Weekly Reflection Paper
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Teaching has always been surrounded by the notion that touching, feeling, and social interaction is the way for students to learn and develop, for all students, not just the little ones. COVID-19 contradicted this notion. Being a teacher and even a student has always been a challenge, but COVID-19 was a challenge none of us were expecting to happen.
What stood out to me from the articles that I read, summarizing all about coronavirus. The obvious answer would be to say COVID because obviously COVID was not something none of us were all prepared for. The more important thought that stood out to me from “Wilson and Petersons Theories of Learning and Touching: What do they mean for Educators?”; was the belief that we couldn’t start to understand and have open discussions about racism and the social injustices between Black and White, Indigenous, Asian, and Muslim communitues, and so many more until COVID-19 occurred, and some would even say the wrongful deaths of George Floyd and so many more African American individuals perpetuated a movement that in mine and others opinions should have already begun prior to COVID..
Coronavirus, although extremely destructive, also came with a realization and the formulated principle that many students fell behind during lockdown, because they were not able to learn in the ways they needed to in order to be successful. Not just because of the inability to take part in classroom learning but because of the lack of access to at the time essential school supplies such as computers and high speed internet for zoom calls. Now with the realization of the lack of funds for those who actually need it to learn. We have the understanding that we need to make sure our students are set up with everything they need to be successful, not just at the school but at home too, because as we know home can become the classroom too.
I know that these unpredictable times of a global pandemic will influence the ways teachers will have to teach all because it has already impacted the way of learning. During these times we have begun to understand the potential of an online class, and that they can be just as effective. I can see us teachers regularly teaching more online courses, but in ways that students are actually understanding the content. I know this because teachers and students have both developed strategies of using the computer for most class work. They have adapted to using zoom meetings, online dictionaries, study music soundtracks, and even how to properly send polite emails to their professors. So as a student who had to pass classes during this wild time, I know students are capable, and as a future teacher I know students are capable of learning in whatever format the world throws at them. If that means another global pandemic, online zooms, or just working in the classroom, students and teachers can do it.
Another idea that has been brought to people’s attention that will likely stay for the foreseeable future is the need for open and honest discussion and owning up to the wrongdoings of our ancestors. Conversations about the injustices between cultures all over the globe will become a constant thing in the future, and have begun now. These uncomfortable topics of our ancestors’ wrongdoings should be included in every subject throughout the day, and in every grade all the way from elementary to university. I know topics of racist injustices are not included in all subjects right now in the present day, but I have a gut feeling that will be changing real quick.
I also strongly believe in the idea of believing in your own success whether you are a teacher or student will impact learning and developing! If that doesn’t work just remember you lived through a global pandemic, so you can accomplish anything you put your mind to!