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Grace Walton

A group of Rockwood teachers gathered outside of the Rockwood Administrative Annex to show their concern of having students back in the building, Nov 5.

Eureka High School plans on welcoming students this week for in-person instruction for the first time since March. Locally, the main focal point has been the students stuck at home receiving an online education, but one question remains: “How have the teachers been keeping up while transitioning to in-person learning while still managing students virtually?”

Under the pandemic teaching circumstances, teachers have been tasked with hosting online zoom meetings, and for the most part, teachers were met with silent, black screens. These ‘ghost screens’ have caused problems like lack of keeping kids engaged and caught up with work, problems creating teacher-student relationships, and difficulty navigating through technology and new ways to teach. 

The EHS-Hub asked teachers to fill out an anonymous survey in regards to virtual and online learning to gather thoughts on returning to school. 

90 percent of Eureka teachers said they felt more exhausted with the increase in screen time. 

57 percent of teachers feel pretty comfortable with kids returning for in-person instruction, while 32 percent of teachers still feel uncomfortable or extremely uncomfortable. 

25 percent of teachers reported they felt difficulty managing technology during virtual learning 

36 percent of teachers said authority on virtual instruction through Zoom was difficult 

78 percent of teachers have felt lonely or stressed during virtual instruction

Teachers shared with the Hub the biggest issues that they have seen with online instruction. 

Student engagement: Many teachers reported a lack of student engagement due to no video during zoom classes. 

Student-teacher relationships: Most teachers commented about the struggles of creating student-teacher relationships over zoom.

Missing work: Lots of teachers replied that students didn’t turn in work or follow through with assignments.

Poor internet: Teachers replied that poor internet connection was an issue for themselves and their students during Zoom.

Harder Curriculum: Some teachers added that their curriculum was harder, especially for the elective classes that teach a subject that is project-based. Other teachers mentioned that their curriculum was moving twice as fast.

While virtual instruction has been difficult, many teachers shared the sentiment that they are excited for students to return in person. 

“I miss students. I can’t wait to be able to help them again,” one teacher said. 

As far as reentry is concerned, many teachers want students to be held accountable and to have a safe environment for all. 

Students are scheduled to return to in-person learning on Thursday, November 12.