The COVID-19 pandemic has instilled such hardship and resilience in today’s teachers and students. COVID-19 has forced certain parts of the country to alter their schedules in order to maintain the health and safety of students, teachers, and their families. Nevertheless, schools today are bravely altering their instructional style to continue educating students with new resources and unique constraints.
Ken Heinz is a retired educator with 35 years of teaching experience. Now living in Weeping Water, Nebraska, he has returned to his musical roots and directs his church choir. He explains how schools are coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The New Drive to Toward Technology
To minimize the risk of contagion, most school districts are adjusting education to become functional even in remote work environments. This means that the online model is now being adjusted to meet the needs of elementary, middle, and high school students.
Student-teacher facetime is now hosted over video conferencing software and students of all ages are learning how to complete and turn in assignments on mobile devices. Education today is now synonymous with tech acclamation.
Alternative Schedules
Classrooms now serve smaller classes in shifts or remotely. School districts that implement alternative schedules are learning how to become more efficient with the limited time that teachers see their students in person.
Less time in the classroom also means more homework. And younger students struggle to remain proactive in their coursework, placing greater strains on teachers and parents, says Ken Heinz of Weeping Water. Thankfully, most parents are also working from home and doing their best to assist children and their teachers.
Alternative education schedules often mean more work for teachers even though they may be managing the same number of students as they did in years past. In-person classes in shifts mean longer hours on campus. Additionally, teachers are incorporating more cleaning and risk management tasks into their normal routine.
Ken Heinz on Awareness for Underprivileged School Districts
The sad reality about education during a global pandemic is that students now need new tools in the form of laptops and tablets. States and counties are more aware than ever before of how some districts leave underprivileged students behind.
With greater awareness comes reform. Many school districts are shifting resources in an effort to provide for students from all walks of life. Without these resources, students will have an even more challenging year than those students managing remote classes for the first time in their lives, says Weeping Water’s Ken Heinz.
