Article A Grandmother’s And Retired Teacher’s Perspective On E-Learning
Christine Layton
As we all continue to navigate the unprecedented waters the COVID-19 pandemic has flung us into for these last ten months, perhaps no lives have been more impacted than those of American educators, students, parents, and, yes, even grandparents. When I retired from teaching elementary school in 2008 to focus on my growing family of grandchildren, I soon realized that I desperately missed my classroom. Teaching is my passion. For many years after my retirement I found fulfillment as a substitute teacher in McHenry, Illinois my former school district. Four years ago, I stopped “subbing” so I could help care for my two youngest grandchildren. Fast forward to March 2020. COVID-19 officially hit the United States, and schools across the country ceased in-person instruction. The world suddenly got smaller. My grandson Luke was in second grade and my granddaughter Anna was in kindergarten when they were required to participate in a remote-learning model that had never been tested before. Naturally, their school was unprepared, but they did their best to adapt. No one assumed the e-learning would last more than two weeks, so the curriculum was not robust and
WINTER 2020 | VOLUME 66 | NUMBER 4 | PAGE 30
