Twin Rivers Education Centre
Visual Storytelling
A SET-BC Synergy Project
This year is TOUGH! I am doing a combination of in class and hybrid learning and it is feeling like an impossible task. I feel like I’m failing at both. My students are disconnected and overwhelmed. They are closed off and have limited capacity for learning. Creativity seems to have disappeared as students try to manage their stress and they are asking for *GASP* worksheets instead!!! They want to be left alone to read textbooks and answer worksheet questions, and I am not sure how to enjoy my job like this.
In a normal year, I take full advantage of my unique teaching position where I work one on one with students who are completing a variety of self paced courses. I have the time and space to engage in rich discussions with students about topics they are passionate about. I get to help my students create projects that allow them to demonstrate their understanding of the curriculum in a way that is unique to them. These are parts of my job that I enjoy most and I feel like the pandemic has robbed me of them. It has replaced engaging discussions with masks that seem to stifle conversation. Unique project based learning opportunities have been replaced with mind numbing worksheets and sanitization routines. It has all left me feeling tired, stressed, and burnt out. As we trudge through the fog of this seemingly endless year, I occasionally see a glimmer of light. A student decides to give tech a try after struggling to get their thoughts on paper. They dip their toe into the project. Some recoil and back away, but once in a while, a student will decide to stay a while and see how things go. One such student has been trying to complete their English Language Arts 10 credits with me on and off for well over a year. They had made very little progress and they were reluctant to try a project involving tech. I persisted and they eventually embraced the project and produced a video they were proud of. The student chose to tell the story of their transition from the gender they were born with to the gender that matches the person they are on the inside. The video ended up being more than just a school project. It was educational, personal, and empowering. It was the first time that the student had felt truly successful in an academic course and it spurred an increase in productivity that allowed the student to complete a course. A win like that really helps to overcome the stress and fatigue of a very difficult year.
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AuthorErin Fletcher is a humanities teacher at Twin Rivers Education Centre in Kamloops, BC. Archives
June 2021
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