Our first semester at Hughson High was primarily   through distance learning and that experience has been very different, to say the least. How will teachers be able to get through another semester of doing school this way?

Mr. Bernard, an Anatomy/Physiology, Sports PE, and AP Environmental Science teacher at HHS said, “This school year is far from perfect, but I get through day by day knowing that I’m doing the best I can for my students and my athletes based on the situation we’re in.” 

Mr. Govett, an English 10, ELD, and Sports PE teacher at HHS, said, “I think I’ll be able to get through another semester doing school this way by remembering why I’m doing what I’m doing.  I got a lot of insight from my students last semester, and they conveyed a lot of gratitude toward their teachers.  I have stayed motivated to continue to make my class as close to the normal school experience as possible, and I still get pumped up to bring it for class each morning.”

When we were halfway through the first semester, a couple of teachers were asked if there were any new strategies that they were wanting to try/are trying. In an updated response Mr. Govett said, “I’m always looking for ways to improve what I’m currently doing, and one thing I want to do is talk with my fellow teachers for ideas about how to get more interaction from zoom participants.  Overall, the majority of my students did about as well grade-wise as I suspect they would if attending class in person, but I want to find ways to get as close to in-person interaction with students as possible.” 

Ms. Brazil, an U.S. History, Leadership, and Life of a Husky Leadership Academy teacher at HHS similarly said, “I am just continuing to try and make zoom meetings as interactive as possible.” 

Mr. Bernard said, “I’d like to learn how to switch back and forth between my ipad and my zoom camera.  It would make it much easier for me to illustrate things as if I were writing on a whiteboard.  Right now, I’m using my OWL camera and for the most part, the students can see what I write on the board, but sometimes due to the glare, it’s hard for my kids at home to see what I’ve written.” 

Concerning the topic of returning to a  normal school setting  Mr. Bernard said that, “When things return to normal, I will likely start using Google forms for all of my quizzes.  By this time, I’ve got the majority of them loaded already.  I’ll likely also continue to have my students make videos as an alternate way of demonstrating their understanding of a topic.”

Mr. Govett stated, “I can see the owl camera staying to give kids who are absent or need to remain on distance learning a little longer a chance to still “see” class, whether live during Zoom or by viewing a recording.  I also have had much more time to give more feedback on written assignments and have lots of email contact outside of school hours.  I would like to see that continue.”