We are grateful to everyone who shared their experiences and thoughts about coping with the COVID induced challenges as the school year wound down. Now, with the beginning of a new school year, it seems that the challenges will continue. Plans to keep children and teachers safe seem to need constant readjustment. Some districts that intended to open in person have already had to switch back to virtual schooling. Some districts are doing hybrid courses, giving parents and students the option of returning to a brick and mortar school or staying at home and attending virtual classes. We know this will continue to place great demands on your time, energy, and creativity. It would be wondrful, however, if you can fit in a moment or two to post something about your experiences. Good luck to everyone.
The image with this post was created by art teacher, Wendy Milne, Ed.D. to depict her thoughts and feelings when the pandemic resulted in her school closing down at the end of last year.
With this pandemic having such an impact on my life and education, I cannot help but share my experience and thoughts on the matter. The complete transition from face to face to online was nothing short of overwhelming, and I cannot imagine how much more stressful it was for my professors to make that transition as well. Nevertheless, this experience has given both the educators and students an opportunity to experiment and grow in their online learning and skills in using technology (or at least me personally). Although it is unfortunate that some schools were unable to reopen this fall, I am grateful to be one of the few that does get to go back and experience face to face. I hope that with this whole situation, we can work to make the best out of this situation and hopefully make the above picture into a more controlled and positive image.
MaryKate,
I love the positive attitude that you are bringing to the challenges of the new school year. I hope you will be able to maintain in-person classes. Keep us posted on how the year continues to evolve.
Maria
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad you’ve been able to push through and make the best of it even though it’s difficult. It’s also great to see educators talk about it cause honestly I haven’t seen that yet, I’ve only heard it talked about in class. Thanks for the first hand account!
Personally, with this whole pandemic going on I would say it has really been a struggle for me. Although, through the struggles it has shown me what it means to really trust in the day to day process and to learn to be more positive. I do believe I am a very positive person overall, but this pandemic has really shown me what it means to be positive even during the strangest and hardest of times. With that, I feel as human beings we tend to like to look at the future and plan for it, but with everything going on we cannot do that without having a backup and a backup to that backup, because everything is changing constantly.
Going back to last semester, it was a huge struggle for me to have to be sent home from school and finish online. For me, going home usually meant summer and good times, but this time it meant going home to quarantine and to do school. I would have to say, I truly did struggle. But like I said, with this struggle, I learned a lot. I think we all did. I think we all still need to work together to make the best of the situation and to help each other out and make this a lesson to grow from. I am blessed to be able to come back to school for face-to-face classes, but there is still that fear that we will be sent home. I pray and hope that we get to stay here for the whole year, especially since it is my senior year, but we must stay positive and play it day to day.
May this year continue to be face-to-face, that we may grow in strength together through the hard times, and also, that this senior year is filled with love, support, and good times especially now days.
Angeline,
You bring a wise perspective to this trying time. It’s easy to be positive when everything is going according to plan. It takes courage and determination to remain positive in the face of disruptions. Often the most profound lessons we learn emerge from such challenging experiences. I hope the coming year goes better than any of expect. But whatever happens, you’re bringing a great attitude to your senior year. Maria
When reflecting upon the past few months, it is almost comforting to remember that we are all experiencing the same things. We are experiencing new learning curves almost every day as we try to best navigate through education during these trying times. No one knows what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, or even in six months. Although these times are challenging, I think we are all learning very important lessons along the way. We as people have learned important values like pushing through adversity and being creative.
The visual that was attached to this post really sums the past couple of months up pretty neatly. There has been a lot of chaos and craziness in our lives. We are just trying to do our best and to cling something that feels normal. My heart goes out to all of the teachers both in the physical classrooms and those who are teaching online. Thank you for paving the way into the next chapter of the education world and for your hard work and dedication to not only your profession but also to your students!
Lauren,
thanks for your comment. I, too, like Wendy’s sketch about the unsettled educational environment we are experiencing. In the book, On Being a Scholar-Practitioner: Practical Wisdom in Action, my co-authors and I contrast improvisational to formal teaching. Never in our wildest imaginings did we foresee improvisation to this extent. Last night on the news they showed teachers who were finding creative ways to feel connected to their students–from putting life-size pictures of their students at their desks, to having each child send a stuffed animal to represent them, to decorating plexiglass space dividers as cars. It was so inspiring to see teachers meeting new challenges with so much imagination. I hope that such stories spark ideas for other teachers and soon we will be flooded with new approaches for dealing with what ever challenges we face. Maria
During this crazy time and everything going on in the world, I actually feel blessed to be in college. Being able to experience the pandemic as both a student and a future teacher has opened up my eyes to the struggles my future students may encounter. Before last spring, I had never experienced virtual learning. Although my professors were so kind and hardworking, I struggled greatly. It was very difficult for me to get into the school mindset when I was at home, not in my normal college environment, and stressed about the state of the world. However, with the help of my professors I was able to finish the semester feeling proud and accomplished. This experience furthered both my appreciation for my professors and my desire to do the same for my future students. Although I’m not very technologically savvy, I want to learn as much as I can to prepare myself for the possibility of online teaching next year. It is our job as educators to equip ourselves with the tools our students need to thrive. If I struggled so much as a twenty-one year old, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to experience this as a high school or middle school student. This knowledge only inspires me more, and makes me want to work as hard as possible to be the best teacher I can be.
Anna,
Having just taught my first on-line course this summer, I deeply appreciate you comments. I found it challenging in ways I had not expected or prepared for. Thinking about your current experience from botha student and teacher perspective will serve you well as you move into a professional role. It would be great for all those preparing to be teachers to use this opportunity and their experiences to prpare for on-line learning environments. It seems to me that no matter what comes after the pandemic, education will never be the same. Future teachers like you will be at the forefront of using lessons gained during the pandemic to create far more productive on-line learning strategies. Maria
After experiencing virtual learning as a high school student, I came to the realization that teaching would never be the same. I was enrolled in a class called Tomorrow’s Teachers where we were paired with a teacher from the local elementary or middle schools. As a part of the class I would walk to the middle school at my designated time and actually student teach in that classroom. It was so much fun getting to know the students and being able to teach for the first time in a formal setting. Everything was going on track until the virus hit and we were all immediately sent home for virtual learning. Although we went virtual, I was still able to teach and interact with the students over Teams calls. Coming from the student perspective, I had a very hard time focusing. There were so many distractions at home and I rarely wanted to use my camera, especially if it was 8:00 am. I realized the importance of these calls later on as I was teaching the 8th graders. It was important for them to see me and feel some type of engagement while online. I also know now that staying in touch with my future students is going to be essential for their mental health and progress in learning. The teachers who reached out to me once and a while or just checked in were the ones I felt more comfortable talking to and I thus wanted to participate in the class. I know that this has been a struggle for so many educators, but I also know that in order to have a successful school year communication is essential.
Chiara,
For the past two weeks I participated in a research project that asked about my activities,. thoughts and feelings during each day. One question asked, “How hopeful are you that something good will come from the pandemic?” Another asked, “How much do you feel something negative will come from the pandemic?” I responded in the middle of the 9-point scale, because it’s hard to know which way things will go as we return to a post-pandemic normal. As I read your comments, I’m inclined to lean a bit more to the positive positive possibilities. It seems to me that future teachers like you will bring a far different sensibility to your teaching and on-line learning than some of us “old timers” can. Having experienced both sides of the distance learning environment, you are positioned to think about it in more sophisticated ways than I can. As you continue to move toward a career in teaching, you have time to really think about how to use on-line resources more productively and cratively than has been done in the past. If you can bring this sensibility to all of your studies, you can enter the profession with important insights that offer hope for truly innovative approaches to teaching. I hope you’ll stay connected through the NEXUS. Best wishes for your continued studies. Maria
I think you’re definitely right that after the huge shift to virtual learning, school and teaching has changed forever.There has been a push for some time now to bring technology into our classrooms in effective ways and the virus has been one last final push (more like a forceful shove) as teachers all over the country and all over the world have exited their comfort zone in regards to teaching through technology. I’m glad you mentioned distractions as well because this is such a hurdle for teachers and students as they engage in virtual learning. For many students there are countless distractions in their homes and oftentimes going to school was a nice escape for them. The shift to online learning from home has opened up a whole new realm of issues in regards to children with difficult home situations. However, it is so important that we stay positive and take things one day at a time. I feel overwhelmed thinking about what waits for me in the field, but it is so helpful to just think about what I can do today to best serve my future students.
These past few months have been hard for everyone, and students and teachers are no exception. Students are struggling to adjust to new forms of learning, and teachers are scrambling to keep up with the requirements from their districts and superiors. My younger brothers are both still in high school, and their school made the decision to bring half the students into the building for a half day, and bringing the other half of the student body in for the second half of the day. Since my brothers attend a private school, my parents felt that this was disrespectful to the parents who were paying to send their students to this school. The conversations in my house were difficult, to say the least, as I saw firsthand how parents of students might feel about the decisions made by teachers and administration during the COVID pandemic for this semester. Clearly, the goal of the teachers is to keep the students safe, while still giving them an education, but for some parents, it seems that this isn’t enough.
Diana, You’ve added an important element to the discussion thread about schooling during the pandemic. Namely, how parents are reacting to the accommodations that schools are trying to make to fulfill their obligations to educate while keeping students safe. As you point out, this is no easy task, even for private schools that have far more resources than many public schools. One of the themes that appears in educational literature is “parent involvement.” It seems to me that the distance learning situation gives a whole new meaning to this theme. It’s one thing to have parental involvement on the periphery of school (e.g., supporting sports teams, attending parent-teacher conferences, making sure kids finish their homework). It is quite a different thing to have parents involved in supervising at-home learning or trying to teach lessons provided by teachers. It’s still a third thing to have parents involved in reconfiguring the structure and resources of schools in order to promote as high a level of learning as possible for as many students as possible during a time of restrictions. As an eyewitness to the difficulties of these dilemmas related to “parental involvement,” you are in a good position to think about this issue and perhaps include it as an area of learning you will continue to pursue. Best of luck to you, your brothers, and your parents. Stay in touch and keep is posted on how things evolve. Maria
Although I am reading this a year later it is crazy how relevant it still is to us today. We are entering into a new school year with many changes. Big questions of things like should we make masks mandatory? The school I am working at said they are optional and very few people wear masks. With the delta variant ever so present it is causing a lot of anxiety for many families. Students are coming back to the classroom who were virtual last year and are behind and struggling. Through all the chaos of trying to readjust to life and teach new content its hard to move on while some students are so behind. Not to mention that students are excited to be back with their friends and are very chatty in class. It’s almost as if some classes have completely forgot their manners! I was observing a seventh grade class today and they were all talking over the teacher, getting out of their seat, putting their feet up on the desk and such. I could tell the teachers were getting very frustrated, yet the students just did not care. I think now more then ever it is so important to implement behavior management systems into the classroom and to start giving the students something tangible they can work for. I know it may sound silly that a seventh grade class needs to be positively reinforced for not talking when the teacher is talking and staying in their seat but after a year of such chaos something needs to happen. Hopefully once a system is implemented the behaviors will decrees and so can the positive reinforcements.
To see these comments from this picture a year later is honestly saddening and frustrating that we are still having to experience these same struggles today. Although most people that I know and I am sure anyone who sees this would agree, the saddest part for me is the affects that this is having on the development in children. I know that most everything that has been mandated and or was in the past about wearing masks and social distancing at elementary schools or completely shutting them down was for the safety of the children, but one cannot help but wonder how this is affecting the children. I graduated with my degree in clinical psychology, but had a real passion and interest in early childhood development. To know what is actually going on chemically in the brain during these stages of development, mixed with the environment that these children were and still are succumbed to is not normal, and I fear for the way that they will see the world because of this reality. Teachers are so critical to this, and I applaud all of the teachers for persevering through this year, but when this is over because of how this could be affecting these children it will be the parent’s and teacher’s jobs to show children what normalcy looks like outside of the pandemic. When I saw this picture that is the first thing that I thought of. Yes, this is what many teachers are experiencing, but it made me wonder myself if the children are experiencing a similar confusion in their messy, little realities.
As we are entering 2022, it is crazy to me how relevant this post is and how many teachers and students are still feeling this way. COVID has impacted everyone and has brought many challenges and heartbreak. This transition has not been easy for anyone, and it has put a lot of stress on both teachers and students. I have learned a lot from switching from in-person classes to remote learning, but I hope to reflect on my feelings as a student during the pandemic when I become a teacher. I believe that going through the COVID era as a student will help me as a future educator. I will remember how stressful and overwhelming online classes are and the different ways teachers have helped me become successful. This dark time has made me feel more prepared to teach an online class in the future and helped me realize the importance of connecting with your students in and outside of the classroom.
I don’t think the title of your article matches the content lol. Just kidding, mainly because I had some doubts after reading the article.