FLOYD COUNTY, Ind. — Teachers have had to adapt to non-instruction learning since schools in both Kentucky and Indiana closed in mid-March.
As the end of the school year approaches for all local districts, teachers in the New Albany Floyd County school district said they’ve learned a lot from e-learning.
When they first started teaching remotely, there were plans to return to the classroom this year, but it was still a new challenge for many.
"There was that moment of trepidation where you’re like, are my kids going to be able to do this for the next so-many weeks? Can I do this for the next so-many weeks?” Ashley Faith, Floyd Central High School English teacher, said.
While some teachers weren’t as concerned about how remote instruction would work, others said their subjects were much more difficult to do remotely.
“Much of the technology that I knew I was going to be using I had already used on some level,” New Albany High School geometry teacher Ricky Belcher said.
Floyd Central Choir and Handbells Director Angela Hampton has had to get creative with ways her students can work on their craft. Hampton has used video chats to meet with students and try to keep on track with the curriculum.
“I told the kids that we would keep working on the music, we would explore things kind of the same way we would do if we were at school,” Hampton said.
A new way of teaching comes with challenges. These teachers said nothing can replace classroom instruction.
“All the teachers, we can teach anything online, it’s just we’re missing that face-to-face and relationship building with students,” New Albany English teacher Tabitha Vincent said.
Many students spend their days working or helping their families, and don’t dedicate as much time to school as they would if class were held in-person. That has made keeping on track difficult for teachers.
“With the eLearning, I definitely slowed down, made things much easier than it would have been in the classroom,” Belcher said. “There will be some holes in things just because we didn’t get to it because of the amount of time.”
Since students aren’t getting that face-to-face contact with teachers, asking questions can be more difficult.
“When you’re in the classroom and you don’t understand something, it’s a simple raise of the hand and a teacher is there to provide support. On an online platform, it's not like that,” Faith said.
Despite the challenges, teachers said they were gaining skills they can use in the future.
“My school system has not used eLearning days for snow days and things like that, but I think now we’ve proven that we can,” Hampton said.
At the end of the day, all of the teachers are just ready to see their students in-person again.
"I tell them all the time, I don’t think they believe me, but I'm like I really do miss you all," Vincent said.
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