Teachers at Hughson High School have been required to modify their curriculum and style of teaching in order to have success with distance learning. In general, distance learning has illustrated to educators how much they enjoy in-person instruction, and miss having students on campus. 

Paul Michealis, a math teacher at Hughson High, wants to be back to in-person learning, however, he understands that the current measures are required to ensure health and safety. The first few days for Michealis were a hassle. His camera and Microphone weren’t working on the Chromebook he used for meetings, so he had to get them fixed. He said that he is, “fine with how current teaching is, but I like the previous teaching methods more”. Like anyone would hope, he wants the pandemic to be over “as soon as possible”. 

Cindy Newsome, a Spanish teacher on campus misses talking and telling stories to her students. She loves to interact with her students and distance learning makes that harder for her to do. As most teachers have done, she has gotten creative with her assignments to make them as close to the original as possible. She has to spend more time than she normally would for making her assignments into digital format, as she needs to incorporate all the original elements into something possible from home. Since her in-person classes last around 50 minutes, she “incorporated her class dramas into FlipGrid assignments now making it possible to complete at home”.

Nathan Govett, an English teacher at HHS refers to his preparations between classes as a “Frantic Scramble”. Govett, who is in his 24th year of teaching, has enjoyed the challenge of online classes, and tries his best to make them feel like they are the normal classes he would hold, including dad jokes and comedy. He has held most Zoom classes without problems. Govett, with his knowledge of Zoom, also is willing to toy around with the program to make things easier in classes. He stated that he would prefer being in class over online, but he still would also be comfortable recording classes if possible for absent students. Mr. Govett offered advice to those struggling with distance learning by saying,“Don’t make excuses to just avoid class. You shouldn’t quit if things don’t work out, so don’t settle for excuses, and figure a way out!”