The lack of freedom the students had (they had to line up inside the classroom in between each period, had no breaks throughout the day, had class from 7AM to 4PM daily, and had to sit with their homerooms everyday during lunch), in conjunction with the pre-scripted lesson plans that were dry and lacked any room for my creativity and imagination to shine created a learning environment not conducive to learning. As a result, students acted up, did not follow directions, and it was probably the worst behavior I’ve seen in students since teaching in Las Vegas. After reaching out to administration for support, I felt like the principal blamed me more than anything, bad-mouthing me in front of colleagues behind my back. Seven Teachers quit before me, and by October I knew the school was not a good fit. I felt bad for leaving mid-year but I knew I couldn’t go down with the sinking ship. Shortly after I left the principal was “let go” and was replaced. Good riddance.
This meant of course it was unlikely that I would be teaching again the rest of the academic school year. Finding a job mid-year is difficult in and of itself, especially since my credential was only in history at the time, the most oversaturated credential currently in the market. To keep myself busy I simultaneously subbed for the Westminster, Irvine, Fountain Valley School Districts, and Fairmont Private Schools while working as an academic tutor in Irvine for Gate Education. In the process, I also passed my General Science CSET while also taking some Special Education classes to help increase my ability to teach those learners whom I’ve struggled with in the past.
By February I was already bored with subbing. It was actually a little too easy. I was able to manage students pretty effectively due to my prior years of teaching in Los Angeles. Needless to say, delivering another teacher’s lesson plan is not nearly as exciting as delivering my own, and I missed teaching dearly.
Then, the pandemic hit, and all the schools I was subbing at shut down simultaneously. I was left unemployed, disheartened, and wondering what my next plan of action would be. My first set of students in Las Vegas were set to graduate high school that year, and unfortunately didn’t get the opportunity to walk due to the plague that stopped the word. I was going to attend their graduation. One of my first set of students sent me a note, which she found. It was one of the earliest letters I had ever written to her on a tiny postcard, which I had individually written for all students. [This eventually evolved into the longer letters that I write to all my students throughout the course of a year].
To the class of 2015 (7th grade), class of 2020 (high school), I am sorry for the loss of what would have been a fitting end to your Senior Year. No Prom, no graduation, and not a real transition into college meant a truly unique experience as a class.
On my end, I ultimately decided that if I was going to take steps to obtain job security in the future, I would have to increase my knowledge exponentially now. Getting a job during a global pandemic is not easy. I enrolled in Cal State Fullerton’s Special Education credential program to increase my ability to help all students learn. As a result, I was able to get a teaching position relatively easy at Hosler Middle School for the Lynwood Unified School District. I subsequently taught math, science, and college prep primarily through Google Classroom and Google Meets in a distance learning format.
Teaching online proved to be a relatively smooth and fun experience. I would say a majority of my students did well on the various online platforms I used, which intertwined Google applications as well as peardeck. I was able to use my previous skills as a history teacher to make my science lessons fun and engaging, even doing virtual stations and gallery walks with my students. College Prep was more of an elective class so I did Advisory type activities with these students which involved them writing blogs, and of course examining various virtues they could improve in. Math was the subject I struggled with the most making fun for students, and I found myself doing the same types of lessons where I would go over various math problems and have students practice on Jamboard. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience teaching to a classroom of all cameras off. It was nice to have smaller class sizes since I was doing special education, my class sizes ranging from 5 to 10 students each period.
My best lesson was a choice boards activity, where students had 9 virtual activities to choose from during a given class period, and had to create a winning combination in tic-tac-toe to be able to “win” for the day.
I led and conducted IEP (Individualized education plans) meetings which all went relatively smoothly, despite being delivered through an online medium. The skills I acquired in the process were life-changing, and I hope to bring them with where I go next.
Though saddened I never got to teach these students in person, I was happy to see many of them at graduation, and I wish them the best of luck as they enter high school next year.
