Professional Title: Academic Instructional Facilitator

Class Year: 2000

Major: Public Relations

Location: Charlotte, NC

Education Experience:  13 years

Please share your experience working with students during the pandemic?

I am an Instructional Facilitator for 23 Career Technology Education High School teachers in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. I am responsible for roughly 1,500 student academic learning outcomes. Currently, we have one vacancy, which affects my role directly because I have to fill-in and facilitate & plan instruction to students until we hire a replacement teacher. Student learning is a challenge under the current circumstances. At the high school level, student engagement has been one of our biggest lifts. It is difficult to teach students when they do not turn on their computer camera or video. You can have a teacher starring at 25+ black computer screens for 40+ minutes of synchronous learning. Depending on the demographic of students, you may have the majority of your students absent due to having to work a full-time job. Just this week I have experienced communicating with students and parents during nighttime flex hours because their work shift ended after 10:30 p.m.  On the other side in my regular Instructional Facilitator role, I am supported for my 23 teachers through coaching. Many of my teachers are completely exhausted because they have to do double planning with remote learning. As we prepare to transition back face-to-face in January some will work remotely and in-person. Overall, students and teachers are depleted and doing their best to normalize under the current circumstances.

What advice would you give to people during this pandemic?

I would advise individuals to give their student, teacher & parents some grace. To take every day as a new learning experience and constantly remind them we are in the middle of a pandemic.  This too shall pass and it will get easier as we progress with time.