This year has certainly seen some major changes. Whether you are at home or at school, it’s hard to avoid the altered schedules and the amount of work that has to be done at home. With classrooms needing constant cleaning and remote learning happening everyday, I wanted to see all of this from the perspective of a teacher. Many teachers have learned to work together to get over challenges, and others have looked to provide support for students by giving advice and guidance. Teachers are at the forefront of making sure learning happens each day and that classrooms remain safe for hybrid students who go to school at least two times a week.
The following interviews were done over email with various teachers to find out how they’re handling remote learning and what they’ve learned from it so far.
Mr. Reinoso
1. What has teaching remote classes taught you?
It has taught me that there are so many resources online that I wasn’t using before, like Jamboard and even Google Classroom. I’m learning that there are plenty of advantages.
2. What do you miss the most about teaching normally?
The interaction with students in class and in the hallways. It is very restricted on how much I can do since time is so limited.
3. How do you feel about the changes that have been made (smaller class sizes, cleaning constantly, hybrid schedule, etc.)?
I don’t mind the smaller class sizes because some of the speaking activities actually get done and there are many activities that I have time to do now. The cleaning doesn’t bother me because it forces me to keep a cleaner room. The hybrid schedule was very confusing at first and now it’s just a little confusing. It gets hard to constantly remember exactly what I said or taught in the morning, but it’s also an opportunity to do it better the second time around.
4. What has caused you the most difficulty during this time?
The beginning of the year in September was the most difficult for me. Taking attendance and remembering who is in front of me now and who will be the next day was a huge challenge at first.
5. How have your students been handling this?
I think most students are handling it. I don’t think anyone loves it, but I have talked to a few and they have pointed out that it is better because you focus more on the class that you have in person. I also think the masks and the social distancing have made students aware of their time on learning, and that has allowed most to work while they are here not messing around. I also think students are anxious and nervous. There is a lot of tension.
6. Do you have any tips for students who are struggling?
Talk to your teacher and share your concerns. I know it can be scary to talk to adults, but you never know if you don’t try. The best conversations sometimes are the ones you don’t want to start. As teachers, we don’t always see it from the students point of view, and sometimes it helps to have students point that out to me or to all teachers.
Mr. Pedersen
1. What has teaching remote classes taught you?
It's made me feel like a first-year teacher again which isn’t necessarily bad. It’s good to update things and this year is forcing me to update a lot of the things I do. It's a new way to manage classrooms and try to keep students engaged. I think I’m getting used to it more now and feel like it's getting better since November or so. It's also taught me to really focus on the most important lessons and topics for my courses. Before I give an assignment or make a lesson, I ask myself “Do they really need to know that for this class?” and I’m finding that it makes my teaching more focused as far as the content I cover.
2. What do you miss the most about teaching normally?
As a history teacher, I like to do simulations and debates and that is really difficult, if not impossible, in this environment. I still do them when I can but these are the activities that I think are key to my teaching style and help students build skills that they will use beyond high school. In economics, I have similar things I miss. There are games and simulations that are difficult to do in this situation that would make it easier for students to learn but also build a class community. Can’t do them with the COVID rules. Ultimately, it's harder to get to know students in this schedule, too. I do this job because I want to help students grow and learn and it's hard to do if we don’t know you very well. With the limited interaction, it's hard to do that. I do feel like it's getting better but it's not as easy as it was in years past.
3. How do you feel about the changes that have been made (smaller class sizes, cleaning constantly, hybrid schedule, etc.)?
I do like the smaller class sizes in some regards and in others I don’t. It's harder to stay on pace with the chopped up nature of the schedule this year and it's hard when you don’t see students everyday. I like talking to and getting to know my students and that is the biggest challenge in this schedule; not enough time to get to know people. I don’t mind the cleaning too much. It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The students have been great with the struggles of this year and most of them roll with the punches really well.
4. What has caused you the most difficulty during this time?
Same thing as my advisory students have told me, there is a lot of work to do. This year is forcing teachers to reinvent themselves so for me that means making YouTube videos and restructuring activities and lessons for a digital format. It takes a lot of time, just like students are telling me it's a lot of work, too. I have to plan my week out and carve out time to get things done just like you all need to do, too. Otherwise I fall behind. We have deadlines we need to meet and it takes a lot of planning if you want to do it well.
5. How have your students been handling this?
Some classes are better than others. I do have some that are struggling to get things done and with the workload. I’ve been trying to put myself in students’ shoes when I make decisions about when things are due and what I’m assigning to try and help them out. I think some feel overwhelmed and I feel bad about that, but I think most have adjusted to this situation well enough. It's great preparation for college.
6. Do you have any tips for students who are struggling?
Help yourself. I always tell students that I am willing to help you if you are willing to help yourself. You have to be the one to seize the opportunities. Teachers can set you up to do well but you ultimately still have to do the work.
If you are struggling, tell your teacher before you dig yourself into a hole. Because we only see you in person once a week and the remote classes go so fast, it's really important that you advocate for yourself this year and think about your learning. Unfortunately, more is put on you in this format and you also have to recognize when it's not working and reach out to your teacher and ask for help.
Make a plan and think more than just about what you need to do today. Try and plan your weeks out and anticipate what you need to get done.
Mr. Harris
1. What has teaching remote classes taught you?
Teaching remotely has been a struggle. However, the number one thing I have learned is to be flexible. I've had to adapt many lessons and activities to this new platform. I also have had some things blow up in my face, so I've had to even adapt on the fly and be flexible with what I'm doing.
2. What do you miss the most about teaching normally?
The connections with my students. I hope that I'm doing a good job of that in this new environment, but it just isn't the same.
3. How do you feel about the changes that have been made (smaller class sizes, cleaning constantly, hybrid schedule, etc.)?
I do sort of like the smaller groups of students. I feel I can be more on pace with each student and what is happening in their work. I also do like the asynchronous time for both teachers and students. It is quite helpful to have those moments to get ahead when you can.
4. What has caused you the most difficulty during this time?
Two things have been difficult. The first is the amount of work it has been to adapt and change my lessons. It takes quite a bit of time to film videos for lessons that normally are locked and ready to go. The second difficult thing I've noticed is how much I feel for students. I know how difficult and challenging this is, and I know many are trying their best, but it is so hard. I feel bad for everyone.
5. How have your students been handling this?
As I said, I think many are doing their best. Others are struggling. We took a model of schooling that has been used since I was in high school millions of years ago and changed it on a dime. It is jarring and challenging. Some have taken quite well to the new model; others are still finding their way.
6. Do you have any tips for students who are struggling?
I have two. First, make a schedule. I can't tell you how much anxiety relief you will feel if you make a schedule to plan your days and weeks. Google To Do List is a great start, but take the extra 10-15 minutes to plan out your weeks. You can't know where you're going unless you map it out, so plan ahead. The second, reach out to teachers for help. I will do a lot for my students. I will help in any way I can. However, I can't know I need to help unless I know you need help. It's hard to do. I think people think it shows weakness or something. I think it shows great strength to recognize where you're struggling and ask for a helping hand.
Ms. Gaffney and Ms. Pingree
1. What has teaching remote classes taught you?
It has been challenging to learn a bunch of different applications to help us teach our lessons. We had to reinvent how we taught different subjects. Collaborating and brainstorming ideas to make lessons that could be taught during COVID has made us recognize what an excellent team we work with. We all have our strengths and have had to use our individual strengths to be successful as a team.
2. What do you miss the most about teaching normally?
We miss interacting face to face with our students on a daily basis which helps us develop a relationship with them. The relationships that are made during class are so important for both students’ and teachers’ mental health and these bonds help build a positive classroom environment. We are thankful that we are able to teach some students in person every week because we think it is really important to move our bodies on a daily basis. Our concern is for our remote students’ lack of exercise, interaction with others, and stress levels.
3. How do you feel about the changes that have been made (smaller class sizes, cleaning constantly, hybrid schedule, etc.)?
We like our smaller classes, but we still miss the fun and chaos of larger classes, especially in our physical education environment. It is really difficult to build relationships with students during Google meets when all you see as a teacher is a picture replacing a student’s camera feed. Teachers typically read students’ reactions and body language to make sure that students understand the lesson. That is almost impossible when all we see is a small dot on a screen and very little class discussion or participation.
It was challenging to find safe activities for our physical education classes, but we have been creative in solving that problem, as we have played golf, tennis, and orienteering when weather permitted. Indoors we have stayed socially distant in our badminton, kan jam, and fitness classes. Students have been great about cleaning equipment for PE class and abiding by the social distancing and hand sanitizing protocols to keep us all safe.
4. What has caused you the most difficulty during this time?
Adjusting to the new schedule (Cohorts A, B, C, D, & E) was very overwhelming at the beginning of the school year. Developing new lessons and curricula that adhere to the COVID guidelines posed a challenge, but through brainstorming and teamwork we developed a new system that we think is successful. The most challenging part of this is the multiple steps to complete any task that drains our batteries!!!
Managing student work for multiple cohorts which means delivering quality lessons and assignments to Google Classroom and correcting student work when some students complete things on time and others lag behind for many different reasons. We want to be empathetic and flexible, but that takes a ton of extra time to keep grading up to date.
5. How have your students been handling this?
We truly believe everyone is doing the best that they can under these unfortunate circumstances. We think that this pandemic will permanently change the workforce environment for future generations. So students that are adapting and managing their work successfully are setting themselves up to be ideal candidates for college and the workforce. The self-management skills that students are developing right now will transcend into their future.
6. Do you have any tips for students who are struggling?
The first thing we want to say to any student that is struggling is to exercise. Getting your body moving and getting oxygen into your muscles and brain is the best medicine.
- Becoming active can be a self-motivator.
- Creating a daily schedule and routine can make everyone more successful.
- Prioritizing the tasks that need to be done can help.
- Ask for help if you need it.
- Make progress in small steps!
- Don’t set expectations too high because it can cause you to become frustrated immediately.
Comments