NEW TEACHERS, NEW LEARNING

Rather than setting up her Zoom at home to teach like usual, new teacher Hannah Kabat heads to the school early to get ready, as students will be coming into class for the first time. Today, students will be dropping off the ceramics projects they have been working on for the past few weeks. Wearing masks, students place their nature-inspired torn clay bowls and plates in the kiln, and pick up clay and sculpting tools for the next project. After the Ceramics students filter out, students from Kabat’s studio art class come in to cast pewter for their jewelry unit, creating intricate and delicate pieces. After getting home, Kabat prepares the materials for tomorrow’s class which she will teach from home, excited but wary of the challenges that remote learning will bring. Many teachers, some of whom are new to Central, are adapting to the online school year in light of the pandemic. One such teacher is Hannah Kabat, a new Ceramics teacher, who helps students produce both functional and sculptural projects with clay with an emphasis on creativity. Benjamin Goodell, like Kabat, is a new teacher this year at Central, teaching AP Government for the first quarter. They are just two of the 13 teachers that have joined the faculty this year. Teachers were hired for all departments, with some like Goodell filling leaves of absence, while others like Kabat were meant to teach for the entire 2020-2021 school year. All of these new teachers have had to adjust more this year as they navigate not only a different school, but remote learning and the struggles that accompany it. Kabat, who recently graduated from Northeastern Illinois University during the pandemic, student-taught at North Elementary School in Des Plaines as well as Taft High School in Chicago in March, before coming to District 86. This year, Kabat primarily teaches ceramics with a few Studio Art classes as well. Kabat explained how online school has altered the typical way she conducted class. With school being remote, the interaction between the teacher and the class became difficult to come by. Even though Ceramics was conducted over Zoom, Kabat ensured that her students were still receiving help they needed so they could succeed in her class. “I have students submit photos of their progress each day for me to write feedback because the video quality on Zoom isn’t the best and everyone’s boxes are small. I still like to take the time to make that like a normal class would be, and give them that feedback,” Kabat said. Benjamin Goodell was another new teacher at Central this year, navigating many of the same experiences as Kabat. A recent graduate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Goodell first student-taught at schools in Champaign, where he taught classes such as remedial freshman geography. This semester, Goodell subbed for Christopher Wilbur’s AP Government class for the first quarter while Wilbur was away on paternity leave. Goodell said that students at Central tend to be more conscientious of their attendance, and that many students made sure that they emailed him to let

“... now things are changing by the hour, by the day, so I’m just taking it one unit at a time.” - Hannah Kabat

him know if they were going to be late to a Zoom call. In some of his previous morning classes in Champaign, Goodell said that students often didn’t show as much consideration towards attendance. “For the first period, sometimes you get eight or nine students who show up at all. So it’s certainly been the best of both worlds. I’ve seen a lot of different types of classrooms,” Goodell said. Like Kabat, Goodell ensured that classes would be carried out in a similar way to in person learning and students were receiving help if needed. “I’ve tried my best to make things as close to a normal class as possible, being that with online teaching it’s very easy to get into that teacher centered environment... where I’m just presenting a Google Slides, and [students] take notes,” Goodell said. Online learning also forced teachers to be more flexible with their lesson plans, as the schedules and ways school was being conducted were uncertain, especially at the beginning of the year. As a result, many pre-planned lessons were now up in the air and teachers were unable to create definite schedules for their students. “In the past, I’ve laid out the whole semester...to know what lessons are coming next and broke it down by every day. Whereas now things are changing by the hour, by the day, so I’m just taking it one unit at a time and just kind of worrying about that,” Kabat said. Since school was moved online, the typical Ceramics class had been altered, involving changes other than remote learning adjustments. According to Kabat, one such difference in how students acquired their materials for class. Normally, students made their projects at school where there was an ample supply of materials on hand. For many students, clay was not a readily available item in their homes. However, Kabat made sure to try her best to create a productive environment, even while her students remained at home. Clay could be dropped off at the student’s homes so they could do their projects without having to come to school, which enabled all Ceramics students to participate. Still, remote learning held challenges and frustrations, especially in terms of technology. WiFi and Internet issues had been frequent and affected Zoom call connectivity, which sometimes forced the class to continue without audio or video at times. “This past week, my Zoom was lagging...and I had to type... the entire period,” Kabat said. Without in-person demonstration and aid, some Ceramics projects had been ruined. A significant struggle for Kabat as a teacher was not being able to see her students work in person and show proper technique to not only create, but protect their work. For example, Kabat said that previously she would always ensure that her students tucked in their bags so their work would be moist for the next class. “Not being able to see them put away their work for the day, making sure it’s wrapped up airtight, spraying it [was a struggle] because a student will start a project and then the next day, can’t do anything with it because it dried out,” Kabat said. One of the biggest changes for new teachers this year was the lack of hands

Profiles | 15

on teaching that they had previously learned about in their student teaching courses. Having to adapt to an online environment was a struggle because learning names online was very difficult as many students turned off their cameras on Zoom. Due to this, new teachers had no face to identify a name with, which was a new adjustment from in-person learning. “There are some students that I’ve never seen [their faces] and wouldn’t actually recognize if I met them,” Goodell said. “I’ve certainly had to go out of my way more to try and to do a better job of learning names.” While new teachers such as Goodell have had to adapt to this online school year, students have been appreciative of their efforts to relate to the class. “[Mr. Goodell] being young really brings in the fact that he can relate with us... He has a really relaxed environment, he jokes with us and he makes sure it’s fun and entertaining,” said Isabella Terry, junior. Terry said that even though her class was conducted remotely and felt slightly more relaxed, it did not negatively impact her information intake and understanding of the material. “I think we’re absorbing just as much [content.] I mean we’re probably not having as many discussions as we would have in class but still, he makes sure that we’re learning the content that we should be,” Terry said. According to Goodell, with remote learning, class discussions that involved the entire class were much more difficult as students often felt awkward speaking up, which led to periods of silence.

“There are some students that I’ve never seen [their faces] and wouldn’t actually recognize if I met them.”

-Benjamin Goodell

16 | Profiles

photo by Sofija Buzelis

Benjamin Goodell, AP Government teacher, works on tomorrow’s lesson plan in his classroom on Oct. 9.

However, he said that breakout rooms have been a good tool to recreate a similar classroom environment and allowed him to connect with students better. “I have deliberately tried to have more discussions, specifically small group discussions. I like to use breakout groups just because that gives students a chance... to speak up,” Goodell said. While discussions were a standard activity in AP Government, Ceramics focused more on the projects of individuals. “Group work isn’t really a part of the class, since all the projects are individual,” said John Tischke, senior. Tischke took Ceramics this year with Kabat as his teacher, and like Terry, said that there were limitations to online learning but his teacher did her best to ensure students got feedback. “While I don’t believe we’re doing as much as we would be in person (mostly due to the time constraint), I do think the virtual instruction has adapted well to a Zoom environment,” Tischke said. “For each project, Ms. Kabat provides live demonstrations, virtual check-ins, and articulates feedback, and it’s clear she genuinely tries to engage the class.” Though online school brought changes to both new teachers, veteran teachers and their students, they said they were able to find ways to adapt to create a productive learning environment. Teachers and students came back to school in person starting on Oct. 5 with a capacity of roughly 25 percent of students on campus.

“It’s the little things like meeting students in person, but also just being in the halls saying hi to students,” Goodell said. “That’s kind of something that we are missing now with online.”