Photo Story: Education During a Pandemic

 

An empty classroom in Meadowridge Elementary School has been sitting empty for 8 months. The kids and teachers that usually inhabit this room in December are at home, learning and teaching over the internet, on an app called Zoom. Like most classes in Oregon, there are no in-person lessons due to a virus named Covid-19. In some classrooms, however, there are some teachers set up. They have problems in their home with having a quiet place to teach their lessons, or they have unreliable internet.

This is Mandy Ipson, a first grade teacher at Meadowridge Elementary School. She has her own little classroom set up in her home, turning the spare room into a place to keep her lessons and conduct her zoom classes with her students. This is her 6th year teaching, and the main difference she finds with this year compared to the past, besides the obvious, is that it is harder for her to help her students. She explains that when they are in person, she can see their work and their actions, which gives her clues on to how much her students are learning. She explains that when she is teaching through the internet, all she can see is their faces, so it is difficult to determine if they are learning something or not. She also explains that when kids have their parents with them, it can make it easier for them to pay attention because an adult is right next to them, however Mrs. Ipson also finds problems with parents doing the work for their students, which makes it harder for the kids to learn.

Jefferson High School, a school that usually has multiple people in the school at most times because of sport events, classes, and clubs, has an empty parking lot these days. This is due to all events being cancelled in order to keep everyone safe and healthy. Almost every school in Oregon has the same situation at the moment, not having anyone there due to Covid-19.

Meadowridge Elementary is beginning the process of having more kids come to in person lessons. Although it would only be for a couple hours at a time, they are taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of everyone in the school. This is a hand sanitizer station in the very front of the school, which has multiple containers of hand sanitizer and extra surgical masks for those who need one. 

This is Daniel Mitchell. He is a musical teacher at Timber Ridge Middle school. He explains that the hardest part about being a distance learning teacher this year is that he cannot interact with his students in real time. Due to internet lagging and poor connection, the audio or camera cuts out. As a music teacher, this is very frustrating because he needs to hear and see the students with their instruments. Like Mrs. Ipson, Mitchell explains that he has a hard time determining whether or not his students are learning. These are some things that he finds most difficult with teaching this year. His favorite thing about music is how it has multiple layers and players in order to have the full effect. The expression of emotion through music is what brings him joy and passion to teach it to kids. He says "we work and teach for the students, not for the paycheck." He enjoys teaching although there are more complications and problems this year.

An empty hallway of an empty school. The only students coming to the school at the moment are the STAR students, which are the kids on the autistic scale. Those kids need a little more help while learning, so the school is open to them. Other than these arrangements, the halls are left empty. Meadowridge is hoping that soon they will have a few more students coming in to regular class soon, of course with social distancing and masks required.