Also Front Liners: Teachers in Pandemic

Accessing physical momentums has become a luxurious thing to do, is it not?

Facing your laptop everyday, making yourself visible in front of everyone through the camera, getting nocturnal at certain times, until having a special connection with your personal devices to an extent where mutual relationships between humans are slowly fading. That's what happened, more or less, exactly a year ago—even until now—when the Covid-19 pandemic had startled almost every living being in the world.

For a couple of months after experiencing lockdowns and physical distancing, it's as if the world was turning upside down. Nothing was going as what most of us had planned. Everything we knew had evaporated, establishing a new momentum of space and time, where for us—students—education automatically went by the name of online school.

Everything seemed blue and grey at first. There was nothing in definite and safety was below the level of zero. Fear and anxiety were eating everyone in whole, as supplies had gone into exile. To not worsen the reality, we, students, have no other choices but to be grateful that we're still being given the chance to receive education during the time. We were severely affected by the pandemic, even until now. But knowing that we have no power in reversing the situation back to normal, we can only hope for a better tomorrow to the medical experts; our front liners.

But little do we know, we have another front liners which are much closer than we think they are. Who are they, you might ask?

Say no more, folks. They are our teachers.

The Shock Wave of Covid-19 © Golden Cosmos/The New Yorker

Also Front Liners

Out of all the amazing teachers that we have here in Sekolah Ciputra, we've decided to interview those who do not teach us, with the purpose of expanding out networking skills with less familiar teachers. Here are their stories:

Mr. Tjahyo

Throughout the interview, we've gotten to know Mr. Tjahyo's personal perspective on online learning. It has been a challenge for him to teach and work online. Online learning has really changed his teaching methods. He had to adapt such as using Zoom, taking advantages of online resources, utilizing Google Jamboard, and others. Just like how students need to get enough resting time, the Mathematics teacher also thinks that teachers do to. Resting is important, in his opinion. If he was given the chance to redesign his working timetable, he would add more break time both for students and teachers, making it even. Though he has gotten used in using Zoom and other online educational-purposed platforms, Mr. Tjahyo admits that the longing feeling to get in touch with his students, and visiting their desks one-by-one is inevitable. In wrapping up the interview, Mr. Tjahyo spreads a message to all students and teachers out there: "Even during the pandemic, everything is hard, but students and teacher cannot give up, have to keep trying, and achieve your goal".

Ms. Anik

Ms. Anik thinks that offline learning is easier for her due to several reasons such as how she could physically meet students, and how she could directly remind their behavior and tasks. On the other hand, Ms. Anik thinks that online learning is also a required skill in keeping up with technology. She admits that teaching students online can be quite a challenge since some of the time, she still can't meet them virtually due to bad internet connection. Ms. Anik also mentions her compacted schedules. Although she has the whole weekend to rest, Ms. Anik admits that she sometimes spends her rest time for marking tasks. The Humanities teacher mentions that she needs more rest, as rests are important to stabilize our immunity. If compared to the earliest days of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Anik has really upgraded her productivity in technology application, which becomes an advantage for her working performance, as she now understands how to use technology effectively. To end the interview, Ms. Anik encourages fellow teachers and students to always open our minds and support each other to strengthen ourselves. Even during a pandemic, to her, we should still manage our time wisely and be productive.

Ms. Desita

According to Ms. Desita, the sudden pandemic has really pushed everyone to change, adapt, and adjust with the situation. As the principal of Sekolah Ciputra and a Mathematics teacher, she thinks that online classes takes longer time to prepare, so she had to plan ahead of time, unlike physical classes, where she can directly sketch on the whiteboard and explain math formulas. Her version of online preparation includes preparing a Google Jamboard page and generating Google Meet/Zoom links, pictures. Although Ms. Desita also mentions that she needs more time to rest, her emphasization in spending that resting time with her family is what makes it interesting. She would love to have a holiday with her family, without having to worry about work and online school. This proves that not everyone has the same recharging battery, as Ms. Desita finds comfort and peace by being surrounded with her loved ones— including having her own 'me time'. The principal ends the interview by sending all teachers and students a message: “As students and teachers, we should never give up on this kind of situation. Always update your knowledge and skills.”

Ms. Dyah

From Miss Dyah's perspective, the Covid-19 pandemic has really changed things, considering the students also prefers offline learning rather than online school. Offline learning offers more interaction and direct sharing. Even though virtual meeting also provides face-to-face interaction, it doesn’t feel the same as offline learning. There are also lots of obstacles including unstable internet connections, blackouts, and audio/microphone errors which sometimes can open doors to many misunderstandings. She also adds that online learning doesn’t offer the teachers to see the student face-to-face 24/7, since many decide to turn off their cameras during a lesson. So teachers wouldn’t know whether the students are actually paying attention to the class, or not. Hence, from the newly rising challenges, like any other teachers, Ms. Dyah also feels the need to get more rest, and she knows her students do too. In her opinion, short breaks, such as the weekends, are not essentially effective for people to restore and to fully recharge. Adapting to online learning is not easy as well, especially for the older generations, as most are still new with using technology. In giving a sweet message to all students and teachers, Ms. Dyah supports us to move forward and do small things to ourselves as well as helping others. Because to her, little efforts can make a big change.

Stay Positive, As What the Quote Says

Throughout this pandemic, lots of new habits have risen up to the surface. Students and teachers have no choice but to adapt with online learning. They have to rely on devices to keep the school on going. All assignments are done at home and are submitted online by taking a picture of their work and send it to the teachers, or submitting digital tasks directly through education platforms such as Google Classroom, ManageBac, etc. Although online learning is not as effective as offline learning—since teachers won’t be able to supervise students effectively—it is the best method to stay on track, by means of learning, during the pandemic.

In a real-life basis, people are forced to wear masks when going out. Keeping a safe distance from each other to avoid getting infected by the virus has also become a new habit for everyone. Ordering food through applications such as GoFood and GrabFood to be delivered to their house has become a trend now, while others prefer to make their own food for the sake of sanitary purposes. Because of the pandemic, people would also do online shoppings, doing multiple adaptations by staying at home and find things that can keep them entertained, or busy. Most people have developed new hobbies like learning a new language, trying new recipes, painting a still-life picture, attending webinars, and many more! Though this pandemic brings many disadvantages for us, it is also a great opportunity to use it as a time to focus on letting ourselves to grow and be the better versions of ourselves.

"Students are not the only ones who suffer during the on-going online school. But teachers are, too."

As you can probably tell from the interview results above, we're all in this together. Students are not the only ones who have a hard time during the on-going online school, but teachers are, too. Both teachers and students have issues with not being able to learn face-to-face, dealing with the uncontrollable internet connection, and let's not forget the amount of screentime we have every day. It's exhausting, we know.

But as students—the younger ones—most of us are already familiar with operating online websites and mobile applications. Meanwhile, this same level of technology is a whole new world for (some of) our dear teachers. Imagine teaching a class without actually knowing whether people are listening or not, whether they understand or not, or whether they're cheating or not. In addition, not only do teachers have to teach, but they also have to study the materials, prepare links, websites and presentations, conduct assignments, and score our work. If that isn't stressful for you, we don't know what is, then.

So really... who are we to complain? As students, we have to be grateful and thankful for these hidden heroes. They have done so much behind the scenes just for the sake of our future. The least we can do today is appreciate them, listen to them, help them, and bring a smile on their faces!

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