PA Distance Learning Blog

At PA Distance Learning, a cyber school in PA, we’re striving to help our high school students adapt to our ever-changing world, and one of those ways is by offering a wide selection of elective classes.

One student compared taking electives to trying new foods: you may try it and decide you want some more, or you may not like it!  Electives have helped many of our students decide on their future careers.

Here’s a peak at some of the amazing classes we offer our high school students, as voted in by the students themselves:

Everyone’s reasons for choosing cyber school are different, but across the diverse cyber school spectrum, parents are sharing some key ingredients for success in an online school.

Here are 4 ingredients parents and students are sharing in their recipe for success!

Ingredient #1: Build a Routine

Routines for children make a huge difference in all parts of life - cyber school is no different!

What would it be like if we could talk to the very people we study in our history class?

by Morgan Jasin, School Counselor

How do school counselors help students in a cyber school? That's a question I often get from friends and family, and with all the misconceptions about cyber school students, it needs answered. 

By Elisa Carpenter, Music Teacher

“…its objectives are two-fold: to aid in the well-balanced social and artistic development of the child, and to produce a musically-literate adult; an adult who can read and write music as easily as words..”  - Zoltan Kodaly

An intriguing quote from Zoltan Kodaly, the founder of the Kodaly Teaching Method developed in Hungary.  Years ago he wanted to be involved in a music education system that was capable of leading children toward love of and knowledge about music, from the youngest of ages into their adult lives.

Many educators, whether in traditional or cyber school, strive to replicate this idea each and every day, in their own course, in new ways, and with fascinating tools so their students are well prepared and successful!

by Ms. Hannah Lewis, Secondary English Teacher

Photo courtesy of @bamagal on Unsplash

This generation of students are more literate than past generations. They engage with writing daily, sometimes hourly, on their smart devices and computers, usually communicating with one another. Yet, they are plagued by record-breaking amounts of depression and anxiety.

In spite of their constant connectedness, they feel lonely.

In this world of hyper-literate, connected-yet-isolated students, being a literacy teacher presents new opportunities and challenges, some of which are exacerbated where I teach, at a cyber school in Pittsburgh, PA.

By: Peter Mysels, Secondary Social Studies Teacher

One of the mental hurdles many cyber school teachers need to overcome upon entering the field of cyber school teaching is removing the preconceived notion of…

“Will I be able use the same, projects, assignments, and methods I did in my traditional school, now that I am a cyber teacher?”

I'd like to challenge you: rather than, “Will I be able to?” I encourage you to consider, “How will I?” 

Dakota Burke is a middle school student at PA Distance Learning who submitted a drawing for a Breast Cancer Awareness Project (you can check out other art contests she has entered and won here) and was interviewed by Studio Raw with Dan Burda. She describes the great purpose and details she put into her work in the interview:

How Coding Inspired Me and Enabled my Cyber School Students to Success!

By Katie Devlin, 7-12 Social Studies Teacher

As a social studies teacher in cyber school, something that I strive to do is find ways to encourage my students to think critically. Yes, I teach 7th grade geography, but it’s so much more than that.  As a teacher in my department, I am challenged to create interactive thinkers who can work together, talk through problems, and who want to learn and grow.  In cyber school, that means thinking outside the box.

By Allison Harvey-Benedum, High School English Teacher

With summer here in full swing, some of us have more time, others less. Whether you read in a marathon or for only a few minutes a day, Secondary English Teacher Mrs. Harvey-Benedum gives us some very important reasons to spend time reading this summer!