Difficulties of Teaching During a Pandemic

A lot has happened in this past year and a half, the biggest change being the school trying to adjust to a global pandemic. We took the time to interview multiple teachers on what they have found to be the hardest adjustment to teaching during the Covid-19 pandemic. Although this year has had many difficulties and obstacles, teachers at NUHS are finding a way to adapt to the new way of teaching. From having to talk with masks on all day to having nearly two-hour-long periods, the teachers describe what the hardest parts are.

At the begging of the year, it was a strong learning curve to make sure all the students were doing their part to learn in a safe way. We asked teachers at NUHS what the biggest difference between teaching with and without covid is, what they miss most about covid free school life, and if they think school will be a little more normal next year.

Mr. Nessler said: “The biggest thing that has changed is that I can’t ask students to move around or interact as I would normally do. Activities that allow for this kind of thing are great for keeping students interested, and social distancing measures have taken this away during the school year. What I miss most about normal school life is the ability to have students move around freely and interact more face to face. I am hopeful that school will be closer to what we were used to before the pandemic for next year. I imagine there will be some protective measures in place for various reasons but time will tell!”

The NUHS choir teacher Mrs. Koehler said: “The biggest difference for me is being unsure who will be in class and who will be distance learning on any given day, especially on performance days. I miss being able to attend events that the band and choir perform at, like sporting events, homecoming, parades, and pep band. I am hopeful school will be a little more normal next year. It is difficult to sing in masks and rehearse and perform while being spread out.”

The final teacher we asked was Mrs. Filzen, who said: “The biggest difficulty for me is being able to do a good job teaching the distance learners – it is just not the same experience.  The biggest difference is I haven’t been able to teach as much content because of the blocked schedule, Fridays off, and students online.”

In conclusion, teachers would like school life and life, in general, to return back to normal just as much as the students. This year has come with many difficulties and nothing has really felt the same as the past years. The teachers here at NUHS seem to be trying their absolute hardest to keep learning an enjoyable experience for everyone whether the students are online or in school learning. It also seems to be that every teacher has some different difficulties based on the subject and type of class they teach. For example, Mrs. Koheler’s issue is that the students have to sing with their mask on and as for Mr. Nessler, he is not allowed to have students move around and work in groups which is a big part of his classes. Moving on to next year we would say there is hope for a more conventional school year.