How was your summer and what did you do to pass the time?

Um summer was very different than usual as I’m sure for many of us um. I will say the highlight for me was getting the chance to uh go to the Adirondacks in New York state and uh with my husband and we did some hiking and swimming so that for me was very uh very relaxing and a nice experience. So, and uh so, small- small things like that and uh you know just taking a lot of walks and uh exploring, you know, the outside as much as possible.

Are there any current events you would like to comment on?

Ha ha, what isn’t there? Uh ha ha um let’s see.. so I think the last time we spoke it was maybe just before there was like a lot of the demonstrations happened with Black Lives Matter and racial injustice and so um that’s definitely at the forefront of my mind these days. Um, and you know so, you know, there’s several very large issues going on right now, right. We have have this um greater social awareness of anti-racist, anti-bias work um I feel sort of another big aspect is the environment and climate. And another one is the relationships science has with the greater society and why a lot of people resist listening to scientists, and you know, around either, you know, either CDC regulations or vaccinations or, or other things um you know as we’ve been talking in our science research class we were, you know, unpacking and kind of taking a look at why people mistrust scientists and but at the same time you know why other people are just um very resistant to an understanding just like this are how a study works and you can’t just put your own opinion on it without basing it on some sort of evidence. So I think that’s another piece as well. And then of course, and of course there’s the election. So, um so there’s a lot going on these days, uh ha ha.

See more of Ms. Machac’s interview in the video below:

How was beginning the year in fully remote learning? Do you think that it affected your relationship with your students?

Um… Well, for sure. Uhh, it’s… it’s really hard to get to know people through a screen. Uh, we’re all different through the- on the screen, our personalities- not only is it hard to understand someone’s personality, but I think we’re just different. And… I knew that was true, and I, you know, tried to work very hard in my class to try to create a sense of community in the beginning of the year, um, as I normally would in-person.. Eh-uh, and I don’t think it was until we went back in-person that I really realized how big an impact it had. There were people in my class who I’d known already- like “known” for a month- it wasn’t that they were totally different, but there were, you know, I was, like, had a totally- in some cases it really shifted my understanding of who they were as students and as persons. And… you know, to- that was… even though it was hard, like the hybrid is hard- has its own reasons why it's hard, um, in terms of like, getting to know people, uh, in-person was definitely helpful.

What is specifically difficult in hybrid learning?

[Chuckle] Everything! Uh… I mean, remote teaching is hard as well, trying to, uh, you know I’ve been trying to think about why this is so hard, right? Um, because I’ve been- I and other teachers have been, who I’ve talked to, it just feels so hard. I think I’ve been doing this for two decades, but why, why is this so hard [chuckles]? Um… and I think part of it is, you know, if I imagine my role as a teacher, I come up with a list of ideas that I want students to take away from a lesson, and then I create a framework, and then I go into the classroom normally, and maybe I have, like some- a smart board that has a few questions on it and uh, you know, that I pose, there’s a little back and forth, and then maybe I say, like go grab a whiteboard and, you know, talk about- And I’ll walk around seeing if I notice that like, hmmm, this isn’t going the way that I thought I wanted it to go, so I’m like, ok, let’s stop doing that, and let’s shift to this, you know, or I’ll say, oh, let’s just, you know… Um, and you know, when you’re virtual, you really can’t do that. Like, even the idea, you know, I have to have a set of slides that frames our whole interaction, like, if we’re going to work kind of like a virtual whiteboard, there’s gotta be- I gotta set that up, right? It’s gotta have the questions, cause when I send you into a breakout room I’m not gonna be there all the time, and you won’t know what to do or see my slides or see me. Uh, and trying to like, move around and see what’s going on and if it’s not going the way I want it’s impossible to pivot in the middle of a class and um, the spontaneity is really challenging, and things have to really- I have to really feel like what’s going to happen is going to happen [chuckle], and it’s like, uh, that takes a lot of preparation. Uh, and then going back and thinking, ok, what’s tomorrow and what that’s going to look like… So… So, the whole, like virtual thing is hard and then when it’s hybrid, right? I want the experience of students in my class to feel like they are interacting with me and each other. Cause I want it to feel different that just being on the screen. So… I have to create a lesson plan that can happen so that the people in the room can talk to each other and the people who are not in the room can talk to each other, so those two groups don’t feel like they are disconnected from each other, because we want to be part of the same class… And I need to be in both places at the same time and I’m only one person [chuckles]. My heart rate is going up just thinking about it [laughing].

See more of Dr. Lurain's interview in the video below:

Mentally speaking, how are you now as compared to last Spring?

Um, better (laughs). And you know, I will say, like there were people who saw the interview that I did with you, and they were like, “Oh my gosh, like Lynette, I had no idea you were dealing with that and looking at that through, out your window,” and so it, you know it, so thank you Sadie, because you actually really provided me like an outlet to talk about that because it wasn’t something that I was really talking about, um, and only those really close to me knew about it. But I think in terms of like my mental state, like I feel much better, you know like I just feel more prepared, I know what the remote teaching is going to be like, what it’s going to feel like, the things that I have to do to counter sitting all day, or sitting for 3 hours at a time, like you know we sort of, I have like a, a routine (laughs), that helps a lot, so this time around it definitely feels a little better.

When do you think we will all be back in the building?

I don’t know. And I think that’s the thing. Like, we don’t know. Right, and, you know I can only, I’m speaking for my class, like we went back first. We were the first, um, my class and the other preschool class, were the first two classes to be on Packer’s campus, I think for like two or three weeks before everybody else came. So, you know, we, I don’t know, I, part of me wishes, although I don’t know how feasible this is, that we could do the same thing and maybe just the preschool is on campus, you know, and when it was just those two classes, then we had the whole building to ourselves, it felt great, like it felt safe and you know, so I hope that we can come back. But if you know anything about how these viruses run, the Spanish flu, which was very similar to this, it lasted for two years. So I don’t know, is this gonna be like the same thing, last for two years? Or, you know, we don’t know.

See more of Ms. Arthur's interview in the video below:

How was your summer and what did you do? Was there anything that the pandemic prevented you from doing that you had planned originally?

Sure, so my- I don’t know… this [laughter]... It’s funny, I think that I, I might be like an interesting story because when I interviewed with Nathalie in the spring I, I never thought that I would be where I am currently. So… my family relocated! We no long live in Brooklyn [chuckle], we have moved to middle Tennessee. Um, I am excited that, um… I am from Tennessee, so I’ve decided, after a long time to leave New York anyway, and this was just sort of like the moment when we were like, ok. We’re all working remotely anyway, we are… It’s really hard to, um, socially distance in New York City, and to, um, live in an apartment, and uh, this is a good opportunity to give it a try! So, while we can keep our jobs in New York and still, uh, go ahead and like, relocate, we decided to do that. Um… So we moved! And so that’s kind of huge. I never thought that when I talked to Nathalie in May or so, that would happen [laughter]. Um... and you know we definitely changed our plans for the summer. We, ended up- we were supposed to go to Germany to visit my spouse’s family… We were supposed to spend time working-er, in Amsterdam, cause he works for a Dutch bank, um, so we would spend a week in Amsterdam and two weeks in Germany with family, and that got cancelled because… well [laughter]... you understand. We could fly, but we didn’t want to deal with the quarantine that we would have to do once we arrived in Europe… and, um, for a good portion of the time, Germany wasn't allowing even, um, people into the country from, for nonessential travel. My children and husband are German citizens, so they could have arrived into the country without problem, but I would have because I am not a German… So that trip was cancelled! Kind of sad to not see my in laws, um, for such a long time now… And so, uh, we ended up spending a good portion of time this summer in Tennessee as we were planning to relocate, so we needed to figure out those logistics. So that, that was a big change this summer, uh… We still didn’t do sightseeing, like, I- people keep asking me how I’m in Middle Tennessee. I grew up in Tennessee, but we’re living in Middle Tennessee, and I’m like, well I- my neighborhood is fantastic, but I haven’t seen much else… I’m living twenty-minutes from Nashville, but we haven’t been because we just still are, um, being super careful.

See more of Ms. Schmitz's interview in the video below:

During the summer, did you have any type of family dinners, movie nights, etc?

Uhh, yeah, yeah. During the summer time we tried to have a relaxed time every weekend we watched a movie. We watched a lot of movies during the summer time. So yeah, and then I think that’s the time that we we spend together, watch TV and talk and sometimes we play um some games, so.

See more of Dr. Ma's interview in the video below:

What did you do over the summer?

Heh, heh… I mostly worked… um, between finishing up the school year ah, and wrapping ah, up the 2019/20 year and getting started for the 2021 year, um, it was it was pretty much a 7 day a week summer ah, at work. A lot of that was remote so that was great. Um but the last few weeks before school started I was back in Brooklyn and coming into the office.

What specifically did you do to prepare for the school year?

Wow. Um, between, you know, as you know, last year was our first year ah, running the school with Veracross, so there was a lot of year end ah, ah, work, ah, ah, work, … because we were finishing the year for the first time with Veracross and then, and then getting ready to start the next year um, so, you know, I was working with Ms. Zierath uh, uh, in our database manager on course scheduling um, and otherwise just getting devices and ah, all the technology ready uh for the next year. We also upgraded a bunch of upper school classrooms with new projectors. Um, you know the summer is typically when we, when my department ah does a lot of work because people are away and not in the building.

Would you say you are more busy now than in the spring?

Um, that’s an interesting question. No, but um… not really. No, it feels like it has been a constant um, pretty much since March.

See more of Mr. Anderson's interview in the video below:

How was the beginning of the school year with remote learning?

Sooo, it was very challenging from an [pause] health and wellness administrative perspective trying to make sure we were getting all our ducks in a row for a potential opening. Umm the remote learning piece it was hard to connect with students and to get to know them and identify where everyone was at so it was a little bit of a rocky start.

See more of Ms. Londay’s interview in the video below:

How was your summer and what did you do?

I think my summer was like everybody else's [laugh]. Um, no it was it was [pause] I made the most of it. Umm, around July 4th weekend, when things slowly started opening up, I run a travel baseball organization and we actually got to play a full summer season. Um in tournaments, uh local, um tournaments and um in practice, and we continued and we actually ended up uh finishing our season last weekend this last weekend um and stayed safe and healthy throughout the whole thing. So that was the highlight of summer but it was, I did it to get out of the house.

See more of Mr. Morton's interview in the video below:

How was your summer and what did you do to pass the time?

The summer felt like a bit of a break. We went to the Midwest to stay with family in Michigan and there were just more wide-open spaces so it was a nice reprieve from the city, and we’re glad that we had family to go to. Um yeah. It was also- there was a bit of trepidation about the fall and what would the fall look like and coming back to the city, especially when we left it when things really weren’t going well and so transitioning from summer to fall was kinda a pleasant surprise that um things felt slightly more safe and normal in Brooklyn than I’d thought it would be.

See more of Ms. Ross’ interview in the video below:

How was your summer and what did you do to pass the time?

Um, respective to the global pandemic, um I had a relatively good summer. Um, we were not in the city, and um, as a result, my family was able to um breathe without uh some of the concerns and fears of of people who stayed behind, for whom I have great admiration by the way. So, uh overall, um, ya know and and uh it was a moment of gratitude actually.

See more of Dr. Melman’s interview in the video below:

How was remote teaching?

Hmm. So I- obviously it's not like ideal like I love being in the classroom I’m like a super social person I like being able to make connections with kids in person um but I’m also a pretty- like try and stay pretty positive um and be flexible and so you know, that part of me is like “this is our reality right now and so I am going to make the most and the best of this opportunity.” I'm trying to be gracious both with myself and with students and not have like unrealistic expectations or think that we're just going to be able to replicate what education looked like for- like now with remote learning. And a lot of it is like trial and error and being like “oh well that activity that I planned did not go well at all so we’re gonna have to like fix that in the other class or moving forward.” Um but I don't know. In a way it’s also, I think, and I’ve heard this from students too where it’s like kids that feel- like some kids are thriving in remote learning because like they feel like they need to be in a space maybe like where they feel comfortable and and sort of tap into school that way um and so you know, there are- it’s interesting seeing the difference between kids at home on remote and then when they're in person there's also like a divide there. Like there's something about being on Zoom that sort of like for some kids makes them like retract and for some kids and makes them blossom. And so like anything that we do, nothing is going to like perfectly serve a hundred percent of the population and so I used to think- I try to think how I can try and make as many connections with the people um as possible. But you know it's it’s been a challenge but like teaching Health also is like very responsive and I'm always updating curriculum so the fact that like things have to be revisited and like retooled, it sort of has just always been a part of my like a pedagogical approach, you know. Even teaching at Brooklyn Friends like I was never someone that was like okay my curriculum for this year is set and it's going to look like this year after year like it's always something it's like a living thing because it's responding to like what's happening in kids lives and so I think in a way, that flexibility has allowed me to sort of not be too um like dampened by this shift. I can imagine if there's a teacher who is like you know for like a more like strict sort of subject area where it's like a certain type of knowledge that you have to acquire, it can be a little more challenging ‘cause it's like if you do something a certain way for like 10 years and then all the sudden you're like “this class that I’ve taught for so long, now I have to lie completely reinvent it.” I can imagine that being a like a challenging thing. But for me it's like exciting to get to- to have to do that. And, I think that you know, a lot of people that are like struggling right now it's like harder with like remove social connections etc. and I so it's not- I don't want to bring any sort of like negativity or cynicism into my classroom spaces. I want to just want to keep them light and roll with the punches and like whatever happens, happens. Like today one of my 10th-grade classes, the kids were just not super communicative and responsive to like whatever we're covering. We were talking about um- I moved mental health up to now ‘cause it felt like important to do at this moment so we're doing like a SEL social-emotional stuff and we were talking about- we were debriefing this podcast that they had listened to and this article and I kept like asking questions and the whole class was just like [stares blankly at the screen with his hand resting on his cheek]. Even though I would rephrase, like I would come at a different angle and then so after like 25 minutes of like that and me doing a little bit of like narration, not narration, but sort of like monologuing, I was like “you know what time of death for this class is 10:27 a.m. so y’all can go.” It’s clear that like- I wanna be able to respond to what’s happening in the moment, so if that means at like you know, maybe the lesson wasn't perfectly planned, um, it’s a whole host of things, but trying not to get too bogged down. I also feel very- like I'm not super concerned about getting COVID, right, and I think that allows me- like I have been teaching from the building, I've been going in since we've been able to, even this week [when the first few cases at Packer were confirmed] I was in yesterday and the day before, just like teaching from the classrooms that I normally am. And I know that's like a privilege that I get to do that, that I don't have um like you know sort of like I’m not immunocompromised, people I live with aren’t immunocompromised, I don’t have to worry, like I get to walk to work so I'm not worried about like commuting and being on subways with people not wearing masks. I feel very safe in the way that Packer has approached and like put in place all of these like health protocols um and so remote- I don't know, I'm like I'm just like rolling with it, I guess is a long story short.

See more of Mr. Hawkins' interview in the video below:

How was the beginning of the school year being all remote?

Um, it’s odd. I think last spring the difference was that I had taught all those kids in person, so we had a rapport. And I am teaching ninth grade only this year so um, there are kids I’ve seen around the school but I don’t know any of them. I don’t know them in person, I have never taught them in a classroom and I think that that feels odd. I talk about this sometimes and say you know you have no sense of what I’m like in person nor do I have a sense of what they’re like in person, so it’s definitely harder to form a community with a group of people you have never interacted with in person. But I do think it can happen, it just takes a lot longer.

See more of Ms. Whitehouse's interview in the video below:

How was remote teaching?

Well I, I’m lucky that I live just a 9,10 minute walk from school, so I was coming into the building and working from here just to get some home- life separation that I had been deeply craving I think since I told you, you know, since we spoke for our interview in the Spring that was a hard part of, you know, of the pandemic. Ahm, so I was, I was in the building even when it was pretty low capacity. There were several other teachers here who, like me, just really preferred to work in the building. I mean it was a weird way, it was a really weird way to start the year, but I’m glad that I had the experience of teaching on line in the Spring and then of being a Zoom student over the summer because that gave me a lot of, a lot more information about like what worked and what didn’t in terms of teaching online. Like it’s kind of wild to think about where I was in March being a complete novice about Zoom and teaching remotely, and then uh, actually feeling fairly comfortable come September um with teaching remotely and then actually feeling like I was, I was kind of getting the hang of it.

What challenges have you faced switching to hybrid?

Yeah, I mean[…]it was a whole other way of, of teaching that everyone had to learn. Um, I mean having the foundation of remote teaching was good, but um, it did feel like getting thrown back into being a novice again um kind of thing, I remember feeling in March and April[…]it’s definitely the figuring out the social, safety aspects of it was one part of it, figuring out the really practical technological issues is ongoing and each you know have pretty um, each space in Packer is pretty idiosyncratic[…]different acoustics[…]I don’t think I fully appreciated the difference between being in like a carpeted room versus like one of those really live science rooms[…]it’s challenging because there’s not like a uniform solution that I’ve found that I can apply in every room I’ve found some general techniques that work[…] I mean I’m trying to model the same sort of things that I teach my students to be, to take risks be comfortable with not getting it right, learning from it, trying something new, um, so that’s the energy i’m trying to bring to it, but ah and I’m also just trying to slow slow things down be really critical about what content I teach, and what’s most important to really prioritize everyone’s well being by offering lots of chances to um to reassess, to move away from strict timings on assessments, like I’m, I’m trying to do everything in my power to um experiment with alternate ways of of conducting classes because the moments requires it, you know I’m still much figuring it out, I don’t claim to have it down yet, I’m actively figuring it out, constantly trying new things.

See more of Mr. James' interview in the video below:

What, if any, positives are there to this experience of hybrid teaching?

Uh, I like the challenge, you know, and perhaps this is the future of education. You know, and I, I try not to think this is the obstacle, you know, I try to think this is an opportunity. You know, perhaps, we should think about the school in a very different way after this whole thing is over and not just go back to how we do things for decades. You know, maybe technology is helping all of us to think something differently. You know, and you are the students right now, you are the future of, you know, the future generations, you know. What if the school really encourage us to really do a fully, a full hybrid situation, which means you and your classmates are either all together in school or all together at home and on computer. You know there is such um great opportunities for us to think about what can we do differently. So I feel like if there is something positive for me to think about is just think about the opportunities, as what, what else can we do? You know, so, yeah.

When do you think we will all be back in building?

I really don’t know (laughs). Right now I feel like I don’t have a crystal ball so it’s really hard for me to predict. I do hope, you know, and it is hard especially with the elections coming up, you know, um, I really do hope that people have a better sense of…communal sense, that we can really have one big goal for the common good. You know, and we all, even is a little sacrifice individually, but when we can see a bigger picture for everybody I think that it is, I think that it is going to make a whole difference. So, that doesn’t really answer your question, but that is my hope. Not that I really know when we will go back, but without the communal sense I don’t think we can go back.

See more of Ms. Huang's interview in the video below:

In comparison to other summers, what was one difference you noticed about this summer?

So many things were different. First off all, I tried to do something in another country or in another part of this country. I [pause] I always try to visit my my father in Cuba, July August, or my father comes to see me here and this summer it was none of that. My father couldn’t come, I couldn’t go see my father in Cuba. I couldn’t go to any country, to another country, I couldn't visit any place in this country, it was really and then there was not a lot of people to see and to hang out with so it was a lot, it was very isolated and [pause] isolating and um [pause]. And as I said before, yes I work during the summer, this year it was particularly the main activity I have to say. Cause I wanted to really transform my French V curriculum. Um, so I have to do a lot of research, and study a lot, and read a lot, and watch a lot of videos, and for me to be prepared and to be organize, and yep. So, it was it was that, not being able to go anywhere my family not coming to visit. Friends not existent. And everybody was like it was like in zombie movies, a little bit better but yeah.

See more of Ms. Hernandez’s interview in the video below:

How are you feeling now about your friend’s death?

Well thank you for asking, um let’s see, let’s see, um, the immediacy of it when I spoke to you last, a day or 2 or 3 after she died was, of course, that that own particular thing. Um so, as in life, I feel no less sad now, but I’m of course more used to it. But you know what, it was life changing, more so, than, and you know you get older you experience a lot of life or death, but, in the COVID era, I think the death of my friend Gloria Katz, and the situation in general has, has been life changing for me in that I no longer take things for granted in the same way that I did before. I just don’t.

How was teaching when everyone was remote?

Well, it was okay, and weird, but in a now familiar way. I think that it got more weird once we went to hybrid because some people, including me, are remote, most people are in school. But really, as a teacher, I truly am not about my own needs, I hope and think and believe, but I always feel badly if it’s not equitable for every student in a room, and now that one or two are at home and the others are in school, I find that weird. It’s all doable, and if you have to be anywhere in grades pre-k to 12 in the world, I would want you to be at Packer because we do such a good job of things with heart and intelligence, but nonetheless, I find the mix to be weirder than the all remote option.

Are you better at online teaching now than in the Spring?

Well, yes and no. I got better as I did it, so the Spring was one thing, but now the hybrid is another new thing. So i would say, I got good at remote teaching; I’m less good at hybrid teaching. I don’t think it works quite as well for the reasons I said, cause everyone is not in the identical place, but, having said that, I think, with everyday, I get better and find something new. And, for better or worse these days, there’s not one thing, even as an older experienced teacher, there’s not one thing you can rely on in the old way ah, in terms of how you are doing things. So it’s all new, a lot, most of it works; some of it doesn’t, and then you have think, oh my god, you know, and then start over the next day with a fresh attitude.

See more of Ms. Schwartzburg's interview in the video below:

How was remote teaching?

Um, it was different from going remote in April, simply because other than the current 9th graders that I teach who I’d taught in middle school, I didn’t have a relationship with any of these kids, or we hadn’t already created this sense of community in the classroom and so having to build that over Zoom felt a lot harder than kind of already having that when we went to Zoom last Spring; so that was the biggest challenge, I would say, for me.

How was hybrid teaching?

Then coming back, and being you know half and half, you know, it, that’s also you know really challenging, and continues to be challenging to you’re teaching to 2 very different audiences and trying to make sure that you’re not, or that I’m not, neglecting one audience you know sometimes I’ll completely, you know, I’ll be 3 minutes into class, and then i’ll think, I totally forgot to log onto Zoom, and these kids are all sitting in the waiting room, you know, waiting for me to let them in and then other times I’ll be in the classroom and I’ll be talking to my computer you know, for 3 minutes and then I’ll look up and ahhh there are people in this classroom that perhaps I should be talking to them and, you know, so it’s it’s, it’s I mean you’re in it so you probably also feel some of that as a student, I would imagine.

See more of Mr. Johnson's interview in the video below:

How was the beginning of school before students came into the building?

It was uh, I’ve been at Packer for like 21 years, and I’ve been involved in some very big projects and it was one of the busiest we’ve ever been here, because so much had to be reconfigured and you know with the new protocols, and just getting everything ready was quite a task. You know I’m lucky that I have the people that I work with, because we, you know everybody did their job and in the end they worked out and seeing the kids come back was, it was rewarding because all the hard work paid off… you know.

What did you have to do specifically before students arrived?

There was the amount, honestly, like it was like the amount of furniture we had to move. I mean, I don’t know if you’ve been in all the classrooms but we pretty much moved the entire Lower School onto one floor. and moved the Upper School out of there into the Middle School so, I mean,, I never say I’m tired when I came home from work but there was a couple of days where I like Wow! I’m tired! I need to take a nap today cuz my body hurts. and … you know (laugh )

How was school once students came?

I think it was running very smoothly unfortunately, with this new spike, but I mean, I can honestly say at the end of the day, Packer did everything possible to try to keep this thing going, I hope it continues, you know, from us installing the sinks outside and uh you know the new ways of getting in and out of the building and some of the (inaudible) furniture and keeping each division in their own section so as nobody cross contaminates or whatever and you know, and lets hope we all get back cuz right now, you know I’m very positive though, I think this is a little lull right now, but you know, I’m really hoping… I get lonely around here without all the kids, (laugh)...I can only talk to Patrick so much… (laugh)

See more of Mr. Kennedy's interview in the video below:

How was the beginning of the school year with remote teaching?

Um, weird that we didn’t have all the things going on in the building, but nice in a lot of unexpected ways, and one of those ways that usually there’s so much going on at the beginning of school…you have field day, you have all the meetings we have as adults um you have classes changing so fast, you have lots of, um the field day programming, right, and a lot of that didn’t happen, and so in some ways it was like a simpler start to the school year which meant I had more time and energy to focus on getting to know kids even though we were on Zoom, and I can’t say I hated that…like the fact that this pandemic has made us have to think about like what are the most essential things that we have to keep in a classroom environment I think is really quite good; I don’t like the circumstance that caused us to do it, um but that’s a positive outcome of it. Um, it was very anxiety producing to think about the fact that we were like establishing all these routines for Zoom, and then we were gonna switch to this like half…that was so anxiety producing that basically I was like, I’m just going to wait and see what happens. And it worked out okay, I think…you’ll have to ask my students.

Do you think you are a better teacher now than in the Spring?

That’s a great question. I genuinely don’t know how to answer that. I think it depends on what kind of teacher you mean. If you mean like using technology, no, I don’t think I’m any better (laughing), in fact, I feel more overwhelmed because I’m trying a lot of new technological tools, and so I’m a beginner in a lot of areas; if you mean like philosophically, yes, I’m a better teacher, because of what I was saying before that I’ve had to like really examine what is the most essential thing, what are the most essential things for me in my classroom, and, for me, not a lot of that is the content, a lot of it is the connection with students and building that relationship and building that trust, and then we can think about content. Um so that’s the most important thing, and I think that I’m a better teacher for thinking more about that.

See more of Ms. Misra's interview in the video below: