Elementary teachers help students grapple with COVID-19

Learning to adjust to the “new normal” caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge for many Americans last year, but for teachers of elementary-age children, it comes with the added stress of making sure they feel included and cared for, even from behind a computer screen.

“Some of my kids had never been to a school, ever,” said Shannon Moore, who teaches kindergarten at Vestavia Hills Elementary East.

School leaders such as Moore and other teachers said they are making sure the system’s youngest students are doing well, making sure to include their parents and the community as a whole in their education and taking steps to ensure that education is still efficient, even virtually, for those students who have not returned to in-person learning.

“I sell my kids on the specialness of what we’re doing,” said Jason Cooper, a fifth grade teacher at East.

Technology is something with which Cooper said he’s always felt pretty comfortable. However, the pandemic has turned it from a helpful aide to the main thrust of what he’s using for his teaching. The work stretched him as an educator, he said.

While he has learned to use technology to conduct classes, Cooper said he’s aware of the short attention spans that join him in his classes, so he breaks up students into smaller groups during teaching times and rarely has large groups.

Aimee Rainey, the system’s assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, said the district did not give guidelines at the beginning of the pandemic and gave “latitude” to teachers to determine what worked best for them.

Carmen Sullivan, a third grade teacher at Vestavia Hills Elementary Cahaba Heights, said the flexibility helps students, too.

“We want our kids to be empowered,” Sullivan said.

Given so many of their other schedules’ rigidity, Sullivan said it’s important the school is flexible when it can be. Trying to unmute and share with small children can be an interesting experience, Cooper said. Moore agreed.

“If I get 45 minutes, I’m doing good,” Moore said.

Sullivan follows rules that are similar to what she would use in an in-person classroom. She gives breaks and helps students redirect energy if they need to do so, she said.

Collaboration is also key for elementary teachers, Cooper said. In the first month of dealing with COVID-19, it felt like 1997 all over again, his first year of teaching, with all teachers working together to help each other, he said.

Blair Inabinet, principal at Vestavia Hills Elementary Liberty Park said she also spends a great deal of time helping answer questions from parents and working to provide different views of the constellations, but she also sees the willingness of remote students to work hard and engage with the administration, he said.

Rainey said schools are making sure virtual students feel part of the campus, from making sure they are part of the yearbook to ensuring they are part of fun class lectures.

Kids are resilient, Moore said. It gives her hope for the day that all students and staff are together in the same building again.

“I hope they can set their new normal,” she said.