Tomorrow's Teachers: Ready for Virtually Anything

Washington College Teaching Interns Get Bonus Lessons in Adaptability Amidst Shifting School Schedules

In an already challenging online semester, 15 Washington College seniors are facing a unique obstacle – completing their student-teaching internships when many of their partner schools are also running classrooms virtually.

Student-teaching internships are a requirement for certification, and the standard model is that aspiring teachers are assigned to work side-by-side with mentor teachers in schools through Queen Anne’s and Kent Counties. The pandemic threw a big wrench into that, as these school systems are operating under formats that range from exclusively online to hybrid models…and continue to change.

“This definitely wasn’t what we thought our senior year was going to look like,” said Abigail Saxton, a senior who is completing her internship at Sudlersville Elementary School. Saxton is assigned to a 3rd grade classroom, and even though all students are currently virtual, she is able to go to the classroom to teach.

“It’s been really interesting,” said Saxton. “I’m happy that at least I’m still getting the in-class experience and can collaborate with my mentor teacher.”

Abigail's virtual bitmoji classroom.

Caitlin Woods, who is currently interning completely virtually with Kent Island High School in the Theater Department said, “It’s strange for sure, but it’s also a useful crash course in adapting and just making things work.” She added, “It weirdly works in some ways; in other ways, it’s just weird!”

The 15 Washington College students are currently interning at Kent County Middle School, Church Hill Elementary School, Sudlersville Elementary School, Centreville Middle School, Queen Anne’s County High School, Kent Island High School and Easton High School.

“The interns this year have shown immense patience, resilience, and creativity as they collaborate with their mentor teachers in our local Professional Development Schools,” said Bridget Bunten, Chair of the Department of Education for Washington College and the Elementary Education Program Coordinator. “During this unprecedented time in the field of education, our teaching interns are using the knowledge and skills -- grounded in the liberal arts -- that they developed in classrooms and experiences on campus to plan, teach, and assess elementary and secondary students in virtual and hybrid learning environments.”

By necessity, the way in which these teaching interns collaborate with one another has changed as well. Bunten pointed out that usually the interns work together to design and construct a bulletin board on the first floor of Goldstein, but with the Washington College campus also closed, they had to come up with a different idea for this year. Instead they created a virtual bulletin board that is shared via email with the schools they collaborate with.

“We are thankful for the Kent and Queen Anne's County teachers and administrators who, in the face of some really steep obstacles of their own, have still welcomed and mentored our interns this semester,” said Bunten.

Despite some frustration and confusion from families – largely associated with the use of the technology itself - Saxton sees some real positives in the virtual format for students with special needs. “Being virtual reduces some anxiety issues,” she said. “If it does become overwhelming or a student needs a time-out they can turn the camera off but still listen to the lesson, instead of being completely removed from the classroom.”

Sudlersville Elementary School has also been offering tutoring nights once a week for students who need extra assistance and English language learners, so Saxton has benefited from working on-one-on with students there.

Foundational components of the teaching internship have remained the same, so Saxton – whose plan upon graduation is to become an elementary school teacher – is responsible for planning out at least one lesson per week, and works with the students via the online tools every day.

Saxton feels that for the most part, she’s still getting what she needs out of her internship. The biggest gap for her is in classroom management. “I think this is a really important aspect of teaching and being virtual, we just aren’t getting that experience.”

Woods, a Lothian, MD native who is majoring in Theater with a minor in Secondary Education Studies, has taken over instruction of the class Intro to Theater. While she often teaches remotely from her residence, she was able to access the Washington College theater and for her first lesson for the Play Production Unit, she hosted a Google Meet using her smartphone and gave students a tour of the facility.

She has made it a priority to become fluent in the digital tools, noting that in many ways, all teachers feel like first-years. “We are learning to teach virtually alongside our mentors,” she said. “It’s a great lesson in the fact that as much as you plan, those plans have to change all the time,” she said. “COVID increased that reality tenfold.”

Woods feels that it is inspiring her and Kevin Reagan, her mentor teacher, to be more creative. For example, for one lesson about the different roles on a play production team, she reached out to people who actually work in those roles and asked them to record videos talking about what they do. This offered some variety and access to people that under normal circumstances, she couldn’t have brought into the classroom.

“We’ve been really trying to do more active assignments and break out of the cycle of Google forms and docs,” she said. “We desperately want to be together in the same room, because so much of theater is about presence. It’s hard not to feel like things we’re doing are just a little bit second-best.”

But she also added that it’s getting easier every day – in part because she’s taking a pioneer attitude. On the fly recently she and Reagan decided to make an assignment a video assignment, where the students had to present and perform something. This was exciting for a group of kids who miss performing.

“The main thing guiding me is that this is a learning curve for everyone,” she said. “Teachers should always be life-long learners. Education is constantly evolving. It’s not going to go back to exactly what it was before all of this, and that’s a good thing.

“I’m honestly grateful because I’m going to be at something of an advantage having gone through this whole experience,” she added. “After all, the show must go on!”