The Fieldwork experience was interrupted and not completed in the way intended because Friday, March 13, 2020 was our last day of class on campus due to the impact of COVID-19 and the need for social distancing and safer at home policies. LAUSD went into @Home Continuity of Learning mode with weekly updates from the district regarding what would happen. In short, the plan was to distribute Chromebooks to students, help them get Internet, and advise regarding the food distribution sites for our community. Since parents had to sign an agreement form before we could release the computer to the students, many students left that day with no idea what was expected or how to continue learning. At first, the closure was for two weeks and we did not really know that it would actually be for the remainder of the school year.

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This day was also the end of our first experimental ten week quarter where a full semester of instruction was provided in just ten weeks. As a transition point, this was complicated because students would be starting a new "semester" of work in the next quarter without the benefit of physically being in class with their teacher and peers. Not all course were on this plan, math and science courses remained on the traditional semester and would continue at a distance. Also on this day, I had the opportunity to conduct interviews with a few students who had completed their high school diploma requirements. Three student testimonials were captured on video and another student was documented in a more question and answer based interview with a portrait. At the same time some things were ending, other things were beginning.

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There was a sudden influx of information which needed to be shared with the school community via the website, email, and phone calls home. As the school webmaster, I uploaded information on a daily basis and juggled the online content to reflect what was most important and relevant to the current moment. LAUSD published flyers about access to food centers for students and families because many students eat two meals a day at school and experience food insecurity. There were fliers about obtaining access to internet services through various partnerships the district was working to establish. There were emails and phone calls about school office hours to come on site to pick up a Chromebook.  We put information out there for our school community as we received it and posted updates to keep up with changes and advancements to the plan. Later, flyers about mental health service and how to manage the stress of quarantine with teenagers, and announcements about Zoom workshops for parents and students. This is ongoing.

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The professional development provided by LAUSD allowed me to train in Schoology which is the district's Learning Managment System. Also, I trained in Edgenuity which is an online learning platform offering contained and UC approved courses for internet-based independent study. The continuation high school heavily relies on Edgenuity for credit recovery and student advancement. I was able to complete all three levels of training offered in both Schoology and Edgenuity. At this point, I can be quite supportive of the school and teachers as we endeavor to keep students on the learning path without the benefit of physical contact. In fact, my mentor teacher and principal enrolled me in taking over the online instruction of our English Language Development classes. There are seven sections but only a dozen students. I have set up curriculum on Schoology and utilized suggested media and frameworks provided by LAUSD. Additional professional training webinars in PBS LearningMedia, Linked Learning, and Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum have prepared me to blend knowledge of instructional practices learned at CalStateLA with my prior experience teaching private high school and community college, to meet the demands of the day with engaging instructional design.