What COVID-19 Taught Me as a Teacher
Whoa, what a ride. We just finished the school year and my head is still spinning with everything that happened regarding a pandemic the last quarter.
It’s crazy that while we saw it coming, we didn’t at the same time. Thankfully, my school already had some great tools in place that students were familiar with, so the switch to distance learning, though stressful, was not as bad as it could have been. In reflection, I just wanted to share some reflections about what this whole situation has taught me as a teacher.
Students need reassurance
With the world facing some crazy challenges and everything pretty much looking very different just overnight, my students needed reassurance that they were going to be okay. They were hearing devastating news reports, and I’m sure tensions in some homes were really high, with parents facing unemployment, and even family members dying. Being a constant and being positive was so important for my students. Checking in with them regularly was also something that was key during this pandemic.
Teaching online is HARD
So, so difficult. I can’t believe I made it! Making the switch to virtual classroom and teaching via Zoom or Teams was difficult for me. It was draining on so many levels. Not only did I have to figure out how to engage kids who were already checked out, I had to do it several times a day with different groups. I had to learn about platform features to make it as engaging as possible, and I had to navigate several twists and turns on the way. I’ll talk more about some online teaching tips I learned in its own post soon!
Face-to-face interactions are important
I definitely took face-to-face interactions for granted and it never would have crossed my mind that one day we would not be allowed to leave our homes or see people I love - let alone not be able to go into my classroom and interact with my students. Not only was I missing my kids, they were missing each other. Learning how to foster interactions online was something I took time to do, which my students really appreciated and enjoyed.
Having boundaries is important
It was so easy to work all day and all night with so much to do online. Somehow, everything takes that much longer since I was digitizing things, or finding resources that were already digitized. Grading took 100 years and the emails. Oh, the emails. And texts. And phone calls. For my sanity, I needed to turn everything off at 5pm, like I would normally do with school in regular sessions. I had to realize that the world wasn’t going to end if I waited till the morning to answer and it was okay to sit back and regroup. Maybe I’m the only teacher in the world who was so emotionally drained at the end of a teaching day, but closing my computer for the night (and complete weekends!) really saved me.
I low-key enjoy being home
As difficult as online teaching was, once I got a hang of it, I started appreciating being at home. The hours were a little more flexible, I could eat and take more than 20 minutes to scarf down food (most days), I could exercise in the mornings, and I got to see my family more. While I can’t wait to get back to my classroom, I really did enjoy and appreciate being home.
What were some of the difficulties you faced being home? What did the COVID-19 situation teach you?
