Although many believed that the Coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019 would be tamed by the year 2021, 10 EMU education students recognize that COVID-19 is still a prominent issue as they complete their semester of student teaching. When asked about her experience teaching in a dual-language program at a local elementary school, senior education major Ruth Reimer-Berg said, “I have mixed feelings. It’s a little bit of a bummer to just be sitting alone in my room all day, like on a screen. I am really thankful for the safety that being online provides.” Given all of the modifications that K-12 schools underwent to adapt to the pandemic, student teaching does not look the same as it did in the past.
Reimer-Berg and other student teachers are tasked with being the primary facilitator of learning in a classroom for the first time in their journeys to becoming educators. Now, student teachers must figure out how to do so, while also accounting for a raging, global pandemic. Reimer-Berg expressed how student teaching within a completely virtual, socially-distant setting forces her to rethink the lesson planning process. “I think a lot of the strategies that I can choose from are a lot more limited. I’m about to teach a unit on math, and it would be so nice if I could give them handheld objects and things they could play with and experiment with. But instead, I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna share my screen,’” Reimer-Berg noted. However, although lesson activities have changed, Reimer-Berg expresses that relationship-building is “still something that, at least for me, is a really high priority, regardless.”
Rachel Sauder, a senior math education major, reports that her school day begins with some morning work before her first class at 9 am. From there, things get confusing. Sauder explains that her schedule teaching sixth-grade math changes from day to day. When asked how this school year differed from previous years, Sauder exclaimed that “the biggest difference is the amount of time we have for the students. In a typical school year, most students would be in a class for 90 minutes. With virtual learning, I see the same class only twice a week for 55 minutes.” Less class time means less time to cover all of the material from the curriculum to keep students on pace for their grade level. It seems that covering all of the material would have to overshadow building relationships with the students, but Sauder added, “the only thing that I would say is normal are the fun personalities that sixth-graders have. I love how they enjoy telling stories and sharing things about their lives.”
Each EMU student is placed into two different classrooms for seven weeks in order to gain valuable experience. Ronald Shultz, a professor in the education department, reflected on the experience of placing EMU’s student teachers into local, cooperating classrooms. “As I reflect on the experience overall, I have been very impressed with student teachers willingness to, you know, kind of trust the process and make the most of the experiences, even if it wasn’t what they were hoping for, for student teaching,” Shultz articulated. EMU student teachers continue to adapt to ever-changing circumstances to help their students succeed.
