When Covid-19 appeared suddenly in March, it did not give teachers and students much time to adjust to the abrupt departure or the continuing of lessons for the remainder of the year. Summer was not one of relaxation for teachers.  Teachers worked countless hours at the beginning of the 2020- 2021 school year creating lessons and figuring out which learning platforms to use in the classroom.

No one anticipated that after five months of quarantine, the Los Banos school district would be in full swing of distance learning. While some students had a difficult time starting school, teachers had an even harder time preparing and navigating the online technology.

Teachers spent all of August enrolled in classes learning how to make the adjustment to distance learning easier for students.  The district provided many training opportunities to interact with various websites to aid in the transition to online learning.

Mr. Charles Garber, a history teacher stated, “It’s much harder doing distance learning instead of being in the class.”

Most teachers would agree that distance learning has its ups and downs, but the major consensus is that in-person learning is much better than teaching online. Teachers miss the daily interacting with students and say it is harder to make human connections with students online.

When asked what advice he would give to new teachers, Mr. Mike Wallace, a junior high history teacher said, “Take your time and be patient with yourself and your students. Try not to replicate the classroom and try and adapt.”

With Covid numbers decreasing over the past couple of weeks in Merced county, hybridized teaching is becoming more of a possibility.  Teachers are looking forward to returning to the classroom, but many are cautious to go back with worry that the disease may spread.