Lauren Martinez, a fifth grade teacher at Northwood Hills Elementary, began the school year teaching virtually in Richardson ISD as schools navigate the lessons during the pandemic.

For the first few weeks of school at Northwood Hills Elementary, Lauren Martinezs fifth-grade classroom was largely defined by the people, and things, no longer present.

There were no students to hug when they entered the class. The voice stoplight on the whiteboard, which tracks the noise level in the room, was lifeless. The walls were bare. The Tuesday Folders in the back of the room still had the names of the students from the previous school year.

Only recently has she returned to campus along with some of her students. There are still no hugs. Theyve been replaced by the coronavirus version of greetings: friendly elbow bumps.

It is so fulfilling. I missed the interactions and conversations with students, Martinez said.

But at any moment, teachers like Martinez might have to pivot back to virtual learning should there be a spike in COVID-19 cases. And others continue teaching online as families opt for remote learning during the pandemic.

Navigating online education for teachers has meant converging specialties, moving parts and few firm solutions. Educators spend time finding the nexus between old teaching methods and new strategies as schools try to curb the spread of the new coronavirus.

Martinez, for example, tried to maintain normalcy in her sterile classroom when she could interact with students only through a tiny rectangular screen on Zoom.

During science classes, students would occasionally scream out the answers to a magnetism question. Those moments could almost make you forget there is anything unusual about this setup. Then there were times when the whole network was down. Martinez said it just wasnt the same.

When you grow up and go through your education as a teacher, you never think it would be like this, Martinez added. You become a teacher to connect with the kids.

For everything virtual learning appears to lack, the one thing it has in spades is technology. Projectors, monitors and screens dominate areas that once had easels and whiteboards.

Martinez spent the entire summer getting creative on how to use it all.

Back in March, most classes were taught asynchronously, which meant that students would spend only a short period of time with their teacher.

So, Martinez went to the drawing board. She found apps and interactive study guides to mix up the ways students could spend longer hours on a screen while still engaged.

Before returning to in-person lessons this month, Martinezs students played on a study review app that allowed students to race for the right answers in a video game setting.

Principal David Lewis said educators spent months figuring out how to visit with kids like on a regular school day through technology.

None of us have been trained for the kinds of things we are doing right now. All of us are working outside of our training zone, Lewis said. A lot of it is new, and a lot of it is very similar to what we would do in the classroom as far as engaging with kids and rewarding them for participation.

A fan favorite for modifying traditional teaching methods into a virtual setting are Zoom snack hours. Some teachers, as a reward for students, are offering those on Fridays.

Its just fun, Lewis joked on a recent school day when an excited yell carried down an empty hall as teachers laughed with students on Zoom.

Beyond teaching lessons, educators are figuring out how to check on how students are doing emotionally during distance learning.

Martinez would spend part of each morning on Zoom just chatting with the students, asking how they feel or what they want to be when they grow up.

The conversations start with students typing their individual responses into the Zoom chat. As the conversation materialized, Martinez unmuted students as they explained why they wanted to be a professional soccer player, a doctor or a police officer.

She wanted to build a supportive environment in which students feel comfortable to share.

In the Richardson school district, a guidance counselor often joins educators who are teaching remotely so they can check in on students as well.

The hope is that these exercises make students feel comfortable enough to reach out when larger issues arise, like food insecurity, home instability or illness.

Calls are made to parents once a week or more often to see if they have a stable source of food or access to the internet.

Not every student is required to turn on the camera on Zoom, making the job of identifying who needs help more difficult. Educators focus on spotting the little things when they can.

That can mean looking at the background of what a student puts up on Zoom to gauge how a person is feeling. One student recently had the hit show Avatar behind her as a background and another showed off the Texas Rangers' ballfield.

If such backgrounds suddenly change or disappear, its the virtual equivalent of a student not participating in class or participating in class as they would in person, which could mean something is wrong, said Summer Martin, the head guidance counselor for the district.

Everyone has experienced a type of trauma, and everyone handles it a little differently, Martin said. Little things like Zoom backgrounds "are a part of the process of visually seeing an interest or personality. It is a new way to connect and we are finding new ways to connect every day.

Martinezs class returned to campus just after Labor Day. A little more than half 53% of students at Northwood Hills elected to come back in-person.

Martinez acknowledges there is a learning curve as students come back. The feeling of having students in chairs again, though, is a welcome sight.

I cant wait for more students to come back to school in-person throughout the year, Martinez said.

Families who continued virtual learning for now will have the chance to go in person at the end of the first six weeks of school. Some may stay virtual the entire year.

That wont mean things will return to normal. Some hold on to reservations about moving too quickly toward normalcy. But many teachers are bracing for long-term changes.

Martinez knows better than anyone, too, that education itself will never be the same. Her class now has plastic dividers between students. But the technology that carries over will continue to help her students and be incorporated into new teaching methods that will be used moving forward.

If she has to go back to virtual teaching, Martinez thinks it will eventually get easier. She hasnt found the best way forward for her students yet. But that is always a work in progress, she says.

But if you arent getting better [as a teacher] from this, you arent doing it right, Martinez said.

Continued here:
How do teachers connect with students during changing classroom needs amid a pandemic? - The Dallas Morning News