First-year teachers refuse to let COVID-19 negatively affect their experience

Mason Quigley wanted to be a teacher his entire life but never imagined a global pandemic cutting his first year short.

The seventh grade teacher at Washington Middle School said he was most excited to begin building relationships with students and understand how they work. Getting his own classroom and learning what kind of teacher he wanted to be were all the thoughts on his mind at the time, he said.

'I feel as if for myself I had to figure out how I wanted my classroom run. Going through college, they were preparing us for that, but you had all those other teachers there to help you out,” he said. 'I think it took me a good couple of months to get understanding who I was as a teacher.”

Once the first day came, Quigley said it went well and he felt he was beginning to get a hang of his new job. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic came and closed the schools, his year was cut short.

Although he saw it coming, Quigley said it was still difficult to come to terms with. At first he thought schools would only be canceled for a few weeks but when the announcement came that they would be closed for the rest of the school year, it took him by surprise.

'When that truly happened it was kind of like, ‘wait- we're done?'” he recalled.

To try and cope with the situation and make the best of the first year, Quigley said he has continued to reach out to students and family to stay in touch and continue to give them support.

Madison Sheetz, a third grade teacher at Lincoln Elementary in Washington also has been reaching out to students often. The first-year teacher has organized multiple ZOOM calls which she says has not only lifted her students' sprits, but hers as well.

'It's definitely something that I never expected to happen and you could be in that mind-set of being upset about things but for me, I scheduled different zoom calls with my kids and still getting to see them through a computer screen, [has me] smiling pretty much the entire time,” she said.

Sheetz said when she first learned school would be canceled for the rest of the year, she was not worried about students falling behind academically.

'I knew that they would be fine given that their parents set everything up for them and were sharing the lessons,” she said.

Her concern stemmed from them not being able to be together and see each other. However, the internet has made that possible and although this is a tricky situation, Sheetz said she feels she is doing her best to navigate it.

'Even though it's not something we were planning for to happen or something I could have ever imagined in my life, I'm still in the best case scenario given this poor situation,” she said.

Chad Setterstrom and Mikaela Burris, first year teachers at Mt. Pleasant Community High School, were both most looking forward to developing relationships and connections with students as they entered their careers in education. Now, they are learning to maintain the relationships they've created in their first semester through distance learning.

'The biggest thing we're trying to do is continuously reach out to students, let them know that they can come to us if they have any questions we can help them with. It doesn't have to be related to subject matter,” Setterstrom, a biology and physical science teacher, said.

A large part of why he decided to go into teaching was based on his own experience and relationships with teachers from high school.

'Most of my high school teachers were very supportive and engaged with students and what was going on in their lives. That's something I would like to carry on - developing those relationships with students and being there for them,” he said.

As he navigates the new normal with distance learning, Setterstrom noted the disruption to the usual classroom setting not only potentially puts students who were already struggling even further behind, but also hits a reset button on those relationships that have been built.

'For students we made strides with, it may take a while to rekindle after having such a long absence,” he said.

Currently, Setterstrom is working on finding programs and education platforms that keep students engaged in the enrichment activities he is providing.

'I think the most challenging thing is … keeping positive even if only a few students are returning materials. It's kind of been mentally challenging keeping that effort going forward. Once the announcement came that we were not going back to school this year, participation levels dropped off,” he explained.

For the new teacher, the closures have been 'disappointing,” especially because he was looking forward to being able to see students through an entire year of classes. Ultimately, Setterstrom said he didn't 'truly finish [his] first year.”

'I didn't see kids all the way through the end, that's a little bit frustrating and hard to take,” he said.

For Burris, a freshman and sophomore English teacher, having to be away from students has been a difficult transition as well.

'I miss them. As soon as I got [to school] in the morning, I had students in my room, almost until the moment I left, just talking and wanting to share what's going on in their lives and all that stuff. I don't get that anymore,” Burris said.

'It's definitely heartbreaking. I have yet to tear down anything from my classroom. All the sticky notes my students were working on are still on the board. The first time I stepped back into my classroom after the closures, I cried,” she added. The English teacher added it's especially hard because 'there was no closure.”

Though her teaching program didn't prepare her specifically to deal with distance learning during a global pandemic, Burris said a big part of becoming a teacher was thinking on her feet and being flexible.

'The person I worked with during my student teaching experience would throw me in all of the sudden. She'd say ‘Guess what, you're teaching next period.' You learn to be flexible and learn to adapt - you never know what's going to happen day-to-day, whether in school or in virtual learning,” Burris added.

Teachers in the Fairfield, Pekin and Cardinal school districts have found innovative ways to reach their students during this pandemic. Kayeleigh Rook, a third grade teacher at Cardinal Elementary School, created a private Facebook group for parents to join so they could find lessons she posted. She posts lessons three times a week, and sends them over email, too.

Rook and her fellow third grade teachers are sharing lessons to keep the material consistent for all students, and to spread the workload around. Right now, she's teaching the math lessons. She videotapes herself giving the lesson and uploads it to YouTube, then shares a link to the video with parents.

'Online teaching is not like in-person teaching,” Rook said. 'This experience has been good and bad. It has been bad in the sense that I did not see my first-year teaching ending like this. I didn't get to finish out the year with my kids and there were a lot of things that I had to miss out on that I looked forward to experiencing with my students and co-workers (field trips, end of the year crafts, field day, ag day, etc.).”

At the same time, Rook said the pandemic forced her to learn how to video chat with her class over Zoom, how to videotape lessons and share them, and how to make plans with her co-workers, all remotely.

'It has pushed me and stretched me into a better teacher,” she said. 'The biggest challenge is that I am navigating uncharted territory. Meaning, I have no idea what I am doing. I was not trained for this. I just do the best I know how.”

Taylor Holman is Rook's colleague who also teaches third grade at Cardinal. She said that online learning has been an adjustment for her, too, and that she's had to step outside her comfort zone and 'be vulnerable in front of the camera.”

'Over the past several weeks, it has gotten easier and using technology has become more of a strength,” Holman said. 'I wouldn't say that teaching virtually is more of a challenge, it is just very different from what we are used to and not something any of us expected that we would ever have to do.”

Holman said her biggest challenge has been not being able to interact with her students in person. Building relationships with students is her favorite part of teaching. Every morning, students enter her room with a handshake, fist bump, high five or a hug. They begin every day by sharing good news.

'I miss hearing about what's going on in their lives, I miss seeing them socialize with their friends, and I miss the ‘aha' moments when they finally get a math concept they had been working so hard on,” Holman said. 'Thankfully, our classroom can still stay connected virtually via our weekly Zoom calls. It is not the same as being in the environment of our classroom, but it still provides us a small way to continue building relationships while we are away from school.”

Andrea Tollefson teaches fifth grade science and social studies at Pekin, where the students have been doing online work, too.

'It is more challenging to teach over the internet than in the classroom,” Tollefson said. 'Science lessons involve hands-on activities. The students enjoyed doing those activities, it is not as engaging to watch someone else do them.”

Tollefson is on the computer a lot. She and her husband are both educators, so some days are 'non-stop Zoom meetings.” And yet, they're not the only ones who need the computer. The couple have three school-aged children.

'It is a challenge to make sure everything gets done,” Tollefson said.

Shayla Filson teaches first grade at Washington Elementary School in Fairfield. She has been using a combination of online resources and printed materials to teach her students. She has regular Zoom sessions with her students, where she reviews the assigned reading and math skills such as reading fluency phrases, practicing phonics skills and the occasional game of 'sight word sparkle.”

'This experience has been such a crazy transition,” Filson said. 'Never did I think that my first year of teaching would end with me teaching from my kitchen table. In college they teach you how to incorporate technology into your classroom, but I did not think that it would become the primary way of learning.”

Filson said she's excited for her class's upcoming 'virtual field trip” to Jefferson County Park. The field trip was scheduled for April, but had to be canceled because of the pandemic. With the help of technology and Brittney Tiller at the park, our field trip is back on.

Fairfield, like most districts in the state, is offering voluntary instruction. Filson said she worries about her students struggling or falling behind. In the classroom, she can accommodate their needs, but now that she's no longer working with them in person, it can be difficult to see what they need.

'It has been such a big change for the students as well,” Filson said. 'They are so used to spending their entire day at school. A lot of them go through the lessons we provide for them in a day. Many of them want more activities to fill their void. I give major props to the parents trying to raise their families, educate their children, and work their own jobs. I can only imagine the challenges they face on a daily basis.”