How Covid-19 Has Affected Students and Teachers

Written by Clio Moock

December 7, 2021

Two years ago, an unexpected virus spread rapidly throughout the country, causing schools in Melrose to temporarily shut down and hold classes online. Starting last year, a hybrid model of learning was introduced, and students were able to choose between participating in that or staying fully remote. Later in the year, some students were able to come back into the classroom, but no matter the individual journey of each person, most would agree that remote school made an immense impact on every student involved. 

Some of the Melrose High School teachers weighed in on the discussion about the experience of online learning and its effects, and they all shared the viewpoint that remote learning hindered their ability to grow connections with their students, especially the ones who turned off their cameras and didn’t participate. Wellness teacher Mr. Fessette remarked “My connection with students wasn’t as strong as usual because we didn’t have social interaction. Teaching is being around people and helping people out, and that wasn’t possible when we were online.”

Latin teacher Mr. Haven agreed that remote learning took a toll on student-teacher connections. When interviewed, he said“I like to think that we have a very friendly attitude in the class. It’s relaxed, we talk about a lot of things. I feel like people can come talk to me, and they can tell jokes to me. And I think during covid we missed all that. So that friendly, carefree, fun attitude was really lost.” 

COVID-19 and online learning also damaged the mental health of many students. Although remote learning was more of a struggle for some kids than for others, there were losses for everyone. In one interview, a freshman student noted that although they didn’t have a lot of trouble with remote school, they still noticed a decline in their mental health and in that of their friends. A few teachers shared a common point that part of what was hard about online learning was not being able to check in on their students. Mrs. Piper, the chorus teacher for the middle school and high school, remarked “I could tell that kids were bummed out. I felt like it was a struggle because Chorus wasn’t their fun class anymore. It was just another class they had to go online for.” 

When asked if he thought the pandemic impacted the success of the students in his classes, history teacher Mr. Wall said, “Definitely. They didn’t ask questions much, and I couldn’t see when they were struggling”. He also noted that attendance and focus on the students’ parts struggled a lot more than usual. 

A lot of teachers also noticed that teaching itself was more difficult online. There are fewer resources online, and teachers do not have access to the same materials and space when teaching remotely. Chemistry teacher Dr. Hurley observed that it was difficult to conduct labs at home because students didn’t have the right equipment, and he said that he even tried sending materials home, a technique that was helpful, but hard to manage. 

Mr. Fessette mentioned that although the health part of wellness was fairly easy, the fitness part was much tougher because students couldn’t be with each other or the teachers, and they didn’t have access to a gym or similar facility, or to gym equipment.  

At one point in his interview, Mr. Haven said, “The major obstacle was getting people to speak Latin. Covid really affected everybody’s Latin skills and enjoyment of the class. A lot of the games I like playing we couldn’t do online, and the online games got overdone. I think Latin is wonderful and amazing and so useful, but I also know that with everything that was happening, it was hard for a lot of students to be motivated to learn Latin.” 

For many students, the hardest part of the pandemic wasn’t being online, but rather readjusting to being in person. The same freshman student from earlier said that because they went into it slowly last year with hybrid and in-person learning, the transition wasn’t so bad, but they imagined it was much worse for freshmen and sophomores who were fully remote last year and had to go from being fully online to fully in-person.

Many of the teachers that provided their input said that the main issue when returning to fully in-person learning this year has been behavioral issues among students. When asked if it was difficult to return to the classroom, Mr. Fesette replied “Not really. I think the students had a hard time because they forgot how to act, and with the masks in the gym it’s tough, but the challenges are expected and we’re figuring it out.”

When asked the same question, Mr. Wall responded by saying “I think for students in some ways it was. They were much less interactive. I think in some of my classes this year participation is down, but it’s improved since last year.”

A couple of teachers also noted that returning to full in-person learning was tough not only for the students, but for them as well. The teachers had developed a completely different teaching style and were doing it from their computers, so they may have been less prepared than usual. Mrs. Piper said, “Not gonna lie, I’m used to conducting and accompanying my chorus, but last year I didn't do a lot of that, so my skill set was a little rusty. The masks are annoying, but they’re not a huge deal if it means we can sing together”.

The spread of the Covid-19 virus was an unprecedented event, and it created challenges for schools all over the world, forcing teachers and students to find new and creative ways to successfully learn and cope. However, no matter how much students complain about it, it seems as though most of them are happy that the online learning experience is over and they are able to see their friends and teachers face-to-face again. After everything our school has gone through, I believe that together we can adjust to this new normal and persevere through any challenges that come our way.  In a quote that speaks to many people and to the present situation, Mr. Haven says, “I hope everyone knows I’m smiling under the mask.”