Former and current LBCC education students spoke about the struggles they encountered while teaching classes and continuing their college education amidst the COVID pandemic during a Zoom event on Nov. 18.
The event was hosted by professor Melanie Levy, and included six panelists that were all in different places of their educational and career journeys.
Panelist Ronal Mejia, a long-term Spanish substitute teacher at Los Alamitos High School, has faced challenges instructing his students in person after more than a year of distance learning.
Mejia was concerned that his students did not learn much while taking online classes.
“(Students) have confessed to me that they were distracted and they were not really paying attention. Because of the resources they have, such as the internet, they do (Google) translations to do homework,” Mejia said.
Students in Mejia’s Spanish 2 classes are unable to properly respond to basic questions in the language, such as “¿hola, cómo estás?” and “¿cómo te llamas?”. His Spanish 3 classes have lagged behind as well.
“Spanish 3 students should be at a more advanced level. They should know how to talk in the past tenses in Spanish, such as the preterite and the imperfect. But … they learned so little through COVID, so they don’t know much,” Mejia said.
Mejia has had to review past material with his students in order to catch them up with their current level. He covers different verb tenses and conjugations, which he said has been a big help to the students.
According to Mejia, the Spanish classes at Los Alamitos have had 11 different substitute teachers since August, which only makes it harder for students to learn since they lack a steady environment.
“They haven’t had consistency. All subs do not speak Spanish and all subs do not teach the class, especially if they come for just one period of the day,” Mejia said.
Panelist Roxanne Ebbat, a CSULB student in the process of applying for a master’s program, said the pandemic has also affected her students’ participation during virtual learning.
“You don’t know if (students are) there or not because you’re looking at black boxes, but you still have to keep going and try your best to keep them engaged,” Ebbat said.
“I view everyday as a new opportunity to change the way I present material or speak to students.”
Ebbat has looked to other instructors posting content on TikTok to find ways to keep her students engaged virtually.
“I like to see how teachers are dealing with teaching at home. What I saw is that they keep this positive attitude. They’ll bring out props, they use hand gestures … that has been really inspiring for me,” she said.
Ebbat later added, “You have to stay engaged, even though you’re not getting engagement back. And then, asking (students) questions. Have them talk about themselves.”
Panelist Bridget Ramirez, a California State University, Long Beach student and former tutor for Long Beach BLAST (Better Learning for All Students Today), saw similar issues with student participation online.
“Many times I did have just cricket sounds. The students were always quiet. But once I got relatable with something that had nothing to do with academics, like ‘What do you like to do? What’s your passion?’… That’s when they were more engaged,” Ramirez said.
Panelist Marianna Miranda, a student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, has not taught students since the pandemic started, but has faced other difficulties in her educational journey.
“When the pandemic first started I was very out of touch with technology,” Miranda said. “I used to rarely touch a computer or type. That really wasn’t my style. … With switching to virtual classes and virtual observations, I really had to navigate the online space.”
Miranda’s ability to participate in online classes was limited by the poor internet service in her area. She said there is only one pole that provides her entire block with internet service.
“My connection is constantly going out,” Miranda said. “I got dropped out of my Zoom meetings. It’s a hassle to pick back up where I leave off on some lectures, or sometimes I’ll miss the discussions. I never had to really think about that before the pandemic.”
Panelist Alesis Alcantar, an LBCC student transferring to California State University, Fullerton next semester, experienced burnout while managing work and online classes during the pandemic. Alcantar said online learning is not as personal or interactive as in-person classes.
“I just don’t get the same interpersonal connection with how a student really works or how teachers really are in the classroom. It’s really hard for me,” Alcantar said.
Levy shared a similar point of view. “There are fantastic videos and workshops and zoom things that we can send students to. But sometimes nothing beats just being in a classroom … and talking to a kid. It’s really really different.”
The LBCC Future Teachers Club will host their final meeting of the fall semester on Dec. 9 at 12:30 p.m. To join, click here.