets, library books, and so much more) entirely from page to screen.

Not only were we lost, we also felt loss. “Community and in-person experiences are so important to our students, in order for them to feel confident in their skills and connected to their teachers and their learning. Obviously that cannot be replaced virtually,” explains teacher Starry Joseph.

But despite initial turbulence, tutorial sailed on. “Although we’re no longer sitting side by side, thanks to some excellent technology, we’re able to do pretty much everything we did before,” says teacher Anna DiPerna, who was able to incorporate fun review games and teach new skills in tutorial this spring. “The more independent nature of the work actually gave me better insight into which skills needed more focus.”

Asked where they found both inspiration and support, every tutor I spoke with credited the weekly Show-and-Tell sessions, where faculty shared strategies and celebrate successes. “It was invaluable. Each week I left in awe of my colleagues,” says Flannery.

For Joseph, equal recognition goes to the students themselves. “The resilience and grit they demonstrated to be their best selves under difficult situations was so impressive. Many students really stepped up to the plate and demonstrated skills independently and improved their executive functioning,” says Joseph. Flannery agrees. “When my fifth grader’s chair broke during our class, he didn’t skip a beat. He kept working without letting me know. Later, when I found out and asked what he sat on, he explained that he’d knelt! If he can be that determined, so can I.”

I recently learned that the phrase “steep learning curve” is somewhat of a misnomer. It is generally used to describe a difficult challenge, like climbing a steep mountain or starting remote learning. But technically, the term “learning curve” refers simply to the rate of learning over time, so a steep curve would mean a rapid increase in skill. I’ll settle for both.