COVID-19 causes educational changes in 2021
This year there have been many changes in the school building as we change what we do, because of COVID-19.
Kean Elementary kindergarten teacher, Derek Ickes said that in determining the difference in students’ learning, “In kindergarten , we see the students at the beginning of their education. So, we see a little change for students who missed some preschool time, but every year, we have students who never attended preschool so there is not much difference.” Kindergarten students are learning similarly to the way that they do each year.
Cynthia Vaughn, a seventh grade science teacher at Edgewood stated that when comparing students behavior to previous years before COVID-19: “Students seem to be ‘behind’ in their social skills and maturity levels by not having regular interactions where they learn to modulate social settings from experiences…Lack of experiences has made students more immature by nearly two years.”
COVID-19 has damaged the students’ social skills by keeping them indoors while they should be out expressing their emotions and finding new characteristics.
Brett Hiner, WHS English Dept. the member said that the changes he has seen in learning from before COVID-19 to now in 2019 are “I think teachers, while maybe adjusting pace and expectations, have jumped right back in. A ‘change’ would likely be allowing time for students to readjust to the realities of effective learning.”
Teachers in the district are all learning to adjust to new challenges this year from online learning to coming back and learning in a school setting.
Ickes said that what we earned in 2021 is that “2021 was a year with a lot of changes from the end of last school year to the beginning of this year, but the biggest thing I have learned is how resilient students and teachers can be in the face of adversity.”
Teachers and students alike are all learning to adapt to the new environment and are learning the best way to educate young people.