Zero student connected.
"There is nobody," she repeats, a bit embarrassed.
Blandine Escano is alone in front of her screen, in the middle of the tables and empty chairs of the Lycée Galilée, in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine).
On this first day of virtual return, the flock of this math teacher skipped the 11-hour class.
She had however sent an email to the Digital Workspace (ENT) to meet with her first class.
In vain.
While more than 6 million children returned to schools on Monday morning, in middle and high school, their elders will have to wait until next week to get back to class.
“Without students, it's a bit creepy,” admits Lionel Pinard, the principal, strolling through the empty corridors.
Normally, his school accommodates 1,200 students and 136 teachers.
While waiting for their return, "we have done what is necessary to allow teachers who wish to come and work here," he says.
"To teach from home, it is not practical", judge Cédric Cordob, professor of physics, who reinvested his office in the high school.
LP / Olivier Arandel
That morning, there were about twenty of them, including Cédric Cordob, who teaches physical science.
“Teaching from home is not practical.
I don't want to disturb my partner from 8 am, ”he explains.
" You hear me ?
Everybody is here ?
He says to his computer.
Then, live, with the mouse, he comments and annotates documents, “sharing” his screen with his final year class.
To avoid server crashes, instructions are given to cut the camera and microphone: the students interact via a chat.
"My fingers crossed, it's working out well this morning," he smiles.
"We don't even know if the students are there"
The week of April 6, with its repeated bugs, had been an ordeal for millions of students. Among the fixes announced, Open Digital Education, a leading provider of ENTs, has promised a 30% increase in capacity. Result on this first day: "Slowdowns, localized and punctual", according to the ministry, as well as a dysfunction of 20 minutes in some ENT, but "no major incident". In some academies, parents were prohibited from logging into their account, to alleviate traffic. "There was no big crash," confirms Sophie Vénétitay, spokesperson for Snes-FSU, the majority secondary union.
The 100% distance, "it's not just video," warns Lionel Pinard.
In some academies, the rectorate only recommends them for one hour a day.
"There is a lot of work on the written materials transmitted to the students: exercises, texts, notes", indicates the principal.
In the lab rooms where microscopes and glass tubes are stored in the cupboards, Annie Boullard and Isabelle Livet, biotechnology teachers, came to prepare their week.
"The distance courses, it should not last too long", squeaks Isabelle Livet.
“The sound bug, the connection cuts, we don't even know if the students are there”, lists the teacher.
The "less good have dropped out, sometimes seriously"
Like several colleagues, she no longer systematically uses official interfaces, but private platforms, such as Zoom.
“Less risk of crash,” she says.
“Distancing is a lot of DIY,” resumes Annie Boullard.
Not all families are well equipped.
Often the sound cuts off.
But teens have resources: those in whom it works share the sound via WhatsApp!
"
For many, the virtual classroom has widened the gaps between students.
“Those who hang on are doing everything better today.
Those who are less good, or in difficult personal situations, have dropped out, sometimes seriously, ”say the two teachers.
According to them, the result of these distance courses will be seen at the start of the September: “We will need
at least
two months to make up for lost learning.
"
Catching up with dropouts is precisely the job of the sixteen education assistants and the four senior education advisers (CPE) of the school. “Every day we see who hasn't returned their homework, hasn't signed in to class, and we call parents. We are trying to motivate young people, who no longer have the flesh-and-blood teachers to do so, ”explain Dianaba Gadio and Tiphaine Durand, two CPEs. This positive momentum, this “system D geared towards students”, is what Lionel Pinard wants to retain from this “special” year. “We didn't do everything well, but we took care of the essentials. You also have to know how to say bravo, ”he said.