Share this page
What Ontario Certified Teachers have discovered about their students, themselves and teaching.
By Stuart Foxman
Illustration: Nathan Hackett/Anna Goodson
Kindness is free, so give it to everyone. That's the message Andrea Murree, OCT, spread this year to her Grade 1 students at St. Matthew Catholic School in Toronto.
They learned a poem about kindness, and discussed what it looks like. Murree also had the children draw what's special about them inside a heart, and share it with the class. She wanted them to recognize each other's value. To her, it was the most important lesson of the year.
"This year wasn't only about test scores, curriculum expectations and learning goals," says Murree. "It was also about developing relationships in the school community, supporting each other and lending a hand when needed."
COVID-19 upended the education landscape. Health and safety protocols, the use of technology, and the shifts between in-person and online schedules were only part of it.
Throughout the pandemic, what have educators discovered about their students, themselves and how they teach? What were the most challenging moments? The most rewarding ones? And what reminded them of what matters most? Here are eight lessons learned.
So much of school is about routines. Murree thrived on them. She assumed her students did too, and would especially welcome structure and familiarity during a time of uncertainty.
Instead, she was impressed by how they adjusted. In the midst of the greatest disruption of their young lives, her students just rolled with it and, Murree says, even stayed silly. "I realized the only constant is change," she says.
The year enlightened Murree about just letting things go. Life and learning can get messy. We're all trying our best. She learned much from the way her students reacted.
"They have an ability to look at the bright side," she says. "It fostered a culture of positivity. They keep teaching me what it means to be happy and how to have a good day."
Like, Murree, Joe Archer, OCT, was struck by how quickly his students adjusted.
"The overarching theme for me is resiliency. Students had to become extremely resilient in learning new ways to go about their days online and in person," says Archer, who teaches math at Lakewood Elementary School in Port Dover, Ont.
That's not true for every student. Many struggled. But for others, Archer says, overcoming the challenges of the year was a confidence booster. That can serve them well, and informed him about what students can take on.
Samantha Di Blasio, OCT, agrees. Before the pandemic hit, she sometimes felt like she gave her Grade 3 students at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Elementary School in Oakville, Ont., more than they could handle. During the pandemic, she saw how well her class embraced the technology (when the learning couldn't be hands-on) and kept up in less than ideal circumstances.
"Their minds are sponges," says Di Blasio. "It's important to remember that you can push them beyond the curriculum. With their skills and knowledge, they're very capable."
"At first, it felt like you were teaching into an empty void," says Greg Chomut, OCT, who teaches history, music and art at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School in Thunder Bay. The private First Nations school is part of the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council.
Chomut usually thrived on the feedback from his class. Now, with students keeping their cameras and microphones off, he couldn't tell if they were engaged. So, circumstances compelled Chomut to do what's vital any time as a teacher: deliver the curriculum in new ways.
For some lessons, he made introductory videos, complete with sound effects. If he made a bad joke, he included a laugh track. He also offered some history lessons as podcasts, like an interview with a Sixties Scoop survivor. (That's the large-scale removal of Indigenous children from their families and communities for adoption or placement in foster homes.)
Remote learning may have inspired these approaches, but shaking up teaching methods is always important, says Chomut. "You have to keep it fresh and exciting," he says. "If it's fun, it'll get absorbed. We have to be more creative."
Not everyone likes remote learning, but for some students it was their chance to shine. The in-person classroom can be intimidating, and a place where louder and more confident voices are heard. "For quiet and shy voices, the online-verse provided opportunities to excel," says Archer.
Brent Yacoback, OCT, a science teacher and STEAM co-ordinator at West Ferris Intermediate & Second ary School in North Bay, Ont., noticed that too.
He says a small number of students who didn't usually do well in class improved online. They performed better when they could learn at their own pace, or when the spotlight wasn't on them. Meanwhile, other students who were stars in the classroom took a step back. Maybe the learning format didn't suit them or they burned out.
Whatever the reasons, it reinforced for Yacoback that there's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to learning. The same student can show very different results with different approaches or settings. That's not news, but "we do have to recognize it more," he says.
For Di Blasio, there was one silver lining with teaching online: When she was doing guided reading or differentiated instruction with a particular student, other students couldn't see. "That was a positive," she says. "Being anonymous online has a lot of benefits. Students don't feel self-conscious or left out."
Online classes can replicate much of the in-person learning experience, but not all of it. "A lot of the kids really missed the social interactions," says Yacoback.
That's true whether collaborating on projects (online just isn't the same, he says), or simply engaging in routine banter. "Sometimes we took that for granted," Yacoback says. "I don't think we will anytime soon."
The absence of social opportunities and extracurriculars underscored to Josephine Virgilio, OCT, just how vital they are to students. "Some kids survive on that. They need those outlets," says Virgilio, who teaches Grade 7 at St. Margaret Catholic School in Toronto and holds the Supervisory Officer's Qualification and Principal's Qualification Part 1 and 2.
For Virgilio, the added stresses experienced by students this year only highlighted how teachers need to focus on overall wellness. The goal: "Ensuring the mental well-being of students, even more so now," she says.
Every morning, Di Blasio asked her Grade 3 students a random question of the day. It had nothing to do with the curriculum; rather, it was things like, "What food would you never want to try?" "It was a way for the students to learn something about each other and connect," says Di Blasio.
Forging those connections has been on her mind even more during a year when she was entirely online. When you're teaching in person, sometimes the bell rings and the students scatter. This year, Di Blasio let students log off if they wanted when the lesson ended, but added 10 minutes just to chat. "They want to share," she says.
She needed it too. "I missed seeing the authentic moments," says Di Blasio. Although she wasn't face-to-face with her students all year — or maybe because of that — Di Blasio feels she became better at connecting with them. She made a more deliberate effort to ask questions and remember their responses.
One day, a student on the quieter side showed her a pair of his LeBron James shoes. Months later, she asked the students who they'd want to meet if they could pick anyone in the world. She told that quiet student that she bet he'd say LeBron. "He said ‘How did you know?' He felt that I knew him because I had listened — even if it was something small," says Di Blasio.
As a science teacher, Yacoback knows that the design of an experiment — and the conditions in which it's carried out — can skew results. Online learning may have a place, but a year of teaching though a pandemic may not yield the best assessments of its effectiveness.
This wasn't a normal year. Students were under stress because of the pandemic, as were their parents and their teachers. In many cases, multiple children were learning at home at the same time. Everyone jumped into the deep end together. Some got through it OK. For others, it was a struggle.
Teachers and students have never done online learning at this scale, or in these circumstances. While they'll learn something to inform future models, "We have to be careful about drawing conclusions," Yacoback says.
"The overarching theme for me is resiliency. Students had to become extremely resilient in learning new ways to go about their days online and in person."
— Joe Archer, OCT
Teachers and students, like everyone, have learned much this past year about infection, protection, masks, handwashing, technology and stress management.
Perhaps the biggest take-away is worth remembering every day, not just in a pandemic. It's universal and essential for happy lives and positive classrooms, and COVID-19 drilled it home. "Life is too short for conflict and disagreements. Keep care, kindness and a heart at the forefront," says Murree. Her students' health was paramount this year. She tried to protect them from sickness and worry. They learned and followed the rules, and wrote her thank-you notes for keeping them safe. For Murree, another rule wins out. "Put kindness at the beginning of pedagogy," she says, "so students feel safe."