Learning to Teach Online

As one of the requirements to earn a degree in education at Elon, students have to complete a semester-long practicum. This allows the students to gain firsthand experience working with kids in an academic setting, working alongside teachers to plan and deliver lessons.

As part of her teaching methods class, Katie Williams ‘22 was supposed to complete her 40-hour practicum in the classroom; however, due to COVID-19, things are different.

“I was going to have an Alamance County elementary school, but now that looks a little different since schools will be online until at least January,” she explains. “I’m in a third-grade class and rather than being able to go in and observe the teacher or lead lessons in person, I am joining their Zoom calls.”

Williams is thankful that she was still able to do something for her practicum, although she regrets that she hasn’t been able to get to know the students as well as she would have had she been in the class.

“I do a lot of observing the teacher when she is working with the kids in a whole group setting, and she’ll put me in different breakout rooms to work with kids individually.” Williams also gets to facilitate some of the class discussions: “I had the opportunity to lead a math talk which is essentially a group discussion about different strategies that could be used to solve the same problem. Right now, I am working on getting ready to lead a two-day math lesson for the whole class.”

The biggest challenge for Williams and the teacher she works with is the technology. “Some of the kids don’t have a very strong internet connection, so it takes a lot for them to have their cameras on, which can impact their engagement in the lesson.” She also says that not having the ability to move around and take breaks between lessons makes it harder to hold the kids’ attention.

“It’s important to keep in mind that these are little kids, so their attention span already isn’t long. When their whole day is staring at a computer screen, it’s just that much harder on them.” Regardless, Williams says it’s encouraging to see the kids still so excited to learn, even if they’re online.

Williams has learned a lot from her practicum experience, namely issues in inequity in education. “The difference in resources that the kids have access to plays a big role in how engaged they are able to be in their learning.” She’s inspired to be a teacher who accounts for these differences and fosters an inclusive classroom environment.