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A month into the school year, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are still adapting to the district鈥檚 new policy that bans screen time for its youngest kids and will soon place significant restrictions on older students.聽

One first grade teacher has switched to jigsaw puzzles instead of having her students complete activities on a learning app. A middle school science teacher is considering how to teach Newton鈥檚 Third Law of physics with toy cars instead of a video simulation. Some teachers say they are struggling to adjust after years of technology woven into their curriculum.

鈥淥ur goals haven鈥檛 changed whether we鈥檙e on screens or not,鈥� said Armaghan Khan, an eighth grade teacher at Johnnie Cochran Jr. Middle School. 鈥淭he idea is still to provide quality standards of mind instruction. And so, what does that look like when you鈥檙e not on a screen? And for a lot of the newer teachers, myself included, we鈥檝e never really taught that way.鈥澛�

Passed in June, LAUSD鈥檚 generally prohibits use of district-issued devices for students in early education through first grade. It places caps on every other grade level 鈥� the higher the grade, the more screen time is allowed. And by the time students reach high school, they are allowed up to 90 minutes per week in each subject area.聽

The new policy followed months of organizing by parents who argued that students 鈥� and teachers 鈥� had become too dependent on digital devices in classrooms. They argued that schools should prioritize teacher-led instruction, hands-on activities and interaction with peers. Some also said their children鈥檚 struggles to regulate their emotions were a direct result of using screens in the classroom.聽

But the new restrictions on screen time have also meant that teachers have to rethink lessons built around laptops, tablets and digital instructional programs. Many are concerned about students with disabilities and English language learners who may disproportionately rely on technology, even though accommodations are possible.聽

Corinne Hyde, a professor of education at USC, said she worries that the policy could unnecessarily restrict teachers鈥� ability to use technology when they believe it would benefit students.聽

鈥淲e should trust teachers to make good instructional decisions, and that as long as we equip them with appropriate professional development and support, that they are fully capable of making the appropriate decisions about how to use technology in their classrooms, or if they should use technology in their classrooms,鈥� said Hyde.聽

No screen time for LAUSD鈥檚 youngest learners聽

Last year, the youngest daughter of Julie Edwards, a parent and member of the group Schools Beyond Screens, would come home obsessed with JiJi, a penguin cartoon that appears on a gamified learning platform. Now, Edwards鈥� first grader comes home eager to talk about her friends and her school鈥檚 ticket-based rewards system, she says.聽

鈥淭here鈥檚 still more work to do,鈥� said Edwards. 鈥淏ut I think everything is like moving in such a great direction, and I鈥檓 just really hoping that because this is happening on an institutional level, it really starts to filter down into families鈥� personal lives.鈥�

Edwards鈥� daughter鈥檚 teacher has made a number of changes to go screenless. So has Martha Medina, a first grade teacher at Logan Academy of Global Ecology, who also lost other classroom support. This year, she no longer has instructional coaches, who help with targeted learning interventions, or teachers鈥� aides.聽

Medina had planned to have students rotate among three 15-minute stations so she could provide individualized attention. One station would be with her, another in the library and a third would use a learning app on an iPad.聽

Under the new policy, Medina can no longer use the app as planned. Instead, students at the third station work on jigsaw puzzles or art-related activities designed to reinforce uppercase and lowercase letters.

She said the changes have made it much more difficult to run the three groups, limit constant disruptions and keep children on task.聽

鈥淧arents are worried that the kids are going to be on the iPad all day,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just not the case in primary. There鈥檚 no way we can have the kids on iPads all day. There鈥檚 too much to teach.鈥澛�

Teachers prepare for changes ahead

Khan is among the upper-grade teachers who are adjusting their lesson plans to comply with limits that will go into effect in January.聽

Under the policy, middle school students will be limited to one hour of screen time each week in each subject area.聽

鈥淚 feel a lot of times the district leadership comes up with these ideas, and however well intentioned they are, they leave it to the rest of us to kind of figure out how to implement them, or just what the best case looks like,鈥� Khan said.聽聽

He added that he has spent the past eight years building his curriculum around electronic devices. Like many schools nationwide, his school had been a 鈥渙ne-to-one,鈥� meaning each student has access to a device. Those devices had largely replaced textbooks, and, to some extent, paper and pencil.聽聽

鈥淲e were using a lot of digital resources, and some of them have been really amazing,鈥� he said.聽

One of Khan鈥檚 favorite tools is Gizmos, a program that allows him to show students simulations to explore science concepts that can be difficult to demonstrate in a classroom. For example, students visualize the heart pumping blood through veins and arteries throughout the body. Or, they can explore Newton鈥檚 Third Law 鈥� the concept that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction 鈥斅爐hrough a simulated car crash.聽

鈥淚 can always get two toy cars and have them crash together so they can see the law and effect,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淏ut with the simulation, it lets me just get much more granular and just deeper into just how it applies to their everyday lives.鈥�

He also said technology has been particularly important for students with disabilities and English language learners, who may rely on digital tools for accommodations and language support.聽聽

The district told EdSource that it has made professional learning opportunities available to school administrators and teachers, both in-person and virtually, to help with the transition.聽聽

鈥淥ur goal is to ensure that all school sites are well-prepared with the tools, understanding, and support needed to effectively implement these guidelines in a way that supports student learning and well-being,鈥� LAUSD said in a statement.聽聽

Khan said he has not had access to that support yet. Still, despite what he described as 鈥済rowing pains,鈥� he remains optimistic about the changes.聽

鈥淚 do think there is merit in the idea. I don鈥檛 just want to be doom and gloom about having to switch,鈥� Khan said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to the challenge.鈥�

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