Thank you, teachers

Mira Bhatt

Adapting curriculum to fit online school on short notice and supporting students remotely seem like daunting tasks, yet teachers managed to accomplish this in the past year.

The start of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted almost every aspect of people’s lives; for students and teachers, it meant an abrupt end to in-person school. While Carlmont finished the 2019-2020 school year with a more relaxed approach, the school decided to add more structure this school year. In response, teachers needed to adapt their classes to be the most effective for students.

“It was a lot easier going into distance learning in the fall instead of last spring because we knew what it looked like. I always feel like when you have clear expectations, you can create a better experience,” Emily van Sebille, a Carlmont English teacher, said. “The transition to distance learning ended up not being too hard for me because I was already familiar with Canvas, but I have learned a lot more about Canvas in the past year.”

While some aspects of distance learning were manageable, the transition to online school was still challenging for teachers. They had to learn many new technologies and test out different ways to structure their class time.

“It was hard to adapt lab time to breakout rooms. Usually, my students collaborate, and I wander the room helping out as needed. It has taken a while for students to trust me and come out of the breakout rooms to ask questions,” Karyn Voldstad, a Carlmont computer science teacher, said.

While there were slight setbacks and challenges with distance learning, teachers still made the best of the situation.

“When I realized that I actually do have personal connections with these students I’ve only met online, it felt great. It took longer than usual, but it happened,” Voldstad said.

As COVID-19 cases began to decrease, Carlmont decided to return to in-person school, requiring teachers to teach students at home and in their classrooms simultaneously.

“I’m very pleased to get to see people in any capacity, although I do think that it’s a little difficult to have to work with two sets of people because you’re not giving 100% to either group, and that feels slightly awkward,” van Sebille said. “But I’m excited that I can move in between my groups that are in person while also giving my Zoom students time to work on projects.”

Kasey Liu

Andrea Nadine Castillo

Isabela Panisset

“All of my teachers definitely adjusted their curriculums to fit the new distance learning model. They use more online resources than they are used to, but it’s very flexible as many students and teachers face technical difficulties. Some teachers have even gone out of their way to condense their normal curriculums to allow students to absorb information better. For example, my math teacher makes sure to provide outside resources and class time to let us practice and fully understand the concepts so we are confident on the next test. Compared to the normal in-person classes, I would say that this is much more manageable and tolerable.”

“I would say my teachers have been as helpful as they can be. I haven’t been having that hard of a time handling everything, so I haven’t had that many questions to ask, but my teachers were always able to support me with everything I needed.”

Nate Hsich

Kellie McGuinness

“Many people think that there are no advantages for online leaning. I’d argue that although it’s harder for most people, online learning does present some benefits for students, which teachers have helped show. For example, many people have a hard time speaking in front of a class, but my AP United States History teacher has us do socratic seminars every day. I think it has helped a lot of kids get more comfortable talking in large groups. In a distance learning environment, many people think that social interactions are fairly limited. However, in the majority of my classes, the teachers give us opportunities to speak in class and breakout rooms.”

“The teachers have been really helpful during distance learning. They answer any questions that you have during class, but they’ve also provided other options. For example, you can use the Zoom chat, email them, or go to office hours.”