Written by: Jhanavi Ravi
Edited by: Jeeya Mahajan
Photos by: Kyraa Lula
Being in the midst of a worldwide pandemic is overwhelming, and it has definitely brought about a lot of changes, more specifically in schools. The school faculty and the teachers have been working extremely hard during these times to make sure that students’ learning is not affected by these unexpected turn of events. The faculty has a lot of pressure on themselves and their jobs can definitely get exhausting, even more so now. Two of the teachers here at GIS give us a clearer picture of what it’s like teaching in these times.
“Teaching split classes makes it hard for me to engage the remote learners”.
When asked about how she felt teaching at school, Ms. Rena Toutounji says that students are a lot more engaged and active. She sees social interactions through classroom discussions as a great way for students to learn and have fun with it in contrast to remote learning. “They are not physically active, the learning becomes mundane and tedious after spending all day at their computers”.
While she has enjoyed coming back to school to teach her students, Ms. Toutounji has had her fair share of struggles in her classes. Having to go from one classroom to another and then checking up on the remote learners to make sure everyone is paying attention tends to be a little stressful and for understandable reasons. Sometimes the microphones don’t work, and the other students can’t hear her, sometimes discussions need to be repeated to the remote learners or the other half of the class, the list goes on.
“Each teacher is going to face their own individual challenges in these times”.
Ms. Aislinn Lonergan says that all of the teachers have had to familiarize themselves with a lot of online platforms which weren’t very easy to learn. Having to teach students through a computer screen was a bit strange and it was a huge change for both students and teachers. However, she finds herself lucky to be living in the digital age where there are so many options available for students to learn, whether from home or at school.
Being able to come back and teach at school brings a lot of joy to Ms. Aislinn. She thinks that communication and being active is what makes the school what it is; it is what makes the school a great environment to learn in. She finds student engagement crucial, whether the student is a remote learner, or whether they are attending school. “When I see a student giving 100% and trying their best in a lesson – that is what makes me happy”.
The teachers have been working constantly to try and help students adjust to what some see as ‘the new normal’, but we need to take the initiative to be safe. Teachers can’t continuously remind students to maintain their distance and to keep their masks on; we need to be able to do these things without anyone reminding us of it. It is also vital to acknowledge the effort that the teachers are putting and to show our gratitude towards them for it. The current times are not going to be easy for us but we need to stick together as a community so that we can get through it.
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