We Are ... back in the classroom

Features We Are ... back in the classroom

By Jim Carlson

For as much effort that went into making Penn State’s College of Education accessible remotely during the pandemic, the equally significant endeavor to re-establish something that at least resembled normalcy this fall hasn’t gone unnoticed by the people who benefit most from it — students.

Maddy Russo, an elementary and early childhood education major from Selbyville, Delaware, is doing her pre-service teaching at West Branch Area Elementary School in Clearfield County and was more than pleased to put a halt to online classes.

“I am an extrovert, so finally getting to be around people in the Penn State community has felt great so far,” said Russo, a fourth-year student who is enrolled in the 4+1 Special Education Graduate Program. “Zoom made everything feel slightly more ‘casual,’ even though it was not, and this caused me to feel less planned out and organized.

“I find it interesting to teach in such a unique time in the world. I would have struggled with teaching lessons virtually, as the students never would have gotten the opportunity to bond with me in person prior to this.”

The opportunity for students to get back to “normal” didn’t come easily. Much of what was done within the college during the pandemic had to be undone. Facilities set up to be socially distanced were changed and all classrooms underwent a similar transition, according to Julian Morales, director of operations in the College of Education.

“Rooms unoccupied for 15 months got some love and attention,” he said. “We revamped some spaces. We also learned during the pandemic that we could be more efficient, digitizing business operations … work orders … conference room reservations. The takeaway for the last 19 months was to not totally discard everything we were doing.”

The college and cooperating school districts collaborated to get prospective teachers back in the classrooms.

“The College of Education (and Bald Eagle Area School District) have been awesome in trying to

ensure that student teachers are in person this semester,” said Maddie Mineo, a fourth-year student from Downingtown, Pennsylvania, who is doing her pre-service teaching at Milesburg Elementary School.

“Both worked with us ahead of time during pre-student teaching to let us know that some schools may be requiring vaccinations for student teachers to be in person which was really helpful in giving us time to get that done. It’s really great to be back in person and be able to have the opportunity to gain that experience of being in a classroom to pursue my future career.” virtual route, and the Advising and Certification Center was wellpositioned to make the quick switch because most student information already had a digital footprint to enable advisers to work remotely.

“And we’re at a point now where we’ve attempted to come back to a normal, pre-pandemic way of doing things,” said Greg Mason, the center’s director.

Establishing relationships is what attracted Sarah Russell — who also is doing her pre-service teaching at West Branch — to an education major, and the fourthyear student from Pittsburgh is pleased to be back in the classroom. “Being a senior and knowing what it was like to have smaller classes within the College of Education, I was able to understand all that we were missing while being online,” said Russell, an early childhood education major with minors in special education, deafness and hearing studies and human development and family studies.

Fourth-year student Meghan Gerrity completed her pre-service teaching virtually and is pleased to be in the classroom this semester at Indian Valley Elementary Center in the Mifflin County School District.

“I am an out-of-state student and having the in-person option made returning to State College much more exciting and optimistic,” said Gerrity, who is from Basking Ridge, New Jersey. “Learning that the College of Education was doing everything it could to return their student teachers back to in-person instruction helped to alleviate my anxiety. I actually felt motivated and enthusiastic about my full-time student teaching after pre-service student teaching virtually.”

Photo: Annemarie Mountz Students were back in the classrooms around campus and within the College of Education this fall.