Distance Teaching and Its Long Lasting Effects
How teaching through the screen greatly impacts teachers
As the Coronavirus pandemic continues, students at Oakmont are not the only ones struggling with online learning, teachers have also been greatly impacted.
“My biggest struggle is that Zoom has more individual work,” Oakmont teacher Michelle Larsh said. “We do so much more collaboration where students work together to help each other. Students do have breakout rooms in Zoom, but it is not the same.”
At Oakmont, a recurring theme with many of the teachers is continuously building the connection between the students. This allows the students to help eachother out through their problems, building a positive environment which allows teachers to teach smoothly.
“I saw a kid outside my classroom…I felt this urge to run up and give him a hug, I was so excited to see an actual student,” Oakmont teacher Natalie Martinez said. “The feeling highlighted to me how lonely this experience is. I miss kids.”
The impact of distance learning not only disrupts the teachers at Oakmont physically with their lesson plans, but also in an emotionally draining way. The connections between students and teachers are important in a way that allows both students and teachers to get the most out of each individual day.
“I miss being with the students in class,” Larsh said. “I miss hearing all the stories students share and see their joy and excitement with being together in class.”
The last few months have left everyone wondering when life would get back to “normal.” Not only for parents, but also teachers spending the majority of the week with students giving them the best education to their ability, while also teaching themselves in hopes to make the new way of schooling work.
“I feel like I’m flying a plane with a million different gauges…miss one message and the plane [class] could crash…I also have students behind all the gauges with feelings and needs,” Martinez said. “In that respect, it’s like flying blind.”
Emma Price is a senior and in her second year of working on the Norse Notes staff. Outside of journalism, Emma spends her time playing soccer as her extracurricular...
