VIGO COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — Remote learning is a concept Michele Stahly never had to think much about prior to 2020.
“I didn’t know how to go a Google Meet, I didn’t know how to write a Google Doc; I didn’t know how to do all of that,” Stahly, a math teacher at West Vigo High School, said during a Zoom interview.
How the switch to remote learning challenged local math teacher Michele Stahly:
Then the pandemic hit, and Vigo County teachers, along with educators across the globe, had to adjust to seeing their students through a computer screen, if at all.
“The kids, they’re on Google Meets, but they don’t want to turn on their cameras,” Terre Haute South High School AP Chemistry teacher Samantha Henry said, “So I don’t get to see their faces; all I get to see are their little circles with their initials.”
Henry added that it’s difficult as an AP, or Advanced Placement, teacher to really ensure that her students are understanding the material.
Aside from the educational concerns, Henry said the empty classrooms simply make her feel sad.
“As teachers, we thrive off of seeing the lightbulbs, and we thrive off of the communication,” Henry said, “Teachers are social creatures, that’s why we’re teachers.”
Michele Stahly shares how remote learning training helped her in the fall:
The abrupt move to remote learning in the spring doubled the workload for some teachers with their own school-aged children at home.
“We had to be at home teaching, and I have a family, so that added another layer of difficulty,” Stahly said, “Not only was I a high school teacher, I was an elementary teacher in the spring.”
Stahly shared that the remote learning training teachers received over the summer allowed her to feel much more prepared. Other teachers banded together to get creative with lesson planning.
“Thanks to everything that happened in the spring, all the AP Chemistry teachers have come together and made this whole stockpile of virtual labs,” Henry said. “I also have been starting discussion boards, and I love the discussion boards, because the kids are answering each others’ questions, and that’s how I’m able to see, ‘oh they really do know it’.”
AP Chemistry teacher Samantha Henry shares message to parents, Vigo County community:
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, 2020 has shown educators how strong they and their students are.
“They’re very relentless,” Stahly said, smiling. “They keep working, they keep trying, they still want to do well. At home there are so many more distractions for them, whether it be the Internet not working, or they have to babysit because their parents are working; there are so many obstacles that they have to overcome, and it’s great to see the kids do that.”
