Items
topic_interest is exactly
teaching
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2022-03
Teaching in Korea
During the height of the pandemic I began to think deeply about what i wanted to do if things ever got "Back to normal." I'd spent my entire life in San Jose California, and decided I wanted to get out and do something different. In early 2021 I went through the process of becoming certified to teach English abroad. I was eventually hired by an English academy in South Korea for a one year contract in the fall of 2021. I enjoyed it so much I ended up re-upping for another year. When I arrived I had to quarantine for one week, and my school director (essentially a principal) picked me up from my quarantine facility and brought me to my apartment, paid for by the school as part of my contract. It was an exciting adventure for me slowly adapting to a new culture and learning to navigate the country of South Korea. The attitude towards COVID was much more serious than in the U.S. The outdoor mask mandate was in force until Spring of 2022, and the indoor mandate was not lifted until January of 2023. Even coming from California, one of the U.S. states with stricter restrictions, it was an adjustment. It certainly wasn't a political issue here in South Korea. I can only speak very rudimentary Korean, but from what I could tell, nobody seemed to have a problem following government health advice. It was illuminating to see how different countries citizens can have radically different views to a crisis based on culture, beliefs, values and attitudes towards Science. Many people still choose to wear masks in public places now in the Summer of 2023. Given the tensions with the North, there is a heavy U.S. military presence in South Korea, which made it easier to connect with other English speakers and get a taste of home near the military bases. I even met my lovely partner here, a space force member stationed in the same city I teach and live in. Being shut in is what drove me to get out of my comfort zone and I'm truly glad for my experience over the past two years in Korea. I've met friends from different countries, experienced aspects of Korean culture that I love, and also have had my privilege checked by aspects of living in Korea that I'm not as fond of. I am excited to go back home this fall, but I hope to carry all I've learned about culture and life in Korea with me. In a strange way, I'm glad that at least the pandemic made me think about what I wanted to do and see once I had the freedom to explore, and I can't say enough how grateful I am for the travel I've been able to do. -
2020-08-11
Long-Distance Learning
The American response to the global COVID-19 Pandemic was multi-faceted. However, of specific importance to the nation were the changes made to public education. As the Pandemic resulted in the closure of businesses, teachers and students were required to continue their educational programs online from the privacy of their homes. Although the effects of distance learning will continue to be seen, virtual learning severely limited the ability of students and teachers to use sensory perception as a tool for learning and instruction. First, distance learning no longer enabled American teachers to utilize the sensory perception of “proximity.” Throughout public education “proximity” is used to encourage student engagement with both instruction and content. Many teachers will walk their classrooms during student activities and use sensory perception to sensorially inform students that they are near to them and are assessing their engagement. Teachers use this strategy as a reinforcement tool to develop students’ ability to stay on task. Yet, during the COVID-19 Pandemic, social distancing policies made “proximity” not only impossible, but also illegal, limiting to what extent teachers could use sensory perception to foster engagement and learning. Second, not only were educators no longer allowed to use the sensory perception tool of physical proximity, but also many educators were forced to rely solely on the sensory perception of sound. School districts throughout the state of California, for example, did not permit educators to require their students to verify their attendance in live video format. The result was educators and students were engaging predominantly through speaking and listening. Furthermore, being denied the sensory perception of sight, educators could not assess to what extent students were engaging with instruction and activities. In conclusion, the COVID-19 Pandemic enacted emergency response strategies which directly affected the education of Generation Z. For both students and educators, sensory perception became more limited for every student. Yet, the sciences, including social science, are built upon the empirical information a human being receives through them. Perhaps this video will serve as evidence to answer the question, “Is the right to sensory perception and scientific information included within the natural rights of life, liberty, and property?” -
2020-12-08
Teaching Middle and High School Virtually in the Pandemic
I taught both middle and high school during the pandemic, which required virtual learning. I lived with a roommate and both of us couldn’t teach at the same time in the same room, so I taught exclusively from the floor of my walk-in closet. I sat on the floor of that 5’x3’ closet every work day for 9 months. The carpet was scratchy and my legs would often fall asleep from sitting in one place too long. I often woke up just before class started at 7:30AM and was groggy. Many of us ate breakfast during first period. The thing that bothered me most however was the silence. The only sound of class was me, talking. My lecture, my out loud readings for accommodated students, and my replies to students typing in the chat were the only things I heard for 5-6 hours of the day. There were none of the usually noises I associate with my job: idle chatter from every corner of the room, tapping of pencils, the pencil sharpener, a student blowing their nose, clicking of pens, hoody zippers, crinkling paper, students moving around in their chairs, chip bags opening, metal water bottles falling on the floor and a student yelling “foul” afterwards, occasional shouting, crying, and groaning. Students very rarely, if ever, turned on their cameras or mics to talk to me. I surely was isolated more than the average remote worker; yes, I talked all day, but it felt like it was talking to no one. I don’t have much tangible evidence to show from the pandemic. Frankly, I didn’t do anything noteworthy of documenting. The three pictures attached are from the beginning of the pandemic, around December 2020. Google Meets hadn’t quite caught up to some of their pitfalls technologically and teachers had to “kick out” each student manually, and when 7-10 of your students are AWOL, it can get tedious. I started to make up dumb games and sing songs to entertain myself, please enjoy my new line to the Oompa Loompa song. You can see that all the students are just icons—no faces, no voices. For reference, I have attached two videos of the end of the school year from before the pandemic. You can hear how loud the classroom is with all the students talking to each other, or playing games and dancing to music. After seeing these small clips, you can understand just how soul-destroying it was to teach to a bunch of digital circles who made no noise. -
2021-10-21
Paul Uhlig Oral History, 2021/10/21
I strongly believe that every perspective matters. We as students do not see what professors had to go through. We were aware of the situation, but I believe an interview with a professor from St. Mary’s University could help students to see the magnitude of the pandemic. COVID-19 affected all of us and that is why I think we should see everyone’s perspective and that includes the professor’s perspective. We can see Dr. Uhlig’s point of view with this interview and how the pandemic affected his profession. -
2021-08-17
Last Minute Changes in Teaching
For Fall 2021, some teachers gave the option to zoom into class for students who were not comfortable being present in person. Out of my five classes, only two had this option specifically stated. I planned to attend all classes in person but the day before class was due to start one teacher switched to remote only. Initially, I was okay with it. It was the first class of the day so maybe I wouldn't have to get up so early. Then I realized I would have to wake up early anyway. The class after the remote one was ten minutes after. I would of had to rush even if the class was on campus. Situations like these showed that things were even unexpectedly changing for teachers. While the situation may have slightly inconvenienced me, I'm sure it wasn't ideal for the teacher either. -
2020-10-02
Back to School (post-quarantine): Teacher Edition
Back to school is always a scary day for kids, but it can be for teachers too--especially after getting used to remote learning for so long. 2020 was my first year as a teacher. I started teaching online, and we eventually transitioned back into the classroom. For me, it was my first time in the classroom. I was super nervous about teaching and about all of the risks involved with school reopening. Thankfully, my school administration helped make everyone feel comfortable, and we had a lot of fun celebrating the start of school! This is a picture with a coworker of mine, my "classroom neighbor." -
2021-10-05
PTA during Covid-19
I have been volunteering in the PTA for the last 13 years. Two of these years occurred when I was the PTA president at my daughter's middle school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Once the pandemic started and Utah moved all schools to online in March 2020, PTA had to adjust. We cancelled all of our meetings and delivered the end-of-year teacher gifts to the teachers’ and staff’s homes. The next school year (2020-2021), the students returned to school but had to wear masks and large group activities were cancelled. PTA held our monthly meetings outside or via Zoom (once it became too cold to hold them outside) and we cancelled our assemblies. The school district required PTA to individually wrap treats/food that we provided for the teachers. Rather than the potluck-style lunches that we had always provided, we needed to cater the lunches which tripled our costs. We went from a budget of $700 for teacher lunches/treats/gifts to $2200. We made significant cuts in other areas in order to make this adjustment. The pictures above show treats for the teachers from 2021 that are individually wrapped and a partial list of teacher addresses and driving times when the PTA delivered presents to the homes of teachers and staff in 2020 because they were working from home. It took about eight volunteers, each with a 1 1/2 to 2 hour route, to get everything delivered. -
2021-09-16
Assignment for Literature and Cultural Analysis Seminar
I'm sharing an assignment sheet for my "Literature and Cultural Analysis" class at Vanderbilt University for the Fall 2021 semester. The class, themed "The Archive," is designed to encourage critical thinking around the concept of the archive and its material practices and embodiments. While we think of the ways in which archives enable research and help to cultivate new knowledge and stories, we also consider how archives encode structures of power and act as sites of forgetting as much as remembering. I've asked my class of twelve students to contribute to the COVID-19 digital archive as their first writing assignment for the semester. This assignment is designed to introduce them to an existing and regularly updated archive and ask them to think critically about processes of archiving and the decisions that go into selecting, categorizing, and framing the importance of a cultural artifact. My students have been asked to choose 2-3 items from their experience of the pandemic year to share in this public forum. Their contributions will be tagged to sync up with this assignment sheet. -
2020-09
The Sound of Learning - Teaching During the Pandemic
On March 12th, 2020, all of the teachers and support staff in the high school where I work in Stafford, Virginia (A suburb of Washington DC) were called down to the auditorium and told by the head principal that our school would be shut down for the next two weeks as a result of Covid-19. Long story short, I did not return into that building until January of 2021. Even though I did not enter the building, between September and December of 2020, I toiled away teaching virtually via Google Meet from my basement. Teaching online was difficult - due to privacy concerns, students were not required to turn their cameras on - and none did. For the first time, I was teaching to a class of thirty without seeing anyone other than myself. Many students did not want to ask questions by unmuting their microphones, so instead they would type out questions, make comments, tell jokes, etc through the chat feature. Each time a student would send a message, my computer would make a small beeping noise. I learned to love this noise as it was the only reminder I had that there was someone listening to me. As a teacher, forming relationships is so central to the profession. At first, it seemed impossible to be a meaningful teacher when I had no clue what my students even looked like. But every time I heard that beep, I was delighted to know that someone was on the other side of that screen. Without the fear of immediate judgement of their peers, many of my students provided commentary on the lesson and made teaching fun. When teaching in person, I hate when a student tries to talk over me, so only dealing with a tiny beep was much more manageable and it was nice to see these kids communicate with one another while separated by the pandemic. Many articles that I have read have been incredibly critical of online learning, and some with good cause. I did not reach every student. Some fell back asleep, logged in then walked away, played video games, and even one of my students admitted to me that he was taking his dog on a walk during class. But hearing that beep reminded me that there are students out there that can make connections even when it seems impossible. -
2020-07-15
PSC-CUNY Protest at BCC
For my primary source, I selected a photograph I took at a protest held in front of the Bronx Community College campus on July 15, 2021. The Professional Staff Union of CUNY (PSC-CUNY), the union for the faculty and much of the staff throughout CUNY, organized the event to protest the BCC administration June 26 decision to lay off 36 experienced adjunct professors at the end of their 3-year contracts, even though that their departments recommended that they be rehired. People in the picture include BCC Faculty, staff, and students, as well as those from as well as people from Hostos Community College, who came to support the BCC community and were facing similar cuts. The day was very hot, but I was nervous to the subway because of COVID, so I rode my bike from my home (about 24 miles roundtrip). I was pretty sweaty and probably stinky when I arrived. It was the first time I had been to campus since March 10, when, on my way home from school on the subway, I learned CUNY was moving online. (The campus itself was locked, but we stood in front of the gate on University.) It was also the first time I people from school in person since March; I was so happy to talk to them. It was weird to be with a group people, after months of isolation, but we all wore masks and stood six feet apart. Cars honked their support as they drove by. I selected this source because I want historians of the future to understand how the pandemic hit higher education and the connections among the COVID crisis, social justice movements, and education. Although I went to larger marches after the murder of George Floyd, I believe funding for CUNY is a form of social justice. I was angry that politicians and school administrators were giving lip-service to the phrase Black Live Manners, while cutting funding and jobs from CUNY. BCC’s students are overwhelmingly Black and Latinx, and many studies show that a CUNY education is one of the best schools for supporting social mobility, helping people support themselves and their families. Firing the adjuncts not only meant the teachers lost their income, and, sometimes, their health insurance, but that BCC students would be in larger classes; larger classes mean faculty have less time to devote to each student, which can make it harder to for students to succeed. While I understood enrollment was down and the budget from the city and state would likely be smaller because of the economic toll of the pandemic, I thought there were other places the administration could cut costs. (Such as their own salaries). I want historians to see that the faculty and staff of CUNY fought for what their students deserved and the connections among CUNY, social justice, and New York’s economic recovery. I also want them to see how people approached protests, which require gathering together with other people and often chanting or shouting, while in the middle of a pandemic that required people to stay apart and cover their mouths. -
04/07/2021
Jitinder Walia Oral History, 2021/04/07
Jitinder Walia, Executive Director of Bronx Community College’s Early Childhood Center, describes how she and her staff managed to continue educating the children of BCC’s students after the campus had closed. When she first realized the pandemic would cause the Center to end in-person classes, she felt devastated. But she quickly realized that the children and their parents needed the Center’s services during this extremely stressful time. So she and her staff figured out how to provide online lessons for young children and social services for parents without in-person contact. Jitinder misses hugs from children and face-to-face chats with parents. She’s looking forward to the day when she can hear the sounds of 100+ energetic children in her building. Yet she’s immensely proud of the way her staff has continued the Center’s mission during the pandemic, and she plans to continue some of the online activities created because of Covid. -
2021-02-25
Jewish Melbourne
As a Yiddish teacher the plague year was marked by a shift to online teaching. Of course this involved inconveniences and accomodations but mostly I was so grateful to have a job that meant I got to stay in contact with people throughout 2020. In classes I worked hard to support students in a difficult time, but also found myself energised and reassured by the regular social contact they provided. I've chose two pictures of my classes - one, a kids class featuring members of my family and the other, a screenshot from one of my long running classes at the Kadimah. The kids class was often fairly chaotic on zoom, marked by kids disappearing, scribbling on the screen or more interested in making faces in the camera than anything else. But it still represented a weekly engagement with Yiddishkayt for these kids, who all live in the North of Melbourne and attend state schools. The image I chose of one of my adults class is from a night when there was a blackout in my street - all the lights went off and my connection cut out. I realised though that I could teach using my phone for internet - it just meant sitting in the dark! I remember a strong feeling of "the show must go on" in a time when so much else was uncertain it was important to me that every Monday evening was the same - Yiddish class with my longtime students. Throughout lockdown students have been so patient and understanding of everything that has had to change and even now as I am extremely over teaching online I am honestly so grateful for what they've given me - meaninful, interesting, engaging work and social contact! We should all be so lucky. -
2020
Glass Microbiology, Luke Jerram
This glass sculpture was created by an artist from the United Kingdom, commissioned by a “university in America to reflect their current and future research, learning in health, and its focus on solving global challenges.” This item shows how art has been part of the pandemic experience as a teaching tool. The experience of visual art can convey thoughts, emotions, trigger feelings and conversations, and is an important part of exploring and understanding how people are navigating the pandemic. This piece is part of a larger collection of virus sculptures, which have been featured in medical journals, and displayed in museum collections around the world. -
2020-01-19
Third Semester Teaching during COVID-19
I teach a few medical-based courses at Northeastern University. We are now in our third semester during the COVID pandemic. Working with the university, we have been able to keep our courses in-person which has been critical for the students to be able to practice the skills required to be healthcare providers. The students wear full PPE (facemasks, eye protection, medical gowns, and gloves) to enable them to work closer than 6 feet with each other. This, along with the university's robust testing procedures allow the students to come in for classes. Thankfully this is the case, as these are skills and experiences that cannot be properly learned in a remote setting. Our students feel safe, and appreciate the university working with us to be able to provide the in-person experiences during this pandemic. -
2020-12-09
Faculty Meeting
Our school is a private one in a larger metropolitan area in the United States. Our administration is doing everything it can to keep us physically in school. We currently are still operating on a hybrid plan where most of our kids are in class with us but some are online at home. Our school has kept strict guidelines - social distancing, masks, hand sanitizer, and many more precautions have been put in place, including virtual faculty meetings so we won't gather in large groups. In a world where people are clamoring to stay home, I feel safe in my school and I feel that we have done a great job. Some students have tested positive, but our administration and nurse have taken the necessary steps to identify close contacts quickly, quarantine all involved, and test individuals who require it. The pandemic is not being taken lightly at our school and our administration is working many extra hours to make sure we don't have to go virtual. Our teachers and staff still keep a very positive attitude and I feel very thankful to be at this school. -
11/21/2020
Monserrat Garcia Oral History, 2020/11/21
The freshmen experience has changed tremendously because of COVID-19, and this has forced the majority of them to adapt and change their routines in this new online learning environment. Attached is an interview with a St.Mary’s freshman’s experience as an online student, and how she has adapted to her environment in order to be successful in college during a pandemic. -
11/16/2020
Anonymous Teacher Oral History, 2020/11/16
I've chosen to submit this interview, because it captures the raw and real experience of an (almost) brand new teacher. Someone who has recently graduated (May, 2019) and barely dipped their toes into the teaching world. She has had to adapt to not only teaching a subject different than the one she studied for in college, but also navigating the trials of teaching in a pandemic world. This 40 minute long interview that show cases the emotions and trials that a teacher has to experience. On top of issues like student engagement, and teaching unfamiliar material she has to ensure that she's accounting for all her students attending, both the ones physically and online, while juggling asynchronous and synchronous classes. One particular poignant quote "It's not that I'm trying to relax and be happy or anything. It's just trying to find downtime to just have energy" really sums up the energy of how the year has gone for this new teacher. This perspective is important, as it shows the reality of how strenuous the pandemic education scene has been for educators, and the problems it's creating for students, as this person discusses. The pitfalls of technology that are harming rather than helping, and causing issues that might reverberate in the futures of the student's academic careers. -
2020-07-16
Training Modules for The Covid-19 Oral History Project
This training module was designed for individuals who want to participate in conducting oral histories for The Covid-19 Oral History Project and JOTPY. -
10/10/2020
Scott Adams Oral History, 2020/10/10
Scott Adams, a graduate student at Arizona State University, lives in Camarillo, California. In this interview, he reflects on the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected his life. He highlights the effects the pandemic and quarantine has had on mental health and employment. He also touches on the division caused by COVID-19, politics, and the politicization of the pandemic by both the right-wing and left-wing. Scott also describes the precautions taken by he and his friends to avoid catching the virus, and how the quarantine and the current political divide has affected their relationships. -
2020-10-20
Sight words
Virtual learning has been a pain in the butt for a lot of moms. I don’t think I’ve ever related to someone when it comes to parenting like I did with this Florida mom. Although my daughter is no longer doing virtual learning here in Arizona, I do homework with her and am very familiar with sight words. It’s funny and comforting to know that I am not alone in my feelings. -
2020-08-25
Teaching in a Pandemic
My mom has always been an elementary teacher and is finally nearing retirement. The pandemic has been a great challenge for her to adapt to. Her school year started with online instruction before moving to in-person learning later on. As a lifelong teacher, the adjustment to online teaching has been incredibly different and difficult for her. Especially considering the lack of support from the school and the district. The setup in the picture was jury-rigged together using materials that were already owned in order to try and provide the best learning experience for the students. Arizona State University HST485 -
05/24/2020
Lauren Mottles Oral History, 2020/05/21
This is a recorded conversation with a teaching colleague, Lauren, who works as the Math Department Chair at St. James Academy in San Diego. Since the beginning of the pandemic, and especially in California since the stay at home order on March 17th, teachers have done the incredible in teaching their students at a distance. Lauren shares her experiences at her school, reflections, and thoughts on the current state of education.