The new normal: staying at home, only leaving the house for necessities, doing homework (and instructional time) at home, and stocking up on everything from toilet paper to canned goods, “just in case.”

At this point in many people’s lives, it is so easy to focus only on one’s self, but it is important to open up and listen to other people’s stories as well. 

Kelly Schoettlin is the sponsor of the Sophomore Class at Kempsville High School, as well as a teacher of World Studies for Business I and AP Human Geography. She would describe her teaching style previous to the school shut-down as “organized and interactive.” 

Schoettlin said, “I have always tried to be more of a facilitator/guide in the classroom. I don’t like lecturing unless absolutely necessary. I love giving my students opportunities to interact with the material.”

However, with the country being turned upside-down, her teaching style has had to undergo drastic changes due to the rise of online learning. She said, “teaching in the building and from home are so vastly different that very little translates from one to the other.”

“I’ve restructured everything in a way I hope is easy to follow independently,” Schoettlin said. “My teaching style remains organized but is much less interactive. From individual homes it is much more difficult to interact with my students and create lessons that look similar to how they used to.”

Schoettlin has an extra layer of stress added on: the success of her students on the digital AP Exams. She said, “My biggest concern is student access to the test or technology going wrong in some way. My students are smart and have worked hard. I’m still confident in their ability to succeed.” 

Schoettlin has one message she wants all of her students to see:  “I miss [students] like crazy! I miss our random talks and stories that we generate from new topics being discussed. I miss learning about new words/ phrases and current pop culture from my students. I miss seeing all their faces each day. I hope they miss us [teachers] a little bit as well.”