A Teacher’s Take on Online School

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Photo by: Karissa Harrison

Upper school English teacher Tyler Blue zooms with his sophmore class.

Karissa Harrison, staff writer
April 26, 2020

As McKinney Christian enters its fourth week of online schooling, we wanted to hear from the teachers about this unique situation and how they feel about teaching online. The teachers explained how the virus has affected their lives and how they feel regarding online school. They also described the ways they have coped with the demands that come with MCA’s new situation.

Upper School World Literature I and II teacher, Tyler Blue, stated that “Obviously, the main thing is that I am not at the MCA campus every day. Other than that, the changes aren’t huge; I am making more food at home, watching more TV, sleeping a little bit later, and staring at a computer screen much more. Online school has its positives and negatives. I think the positives are that I can do most things on my own time and get them all done at once like most students are figuring out, which means I have a little more free time. The main negative is that I don’t get to see my students every day and that in itself creates a bunch of other little problems. However, I am trying to make the best of it, so I am trying to get a little better each week. As of right now, I think most teachers and students have figured a lot of things out, and things are getting easier.”

Middle School 7th and 8th grade English teacher, Amanda Davidson, said this about her time at home: “Being a homebody by nature, I don’t mind sheltering in place. I don’t like that I can’t take my kids to the park or run errands or visit with friends. My kids are super social so that is making this situation hard and lots of tears about missing school, friends, and family. Online school is a whole new world to me; although, I do utilize Google Classroom regularly, having to put everything online and communicate effectively through text can be a challenge. I think I’m doing okay with it, but I miss interacting with my students, seeing their faces, and talking to them about all the random things that come up during our discussions. Talking with my students in the morning, during passing periods and after school was one of my favorite parts of the day. I miss that.”

Lower School 5th grade Math, Science, and Social Studies teacher, Karen Krusing, replied with, “The virus hasn’t affected me any differently than others. I think that this has been quite an adjustment for all of us. I have really missed seeing my students, friends, and family. I am also a ‘people person’, so having to sit behind a computer screen to teach has been the most challenging. I try to focus on the things that I can control, like how I spend my time and my thoughts. This is a perfect opportunity to reconnect with our loved ones through family meals, games and movie nights. Being at home also allows us to have more time to do daily devotions and prayer time. I am grateful for the awesome technology that we have to help with online school. While teachers were preparing for the online school transition, we had to do some serious learning ourselves. We investigated and sifted through all the options before we began planning for students. It was a bit overwhelming. But, I love how our MCA family supports one another.  That very day that I was struggling, three teachers came to the rescue. Being at home without my students has definitely changed up my routine. I still love my job and look forward to being back on campus, whenever that may be.”

Based on these various interviews, Lower to Upper School, it is clear that each MCA teacher has been dealing with many of the same struggles. And although face to face interactions and fun conversations have been missed over the past few weeks, teachers and students alike have been adapting to their new situation.