A kindergarten teacher sits on the floor in her living room and tries to keep her class of confused four-year-olds focused over zoom. They squirm and shout. Some of them are camera-shy. Just like the rest of us, they don’t quite understand what’s going on with the world outside.
An elementary school teacher with three of his own children reads an email from a disgruntled parent. Why are you only giving four hours of work per day, when my younger child is receiving much more? A different parent just asked him to reduce the workload because her daughter couldn’t keep up.
A high-school administrator can’t sleep at night; he’s worried about his elderly parents and his daughter who is studying abroad. He spends his whole day answering emails and calls from confused teachers and checking in on their online classes to make sure the students are still learning.
While we already knew that education is one of the hardest fields to work in, none of us expected it to suddenly become even more difficult. There has never been more pressure on teachers to create a sense of normalcy for their students, all while there is a global crisis going on. While Teacherly is working to help make remote teaching a little easier (check out how we can help here) we wondered what we could learn from teachers experienced in working in extraordinary circumstances.
1.The Spanish Flu and Post-Pandemic Recovery
The Spanish Flu was one of the deadliest and most terrifying pandemics of human history and it caused school closures in countries across the world. The Guardian interviewed Spanish-Flu survivor Myrtle Hooper, who was seven when the Flu hit her home in Australia. “The flu was a topic that occupied the adults of the house and made little impression on her.” Meanwhile, the teachers worldwide who found themselves unoccupied often volunteered in makeshift hospitals or to distribute food and supplies.
What we can learn: students, especially young students, will not remember exactly what they did or didn’t learn during this time. Be gentle with yourself and your expectations. Schools have been closed for long periods of time before, and students can recover from gaps in the curriculum. Use this time to encourage your students to discover what they really like to learn about on their own. Having knowledge about their passions will help them to decide what they want to study in the long run.
2. Habit Theory from Teachers in Refugee Camps
The ongoing refugee crisis worldwide has resulted in calls for teachers to work in refugee camps. Airbel Impact Lab writes about some of the techniques they use for training teachers who work in these conditions. In the Nyarugusu refugee camp in Tanzania, the International Rescue Committee uses Habit Theory to help foster success at schools in the camp, building new habits to help teachers overcome unusual classroom circumstances.
What we can learn: When we are forming habits, there is a cue, routine and reward. In order to foster better habits, you use the same cues that usually trigger certain behaviors to trigger different ones. For example, if break time usually triggers a teacher to make a pot of coffee, he or she might replace this habit with going for a walk. (Just kidding, we know that coffee is the thin thread keeping most teachers connected to their sanity). But seriously, old classroom habits can translate to online ones with a little creativity. If you usually clapped to get your students to quiet down during a lesson, you can replace this behavior by asking them to copy the emoji you’re displaying on your screen, or hold up the same number of fingers to the screen. You can also teach your students to build their own positive habits during this time.
3. Creativity and empathy from our fellow teachers worldwide
Teachers and students across the globe are struggling with little access to the internet and technology during COVID-19. In Kazakhstan, teachers are using Whatsapp to send lessons to their students and the national TV channels are streaming educational content with a timetable that students can follow to see relevant content for their grade levels. In Argentina, the Philippines and some rural areas of the United States, public school has been cancelled indefinitely. In parts of Toronto where access to technology is hard the school board is giving out laptops to students who don’t have any, starting with grade 12.
“My mom teaches elementary school in a low-income neighborhood and calls students and their parents every week just to check in and provide any help she can.” — Matthew (Toronto).
Some schools are still providing students with meals for areas with food insecurity.
What we can learn: Firstly, educators are amazing. We see you trying your absolute best to give your students the best education possible, and offering them comfort and solace during this time. Whether you’re a kindergarten teacher singing to your students over zoom, or an administrator checking in on your teachers, make sure you set clear boundaries for yourself and protect your mental health. Secondly, there is so much possible for the future of education when we start to think creatively about how to overcome some hurdles that our current situation has created.
What has your remote teaching experience has been like so far? Let us know in the comments below!
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