How do Miami High Teachers Feel Teaching: Physically and Online
(Left) An online student in Journalism Class taught by Dr. Denight. (Right) A physical student in English class.
May 4, 2021
As students we are opinionated and entitled to express how we feel, but are we conscious on teachers’ feelings? Teachers are pivotal to our success, so why not show compassion and ask how they’re catching up. We should especially care for them now since they’ve been tackled to teach online and/or physically.
Teaching Before the Covid-19 Era.
Classrooms full of students, students sharing pencils and interacting—that was student life before the Coronavirus. Now we are socially distanced, given strict guidelines, and provided with different teaching methods.
Ms. Lee, an art teacher at Miami Senior High, shares her views of teaching before Covid-19: “It was different. I am used to full physical classes with students creating, sharing ideas, and interacting.” It is notable that she’s not thrilled with the new environment Covid has created, because she’s accustomed to physical presences and seeing the joy in students’ faces.
Similarly, physical education teacher Mr. Carreño describes his previous experiences of teaching before the pandemic as interactive and fun. “I loved working out with my students, challenging them to push themselves physically and mentally while working out,” he said. “There was also more discussion and dialogue when I taught lessons in the classroom which gave students the opportunity to learn from one another.”
The pandemic took a toll on both of these hard and determined working teachers, they have done their absolute best to keep a fun atmosphere while trying to normalize the different environments of teaching physically and/or online.
Adapting to Change and its Challenges.
It’s not feasible to deviate from our daily accustoms. When we are asked to adapt to a new environment, its generally a hard task, because similarly to moving from one house to another: it takes time. Various teachers were not asked but mandated to quickly change teaching environments and teach online for half of our first semester of the school year.
Ms. Lee Miami High’s art teacher expresses that she felt strenuous while making this big change, “It was difficult for me considering that all students learn differently, especially in art class.” She prioritized student’s learning first and was concerned on how she can pull off conducting demonstrations, showing visuals, and making herself available.
Additionally, teachers such as Dr. Hueck, Ms. Lee, and Ms. Fernandini, shared an interesting point that it was rather difficult adapting to teaching online, since they constantly faced issues with connection, attendance, and technology.
Besides having constant issues, Dr. Hueck Miami High’s Science Department and Chemistry teachers says, “MSO was very difficult. I teach dual modality, so I had students online and physically. Giving attention to both group of students is really difficult; kids online have to advocate themselves and ask questions if they don’t understand.”
How are they Feeling after Transitioning?
Are we cognizant of teacher’s feelings? Most teachers do the most to ensure that we’re feeling okay, so the least we can do is ask how they’re feeling.
Mr. Carreño felt torn after transitioning and for various reasons, he enjoys his daily interactions with teaching his students face to face and says, “There is so much I can learn about a student just by seeing their demeanor, socializing with others and who they truly are as a person.”
But to no surprise, he feels content “To be in a safe place away from Covid-19”. This is especially true because his daughter has underlying conditions that him catching Covid-19 can cause complications to her health.
Also Ms. Fernandini, an English I teacher at Miami Senior High, shares that being “Forced back into classrooms sooner than expected threatened funding to the district and was very difficult.” Not only was this concerning to her, but she adds, “It did not give teachers adequate time to prepare their classrooms from a sanitation standpoint; the materials that were given to teachers ranged from adequate to bare minimum; and the privilege of certain schools was evident.”
To support her statement, she says that Palmetto Senior High School purchased air purifiers for their older buildings while low-income elementary schools were still “plagued by mold” while “our very own air conditioning system was not functioning.”
What can Students do to Alleviate your Stress?
Both Mr. Carreño and Ms. Lee came to an agreement that their students are doing more than an outstanding job with online and physical schooling.
Ms. Lee points out that her MSO (My School Online) students show up on time, turn their cameras on, and participate. She feels alleviated knowing her students are all okay and thriving.
Moreover, Mr. Carreño says that his students can continue producing their consistent work and go above and beyond. He feels at ease knowing that his students are actively participating now that he’s started daily discussion topics his students enjoy doing.
Also, Dr. Hueck shares that it would make him “Happier if students would participate whenever I teach…it’s frustrating at times when I ask questions, and no one says anything!” he calls his online students “Zoombies”.
Ms. Fernandini states that students should request extensions when they can. She also encourages them to “Try your best in your assignments; wear your masks when in class and engage whether online or in person.”
To her fellow teachers, Ms. Fernandini says to “motivate when necessary; be firm but fair, and most of all be grateful.”
But she’s “more concerned with what I can do to make students feel more comfortable than what they can do to make me feel more comfortable.” She also says that we should “practice grace and be patient and kind to one another as we go through our own individual and collective difficulties.”
Beneficial Activities Teachers Used.
It’s amazing when teachers go beyond to find interactive and engaging websites students can benefit from.
Three sophomores, Kimberly Escobar, Iris Carvajal, and Evelyn Pere,z report that, Ms. Munguia, their Algebra II Honors teacher, uses the website “Blooket.com”. They report the website is a “Stimulating and exciting competition game in which you compete with other students to achieve first place”. “Although its competitive It serves as great practice, as it trains your brain to quickly understand problems.”
Additionally, sophomore’s Tiffany Fernandez and Genesis Cardona state that they’ve been using “Kahoot.com”. A traditional competition game played to practice a variety of skills, such as improving grammar skills, math equations, and even geography.
Senior Oscar Murillo says that his Italian II teacher Ms. Miranda uses the website “www.almaedizioni.it”, she uses it to get us used to listening to the Italian Language being talked and familiarize ourselves with vocabulary, and it’s effective when she uses this site because I’ve improved on my pronunciations.
These teachers are to be thanked for making the learning experience positive and fun
Tedious Activities Teachers Used.
Not all websites have a positive effect on students, some websites can cause unwanted stress and affect students learning experience.
Sophomore Angie Escobar share how she uses “Reading Plus” to progress in her English skills, but “It’s annoying having to repeatedly read new stories and answer questions, it’s not very interactive nor engaging. It just bored me out of my mind.” Reading plus seems to be uninteresting and negatively affects students learning if they are feeling bored.
Besides, Krystel Gutierrez a student at Miami High states that she uses a program “IXL.com” for math. “It’s frustrating having to use this program because its timed and any simple mistake can affect your progress and reset you to the beginning. It unmotivated me to do better and math and do my homework.”
This signifies that teachers can explore new options and make a more pleasant experience by using websites that refrain from causing stress and making them feel unmotivated.
Overall, teachers continue to do their best teaching online and/or physical. They’ve gotten a taste of both worlds and are still spirited as they were when things were normal. We foresee their feelings, but the school year is coming to a close and teachers will be able to look back on how awesome they were to quickly adjust and give everyone a proper learning experience.
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Marcus Carreno • May 12, 2021 at 6:30 am
Well written and informative article Jose!!! So proud of you. Thank you for including our teacher concerns and taking their feelings into account during these tough times.