Episode #68: Teaching During the Pandemic, Part Two.

Welcome back to Part Two! The Book Friends are interviewing two of Alvina’s friends who teach at a private school in North Carolina. Heather and Fernando continue to share their stories about what teaching during the pandemic has been like. You can listen to Part One here. First, there are a couple of fun announcements from the beginning of the show:

-Next week, Grace and Alvina will be holding a book club discussion on the novel, Stamped, by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi.

Brendan Kiely will be a special guest on the show next week! He wrote the book, All American Boys, along with Jason Reynolds.

“How have you been?”

Grace has been a little anxious about everything. She has been having difficult conversations with her relatives. Her older sister went to a march and posted it on Facebook. It brought up a conversation with her parents who were not supportive of that. It’s hard to know where to go once you have these tough conversations. “You love your family but it’s a hard thing when you realize that people you love can think so radically different from you.” Grace has started a Kids Book Reviewers Club with her other podcast, Kids Ask Authors! “We don’t have many reviews of black books, so at least I’m being proactive and that makes me feel better.” She also bought a Little Free Library! Her goal is to fill it with diverse books.

Alvina is happy to see protests still going on in the nation and finally went to two protests in Brooklyn. She was also thrilled like so many others to hear the Supreme Court ruled Monday that the section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that outlaws employment discrimination on the basis of sex must be interpreted to also protect gay and transgender people. She’s been feeling hopeful about real change now.

As the interview continues with Fernando and Heather, Grace wonders if some kids have actually flourished while attending school remotely. They tell us that some kids have actually done quite well with all the one-on-one attention they get at home. Especially for the Pre-K students who sometimes get so distracted by other children and things in the classroom. Some kids need the structure of school to learn better, some students need the more focused time at home to excel.

“Has your school made a decision about when you’re going to go back?”

It is too early to say but there are many discussions about it the two teachers say. There is talk about hybrid learning styles but Heather doesn’t believe that can be pulled together by September. Some days the kids will be in school, some days they will be at home. They may have groups of kids coming in the morning and another batch of kids coming in the afternoon. They both agree that it’s hard to manage students, teachers, and parents opinions right now.

 “What have you learned during this remote learning , anything that you’ll apply to the future classroom?”

Fernando says they can better streamline the work. Instead of so much busy work, he can narrow it all down to what is the most important work to get to. However, the social emotional learning which is a big component in upper school is hard to work on. Heather says that screen time has been very valuable. They try to stay away from too much of it but she has learned how videos can be helpful in learning remotely. She said she could do this for a long time because she really enjoys making the videos. “Because of children at Pre-K level, we are always so physical with the kids. I miss them but it would be so heartbreaking to be in a room with them and not be able to touch each other. I would rather do screen time rather than say to their face, “I can’t hug you”.

Fernando definitely wants to get back to the classroom setting because he really misses his students and the face-to-face conversations and group discussions. At the same time, he is no rush because we need to be so cautious with the virus.

“Do you teach social justice?”

“YES! do we have challenges? YES.” Fernando says especially teens who are oppositional by nature. They want to provoke. He said that been though most of his colleagues are on the liberal side, parents share those positions too but not all of them. “I try not to impose my point of view.” He explains that he wants the conversations to be had but encourages students to find their own voices.

 Heather says that with the littles, its so important instead of telling them what’s right or wrong, it is good to coerce them to figure out what’s right or wrong to them. That way when  they get older, they’ve made up their own minds and choices.

They both commented how on how they feel students are going out in to the community and seeing and learning for themselves. They’re hopeful that students want to be proactive right now.

“What are we grateful for?”

Grace is grateful that for change being made even if it is slow progress. She was reminded of this when she saw a turtle on her morning walk!

 Heather says she’s been mostly sucked into the doom and gloom on internet but recently a conservative religious relative of hers posted a confession /apology on internet realizing that she was actually racists and wanted to make a change now. If this had inspired her to make a video, then maybe there are others inspired like this as well.

 Fernando is grateful for the American youth right now. They are seeing things in a totally different way right now and they’re out in the streets. They’re out there making this country more fair and they have an agenda.

Alvina is grateful for collective action. She is starting to believe that there will be forward motion.

2-minute Book Review by Alison Morris:

Nana Akua Goes To School by Tricia Elam Walker & April Harrison.

“A wonderfully warm picture book that honors identity, celebrates differences, and depicts a loving black family.”

Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.