There are only 11 school days left this academic year (but who’s counting, right? [Everyone. Everyone is counting.]). For the brief 10 minutes that I am not utterly exhausted during this time of the year, I get a bit reflective about my students, my craft, and the educational system– and the 2020-2021 school year has been one to remember. 

Here’s what went down:

People Care for Teachers

In the spring of 2020, many states went into lock down. The toilet paper shortage coupled with the unfindable packets of yeast made us hope for better days. At home, we were cooped up with our children alongside luminescent screens that sucked the energy out of everything in life, especially learning. When the fall came and parents in my district had the option to go virtual or send their kiddos into the classroom, the majority, likely not wanting to re-live the digital educational hell from spring, sent them to us. 

And we couldn’t have been happier. Sure, we were leery for our own safety and for the safety of our students, but the fact that we were together made it worth it. The icing on the cake, however, was the sheer magnitude of appreciation teachers received. The stimulus check helped, as did being second in line for the vaccinations, but the state hazard bonuses, the continued paychecks, the smiles hidden under masks and the voluminous drop in the emails we typically receive from helicopter parents were what really did the trick. Never in my 15 years of teaching have I ever felt so appreciated (nor rewarded economically) for doing what I do. 

Group Work is Overrated

COVID mitigation protocols forced me to change a lot of my teaching strategies throughout the year. Instead of having long tables that students shared, I had to opt for individual desks to make sure students were 3-6 feet apart at all times. Instead of having students switch classrooms to be taught by other teachers, it was us, their teachers, who did all the switching. Instead of doing a lot of group work and partner problem solving strategies, my students had to work alone more often than not.

And that made all of the difference.

I have never seen such a dramatic uptick in academic growth than I have since the advent of this school year. I had lower expectations considering the pandemic and their virtual learning experiences from last spring, but the students’ focus and drive was commendable: they performed at or above grade level (the majority ABOVE) in nearly every area. That’s a remarkable stat even during a regular school year, let along during a pandemic. And I’m 99% certain that making them personally responsible for their progress by completing more individual work was what led to their success.

Virtual Education is Second Rate

For years, many so-called “professionals” have offered their two cents on how to make education better through technology. While their claims might make sense in theory, in practice technology has caused a lot of educational holes, perhaps more than they’ve filled. Granted, online education has done marvels for people in the adult world, the foundational skills for young learners are essential to brick-and-mortar buildings and, more importantly, real people. 

For the last decade, screens have been used to entertain us and make us more efficient. Very few of us, especially young people, have used technology to further their educational pursuits. That’s why when they are told to use tech to learn, they run into cognitive dissonance, because every moment they log on, their brain tells them that the screen was designed to “have fun,” not “work hard.” This is the deepest hole that the pandemic has uncovered; that a child is more likely to have to swim upstream when battling his temptations to “play” on the very device on which he is supposed to “learn.”

Final Thoughts

In my 15 years of teaching, every year there seems to be something that makes a unique impact on my work as a teacher. The pandemic was probably the strongest motivator to promote the common good since my time as a missionary (which, ironically, my wife and I served during the Swine Flue pandemic). Reflecting on both moments, there’s a common thread that both share: both forced us into quarantine where we could not participate in any form of human service to the greater community. When “helping others” is so radically taken away from you, the desire to want to do more when things are “back to normal” only increases.

And with vaccinations on the rise, we teachers are ready to get back to doing what we do best- serve.