Transitioning into online school has proven to be a challenge for most students, but most importantly teachers. The teachers at Eleanor Roosevelt High School have been doing their best to adjust and adapt to the new environment that is online learning. Throughout this experience they have come across things that have been beneficial to them, however, they have also come across some roadblocks. These make it more difficult for them to teach and for students to learn. As of now, teachers are stuck with online learning until the end of the first semester, and then PGCPS will reevaluate their situation to see if it is safe for students to go back to in-person learning.

Due to the new environment of online learning, it may be harder for students to learn from teachers and fully grasp the material being handed to them. Roosevelt teachers say that they don’t know if students are learning as much as they would in school. English teacher Amie Littman adds to this point by saying “it’s harder to tell, kids express through their face” and she goes on to say that the majority of the time most students have their cameras off during her class. Ms. Littman teaches a great number of 9th graders and says that they are “more hesitant to say if they have a question” unlike her 11th graders who don’t hesitate to ask. Ms. Littman is doing her best to make sure her students get the best learning experience possible. Even through her efforts, she still has doubts when she says “I think they’ll by the end of the year know how to write an essay and know how to do the things I need them to do. But I don’t know if they’ll have as much practice.”

Online school has brought upon new challenges for teachers and students to overcome together and on their own. Science teacher Shobha Narayanasundaram claims that it’s hard to create lessons constantly and figure out if the students are learning at the same level as she wants them to. She says it is also difficult to keep up with the best ways to create her lessons for class. Along with this, she says that grading is much more strenuous and it is harder to communicate with your students if there is an issue. However, despite all the negatives, there have been some nice things to come out of online learning. Ms. Narayanasundaram says “it is much nicer to teach from the comfort of your own home instead of in school”. However, she continued on about how after a while it becomes not as enjoyable as it used to be because all you want to do is get out of the house.

Even though online school can be a nice change from in-school learning there are still many things that teachers say they miss from in-class learning. Social Studies teacher Jacqueem Winston says that he really misses the classroom atmosphere from each of his classes and how it felt like a sense of community. He continues talking about how he can’t interact with people in class and even out of class in the hallways. Mr. Winston says “I miss having my old students come by to say something.” The teachers at ERHS try to look for the bright side to all of this and keep a positive attitude in order to help their students get the education they need. However, they are still struggling to adjust to this and keep up with it.