Farmington High has gone into a soft closure twice so far this year and there are sure to be more. We already know that the students have mixed feelings about doing school at home, but let’s not forget the ones that play a huge role in our learning: the teachers. Though it can be inconvenient to have to do all our school work at home, the teachers face their own challenges.

Teachers have to hope that students will show up for their online class, but many don’t. Since students don’t have to leave in the morning, it’s easy to stay in bed and miss classes. When students don’t go to the class meetings, the teachers have to find a way to let them know what they need to do for their assignment.

“I wish students would not skip the Zoom meetings! It is so much easier to communicate important information in a live meeting than just over email,” math teacher, Mrs. Hepworth, said.

Other issues arise once students are actually in the meeting. There are a few things students do, and don’t do, that teachers don’t like.

“I wish they wouldn’t join class from their bedrooms or their beds, so not cool,” teacher, Mr. Johnson, said.

“Things that drive me crazy…when students don’t turn their cameras on! I hate having a class with only names or icons and no faces! It is so depressing. Plus it becomes obvious when a student is pretending to be there and we break up and they are still in the meeting but not responding. I think I get less participation in a virtual classroom than I do in a face-to-face classroom which is sad – please participate!” history teacher, Mrs. Bullock, said.

Though there are plenty of negatives about being in online school, there are also things we can do to improve it that teachers will appreciate.

“I love it when kids come to class on time – even a few minutes early – helps so much. I love it when kids participate. One of my classes started using the “raised hand” feature in Teams and it was awesome to see 5-6 little hand icons next to their names – this helped prevent multiple people talking at once,” Bullock said.

Soft closures can only be as good as we make them. As students, we have to do our best to make it the best it can be. We knew at the beginning that this school year would be difficult. Already there have been lots of changes to the schedule. If everyone can work hard and stay focused, we’ll get through the year, no matter what challenges arise.