As local K-12 schools begin to wrap up their spring semesters, some teachers are still trying to come to terms with the past year.
Michelle Gay is a 5th grade teacher at Northside Elementary School in Chapel Hill. Throughout the pandemic, Gay has had to continuously adapt her lesson plans as students moved from a fully remote to a hybrid, in-person learning model.
“It’s definitely been a learning curve,” Gay said. “I think the more we’ve done it the better it’s gotten and there are definitely some days I feel really great about it and some days where I want to check in with the online kids separately to see if they feel like they’re being heard as much.”
Gay said she’s had to get creative when it comes to making sure every child is included in the classroom – whether it’s projecting the online learners’ screens or finding ways to help remote students interact with those learning in-person.
“I’ve got a little cart that I can take around with me throughout the classroom with a computer on it, so kids are interacting with each other,” Gay said. “So, we’ll have different days where it’s like ‘hey let’s come and look at this kid’ and I’ll cart the computer over to that student.”
Gay said ongoing changes to the district’s learning models has been hard on a lot of students – especially on top of baseline pandemic stressors. However, the return of some students to the classroom following spring break was a light in the dark.
“I know my students who are back in person tell me everyday how excited they are to be back in person,” Gay said. “I have students that threaten to come in on Saturdays. I’ve definitely been spending a good chunk of time checking in on kids’ social and emotional health and making sure we’re including that in our curriculum.”
The effects of the pandemic, however, hasn’t just taken a toll on students. Gay said looking after her own emotional well-being has been an important step in serving her students and herself. Sometimes that means being able to disconnect when she leaves the classroom or simply just taking it all one day at a time.
“We haven’t really thought a lot past the end of this year,” Gay said. “I think there has been a lot of really positive things that have come out of this year, but it has been really exhausting.”
Zach Lord is an 8th grade social studies teacher at McDougle Middle School in Carrboro. He said the transition to remote and then hybrid learning was not a natural one for him.
“It is definitely a challenge because part of me just wants to focus all of my attention on the in-person kids because they’re right there in front of me, but I know the education of the remote kids is just as important,” Lord said. “So, it is very difficult to find that healthy balance between engaging with the remote kids and engaging with the in-person kids.”
He said the most difficult part of teaching this past year has been adapting all his curriculum to fit these new learning models and changing the way he taught his classes.
“I’m a very up and active mobile teacher, just constantly walking around, talking with my hands, so sitting behind a desk teaching was very difficult,” Lord said.
In April when the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district transitioned to a hybrid learning model, Lord said his students were excited to come back from day one.
“It was awesome,” Lord said. “It was like the first day of school again. You could feel the excitement and energy in the air – everybody happy to see one another and interact for the first time in a semi-normal situation since March of 2020.”
Despite having to adjust his plans, adopt his curriculum and fundamentally change the way he teaches, Lord said when push comes to shove, it’s about the kids.
“Yeah, I might be burnt out, yeah I might not like it, but the big picture is the kids because they are the future,” Lord said. “It’s not about me, it’s never about me – it’s just being there for them. If I could go back a year in time and just tell myself ‘hey this is going to be hard on you but it’s going to be even harder on the kids.’ So just be a shoulder to lean on for the kids is what I would say I’ve learned the most through all of this.”
Lead photo via Peyton Sickles.
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