Senior Shannon Kerwin, like any senior in the education department at Elizabethtown College, is ready to face her student teaching semester. COVID-19 has impacted every aspect of life, including student teaching. Kerwin is one of the fortunate students placed in-person at East High Street Elementary School. For the semester, she is student teaching in a second grade classroom.
“I’m giving it all I can given pandemic teaching. It’s a different world. I’m glad our department has been trying really hard to make it work for us. No matter what stage of educator you are – freshman, graduate or long-time teacher – it’s important we continue to learn, adapt and teach,” Kerwin said via Zoom.
According to Kerwin, student teaching placements were set to start Monday, Feb. 1. “We were meant to start the first regardless of the date for move-in with the College, and we’d just start virtually – unless not an option at that school, which is the case for the school I’m at,” she said.
She ended up beginning her placement in-person, despite not yet living on campus. Fortunately, the drive is not too far for her to commute to the school. Due to the major snow storm that pushed many schools to go virtual Feb. 1, Kerwin officially started her student teaching Feb. 3.
Kerwin notes there are very distinct differences between pre-COVID placements and current placements. For one, masks are required by all staff and students. “It’s impressive how well the kids wear the mask – given their age – but then there’s one that won’t wear it over their nose. That is always a challenge trying to get the student to understand the importance of wearing it properly,” Kerwin said.
The masks can also provide challenges to the teacher in helping the students. The example Kerwin gave was a teacher trying to help a student learn how to pronounce a word. The students cannot see the shape of how to form certain sounds with the masks.
She also reflects upon placements in schools she had her freshman and sophomore years with the noticeable changes in classroom layout. Before teachers could have creative and fun layouts with desks and flexible seating. Now “[t]he classrooms aren’t set up how elementary classes should be set up. Group tables only have one student a table,” Kerwin said.
There are certain pieces that she will miss out on because of these different times, including the classroom environments and unique ways teachers set up their room. She also will not have the opportunity to see as much small-group instruction that she may have seen in a typical year. The main reason for that are the challenges of keeping six feet apart. The classrooms of course need to keep each desk six feet away from the others. The same applies to lunch. “Lunch time is so different with only one class at a time with one kid per bench,” Kerwin said via Zoom.
To help adapt to these changes, Kerwin needed to change her “teacher toolbox” to fit the circumstances. She had to learn how to project her voice more for the students to hear her clearly. She also needed to find a way to “[make] things on the board fun. There are a lot of changes from what I really like with teaching such as some creative ways of doing assignments,” Kerwin said.
Another challenge of this time is she is missing the typical extent of a student teaching semester. “It’s not a typical year of teaching. It’s not best practices, it’s alternative practices,” Kerwin said.
However, there are some benefits she sees in being a student teacher in this challenging time. For one, it is a great experience learning how to adapt everything in the classroom. With many students completely virtual, technology is more significant in the classrooms than it had already been. Kerwin finds it helpful learning new platforms available to teachers to teach the students. She also is discovering new places students can submit assignments online.
From this Kerwin learned a lot of useful life lessons she will later be able to apply to her own teaching and classroom. “I’ll be able to adapt and turn on a dime. I’m also learning how to keep the teaching schedule flexible – like in-person to virtual to hybrid – and switching between it,” she said.
Despite it all, Kerwin is ready to face her student teaching semester and all of the challenges. “Last semester was more stressful as in I am more prepared for this semester because I had the drive to make that one successful. It will make this one better because I survived [last semester’s placement]. I just need to get in there and do it,” Kerwin said.
