Completed Spring ’20.
This was an interesting experience as the Coronavirus pandemic halted student teaching in its tracks in late March. As a result, learning moved online and my student teaching experience radically changed. No longer was I presenting information, guiding practices, or assessing students. Instead, I was creating reading comprehension activities for my students at PHS to complete online without any accountability while simultaneously creating hypothetical lesson plans and materials as if I was still student teaching. The experience was frustrating. I didn’t understand the point in continuing student teaching or online learning. Students were not learning anything and neither was I. Everyone felt frustrated and in the dark.
And yet, I am thankful for this experience. This pandemic brought to light many of the problems with education in our country, including equity issues, lack of special education funding and outreach, and disservice to electives and other non-core curricula. Now, as a county and as a profession, we can make changes. I am also fortunate to have some virtual learning experience that I will apply this fall in my first year teaching position.
While not the experience I imagined, I will never forget it.