Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1337485
Jennifer Adolfson, left, handles simultaneous instruction - with students both in person and online. A L I F O R N I A S C H O O L S C L O S E D in March 2020 due to COVID-19, but some were granted waivers in the fall and reopened (over the objections of CTA, which believes schools should not be reopened until it is completely safe to do so). For educators who returned to the classroom as the pandemic raged on, it was like being in a science fiction movie with masks, gloves, sanitizer, plastic partitions and fear. Some educators taught students sitting in front of them as well as students online at the same time, in what has been called "concurrent" or "simultaneous" instruction. There was no guidebook for how to teach in a pandemic or offer simul- taneous instruction. But CTA members figured it out as they went along, many with little training. Some were provided with ample hand sanitizer, plastic partitions and air purifiers; others purchased their own. Following are reflections of teachers who returned to in-person teaching during COVID-19 before vaccines became available. (Their circumstances may have changed by the time this issue goes to press.) W E H A V E A log to keep track of who's in the bathroom, to prevent crowds. Students bring their own water bottles, and we have refilling stations instead of water fountains. Students don't eat lunch; they finish at 1 p.m. and go home, so masks stay on. It's very dif- ferent, and I'm always waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tales From the Trenches What it's really like at schools that reopened during the pandemic As told to Sherry Posnick-Goodwin C 26 cta.org Feature We have to rethink it all JENNIFER ADOLFSON, Manteca Educators Association, an eighth grade math, English and social studies teacher, instructs students online and in person simultaneously at Sequoia Elementary School. Students alternate between attending shortened days of in-school classes and online learning, to allow for social distancing.