“Every minute of the day I was re-inventing the way I worked. ... At times I had to live-teach to kids in the class 和 also had some learning from home. Now you’re trying to keep everyone in class six feet apart 和 also watch what the kids on the computer were doing...”
When the 新型冠状病毒肺炎 p和emic emptied Lori Duhaime’s first-grade classroom at the Edmund Hatch Bennett Elementary School in Taunton, 她觉得自己进入了一个陌生的新世界.
“Every minute of the day I was re-inventing the way I worked,这位1993年毕业的老教师说. “太震撼了。. 但是一旦我们进入了正常的状态，事情就很顺利了.”
Educators at all levels were forced by the p和emic in March 2020 to ab和on face-to-face teaching. Immediately, they had to deal with the logistics of changing the way they did things.
“At first we had no technology in place, so we were calling kids,” Ms. Duhaime说. “我们想检查一下这些家庭的健康状况.”
最终, 新技术、新教育平台建设到位, Zoom 和 Skype calls became the norm for meetings 和 other purposes, 和 apps were used to stay in touch with students 和 parents. 部分学校发放平板电脑, webcams 和 whiteboards to help students 和 teachers stay connected, 和 novel uses for older programs 和 websites like PowerPoint 和 YouTube were invented.
Beyond the technical aspects of this brave new world were other challenges.
“Not being able to be there for the children was the toughest,桑迪·特利斯说, ’02, a kindergarten teacher at Central Elementary School in East 布里奇沃特. “Not being able to hug your kids 和 having to put six feet between you 和 them. 他们就像家人一样. 我对我的孩子很感兴趣, 让我告诉他们我们不能接近对方, 这真的很难. 孩子们需要这种联系.”
琼Ayala, ’20, now teaches fifth grade in Ashl和 but had to perform her student teaching in Brockton remotely during the p和emic.
她说，远程教学有高潮也有低谷.
“It was nice logging in every day 和 seeing students who wanted to learn with me,” Ms. Ayala说. “It was difficult to try to figure out lessons 和 how to match them with the requirements of my student teaching. 那是一段艰难的时期, but I still loved doing it 和 never thought during all that time that I wanted to be anything other than a teacher.”
Educators also had to deal with shifting schedules 和 situations as the p和emic’s impact waxed 和 waned. Hybrid models mixed remote learning with face-to-face classes, 和, 一度, 学生们被允许全职回来, 但有些人选择继续在线学习.
“At times I had to live-teach to kids in the class 和 also had some learning from home,” said Ms. Duhaime. “Now you’re trying to keep everyone in class six feet apart 和 also watch what the kids on the computer were doing...”
她经常在学校里. 泰利斯负责有趣的事情. “It’s important for young students to keep them engaged,” she said.
During the p和emic she dressed up as a chicken to illustrate a lesson on farming 和 the life cycle – which also included counting eggs as part of a math exercise. 她花时间在树林里画一只螳螂, had the students engage in scavenger hunts in their own yards where they had to count off their steps (more math skills), joined her colleagues in making weekly videos for their students, 还有更多.
“We had 12 weeks of school left when we shut down that March, 和 we asked ourselves what we could cover 和 have a little fun,” Ms. Telless说.
It was hoped that the new vaccines would usher in a return to normalcy in schools by the start of this academic year. 然而, the Delta variant 和 the millions around the country who remained unvaccinated as of late summer meant the new ways of teaching had to remain in place for the immediate future. 口罩是强制性的, some districts require social distancing 和 proof of vaccination (mostly at the college level), 在自助餐厅分配座位. 有些社区允许小组学习.
面对大流行病带来的需求, educators around the country have generally received high marks for their adaptability 和 professionalism. 教学的规则和方法过去和现在都是多种多样的, 但在大多数情况下, America’s teachers have been applauded for finding a way to get the job done.
她说，还有一件事是明确的. Ayala, whose first day as a full-fledged teacher was August 31. “So far, it’s been heartwarming to see so many students back 和 together again,” she said. “自2020年3月以来，他们中的一些人就没有上过课. 我能看出来他们真的很想去那里. They want to socialize 和 play, 和 we give them the opportunity to do so.”
For better or worse, today’s students are accustomed to the changes wrought by 新型冠状病毒肺炎 protocols. “孩子们不知道有什么不同。. Duhaime说. “这就是他们现在的生活方式. 这对他们来说已经很正常了，他们只是顺其自然.”
Some school districts have used federal funding to establish programs to try to make up for some of what was lost by students due to the inherent limitations of remote learning. 然而，这可能还不够.
Ms. Telless is less sanguine about the longer-term impact on young people that the challenges of the p和emic have presented. “For me it was about getting them back into the routine once the school year started,” she said. “这些学生已经在家里待了整整一年多, that’s where we are going to see the social 和 emotional impact.”