Aug. 4 – Veteran teachers say the pandemic has forced them to embrace technology, and they’ll use it to communicate with parents, keep students updated on assignments and create visual aids when they return to the classroom this month.
Stephanie Roden, who is entering her 14th year of teaching as a gifted specialist at F.E. Burleson Elementary School in Hartselle, said the COVID-19 pandemic has played a key role in adapting older teachers to technology.
“If I’m working with teachers who didn’t think they were very tech-savvy before COVID, and then I’m working with them after COVID, now they’re actually very tech-savvy,” Roden said.
As students began to learn remotely or virtually in 2020, all teachers had to use technology to prepare lessons online and conduct classroom discussions through a computer screen. They now have no problem using programs like Google Classroom, an online learning platform, and Padlet, a virtual bulletin board where users can post text, images, links, documents, videos, and voice recordings.
Christy Bennich, a six-year reading coach at Crestline Elementary in Hartselle and an educator of 27 years, says Padlet provides additional resources to help children learn to read.
“I now have an online platform that parents can access,” Bennich said. “Student work (that) they need for reading, things that parents can do at home, they now have an online platform that they can go to.”
Bennich said she struggled with creating PowerPoint slides before the pandemic, but after being “forced” to make more slides during the pandemic, she now does it with ease.
Roden, 40, said online learning platforms like Google Suite and Screencastify were critical to reaching students last year.
“G Suite includes documents (and) slides, which is a presentation tool, among many other different avenues, and we have several teachers in our district who are Google certified,” Roden said.
Screencastify is a web application from Google that allows individuals to record videos from their devices for later playback and sharing, and also has video editing features
“We can take a video of our screen and put it in our face so students can see our presentation, making it more like face-to-face learning, even though it was virtual,” Roden said. “It’s something that many of us have never heard of, but now we use it regularly to make sure we have our lessons for any students who may need them if they’ve been virtual or just to improve their lessons.”
Karen Brown, a reading coach at Tanner Elementary who is entering her 36th year of teaching in Tanner schools, said she didn’t understand technology even before the pandemic.
“(Technology) has been the biggest challenge for me, and it’s sent a lot of really good teachers out the door and into retirement,” Brown said. “I got better with technology… (The pandemic) forced us all to figure it out and train or whatever we had to do.”
Brown said she still uses myON, a student-centered and personalized digital library that gives students access to more than 7,000 enhanced digital books. She said that if students have to go home, they will still have the option of reading books online that she will assign them.
Brown also said that using Apple technology was a challenge and said she was “forced” to learn how to work on a MacBook.
“I love it now,” Brown said of her laptop.
Longtime teachers say they are looking forward to the start of the school year without pandemic restrictions on in-person instruction and eager to get to know their students.
Pam Brannon is entering her 24th year of teaching having only taught at Benjamin Davis Elementary and Leon Sheffield Elementary Magnet. She taught fifth grade at Leon Sheffield during the 2021-2022 school year and will begin her new role as the school’s gifted specialist when Decatur students return to class on Wednesday.
Brannon, 54, grew up in Decatur and graduated from Austin High School. She earned her teaching degree from Athens State University and the University of Alabama. Brannon and her husband, James, have two grown children and also graduated from Decatur High School. She said teaching during the pandemic had its challenges, but she was able to get to know her students better by talking to them one-on-one instead of in groups.
“We all bonded over a difficult situation,” Brannon said.
Although an experienced educator, Brannon does not hesitate to learn new teaching methods from younger teachers entering the field.
“I’m always open to what new teachers bring to the table,” Brannon said. “I’m the one who reinvents the wheel every year to keep things fresh and up to date.”
Roden has taught in Limestone County Schools, Decatur and now Hartselle City Schools for 14 years. She grew up in Winston County and graduated from Athens State University. She has watched social media evolve into many different forms and said that while social media has its downsides, it has helped her meet other teachers and learn new ideas.
“I know as a teacher there are so many social media communities that I’ve joined that give me so many ideas and pour into me to help me be a better teacher,” Roden said.
Roden built a miniature slide in the robotics classroom, which her students in the gifted program will work with this year.
“We’re going to learn how the roller coaster works and become critical thinkers through the process,” Roden said.
Bennich, 51, will begin her 27th year as an educator and said she and other Crestline teachers will get off to a better start to the school year. It plans to help students make up for valuable class time missed due to quarantine and periods or distance learning from March 2020.
“We still have some gaps here and there, but we’re in a much better position,” Bennich said.
Brown, 59, said new teachers entering the field need to listen to their students and get to know them on a personal level in order to build and maintain relationships.
“They need to take the time to learn about each child in their classrooms,” Brown said. “You’ve got to find out their story. You’ve got to find out what’s going on in their lives and you’ve got to show them that you care about them, because a lot of kids will do whatever you want them to do as long as they know you care about them.”
— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.
