Teaching in a pandemic world

ATHABASCA - Everyone is adjusting to the post-COVID-19 world in one way or another, but teachers especially, are faced with having to connect to a whole classroom every day in creative and challenging ways. 

Two teachers with Aspen View Public Schools -- first-year teacher Kailey Lebsack in Smith and Trudy Gauthier, a math teacher in Grassland -- are just two of the many educators trying to keep students engaged and learning while coping with their own stress caused by the pandemic.

Lebsack started her job Aug. 28 last year and a pandemic was the furthest thing from her mind. 

"I absolutely love being a Kindergarten and Grade 1 teacher, especially in Smith,” she said. “When we had in-person class time, every Monday morning my students would tell me about something they did that weekend.” 

Lebsack may have a bit of an advantage having used many of the apps she is now using to teach with in university. 

"I was quite comfortable using the Google classroom and apps, but it was a little challenging delivering to my students at the beginning,” she said. “I read and studied a lot of different scenarios, so I had to develop my confidence in using them on a daily basis with my class.” 

Lebsack added she creates some content to share using Screencastify so her students get a chance to see and hear her so they still feel connected. Her content focuses on how to write a letter of the alphabet and the sounds they make for the younger grades she teaches. 

"I create videos for my students which include read-alouds and lessons,” she explained. “I think it is important for them to still hear my voice and see me so, I post these throughout the week. They can see or hear me almost every day either through recordings, on the phone or video chats- whole class or one-on-one.” 

When asked how much of her time goes to preparing lessons Lebsack said she is putting in more time than before the pandemic and it has had an impact on her teaching style. 

“I find more of my time is taken up by work than before COVID,” she stated. “This situation has completely changed everything I do as a teacher. Distance learning is not only a learning curve for myself but also the parents. I am trying to make this as easy as possible for them which ends up putting on a lot of extra hours for me.” 

"This situation has influenced my teaching style quite a bit, especially because I teach such young children, we don’t practice the typical lesson that you would expect. I teach my students through play and hands-on work. I do a lot of my assessments through observing them and through conversation. This is practically impossible now that I don’t see them in person anymore. I am very lucky because my students' parents send me videos of them learning through play and I get to see them between three to four times a week. We are very lucky to live in a time where we have the technology to communicate face-to-face while keeping our distance.” 

She has also had to find ways to deal with her own stress during this uncertain time. 

“I have found the unknown is the most stressful part of this,” Lebsack said. “We were not given any time to say goodbye to our kids, nor do we know when we are allowed to see them again. In order to cope with my stress, I have been going on long walks with my dog and reading. I have found the fresh air helps clear my mind.” 

Lebsack also has some advice for parents struggling to keep up with work and trying to help their children at home. 

“Enjoy the little things with them” she said. “Bake (because) recipes include math, read to them, read with them, have them read to you, do puzzles, play music and dance. Write a letter, especially to those you cannot see. There are so many ways to incorporate educational experience into daily life. The most important thing though is to have fun and make memories, give them so much love. Your child’s teacher misses them dearly.” 

Trudy Gauthier mainly teaches math to Grade 7-11 students at the Grassland School and also uses a variety of methods to keep in touch with her students. 

"I would not say I was great at using technology before, but I was always trying to improve in this area as it seems things are changing daily,” she said. “I will say it has been a steep learning curve as you had to be able to try new ways when what you thought would work didn’t. I will say that central office and the ATA are great with support in this area and I have been attending many PD sessions, YouTube videos and using colleagues for help.” 

Unlike Lebsack, Gauthier has had some issues with Internet service in the Grassland area so she works around that by using her phone to video her teaching and using a whiteboard. 

“The main issue I have found is in the country, maybe with more usage now, the Internet is very spotty,” she explained. “I tried using Google Hangouts to present my screen so students could follow along, but found it would freeze or our voice would cut out making it very difficult, especially when more people would be on.”  

Gauthier said she hasn’t noticed a marked increase in time outside of teaching that she has to spend preparing, but has been taking advantage of working from home to take some personal development (PD) courses. 

"I am also using this time to access PD opportunities as many are offered for one-hour sessions or are recorded and then you can watch when it fits into your schedule,” she explained. “So, this is a great opportunity as you don’t have to miss a whole day of work to attend as before.” 

She added that it has been hard on teachers because a large part of their job is interacting with the students and taking part in activities and she appreciates the warmer weather so she can get outside. 

"I really miss seeing all the kids and hearing their laughter,” she said. “To cope I do connect with my students regularly and I really enjoy seeing their faces and visiting with them a lot during the lessons. With the warmer weather I am outside much more and am looking forward to more walks and gardening.” 

Gauthier also had some words of comfort for parents during this extraordinary time. 

“I would like to thank all parents for doing an amazing job dealing with all of this turmoil and not to worry so much about making sure to get through all of the work, rather take care of yourselves and be safe. We will get through this together as we always do with such a great and wonderful community.”