Interview With My Teacher

Article by Giulia, News Team Contributor

For this week’s newsletter, I decided to ask my English teacher, Mrs. Kamali of Amador Valley High School, a few questions concerning online learning. Mrs. Kamali, along with teaching ninth grade English, also teaches journalism. Despite her experience, she’s never had to teach class online before.

Q1. How has Zoom worked for you as a platform? Have you ever considered using a different platform?

Lucky for me, Zoom is cooperating nicely.  My students have been on-time and ready to learn. No, I have not looked for anything outside of Zoom.

Q2. Social interaction is an important part of school. How have you been trying to incorporate that into class time?

Breakout rooms of course, but this is my biggest challenge. It is awkward at times. Padlet, Flipgrid, and shared slide decks give us a chance to view each other’s work and get a look inside each other’s lives and experiences a little bit.

Q3. While it’s early to say, do you think there are any benefits to learning online in comparison to learning in person?

Students sleep in which, as teens, is always a good thing. Wednesdays are also so useful for all of us to catch up, prepare, and keep ourselves organized. I have learned so many skills, taken lots of classes over the summer. I truly believe that the new lessons I am creating are making me a better teacher.  Creating a new curriculum is exciting and invigorating too!

Q4. Do you think that students will be impacted negatively from this experience? How so?

If we should all remember to have patience and be understanding – the negative impacts are not permanent.