First-Year Arlington ISD Science Teacher Says Virtual Lessons 'Going To Be Good, I Just Need The Kids'
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Wednesday was the third day of virtual school for Arlington ISD.
As a first-year teacher, you look forward to your first week in the classroom.
But Jaylee Holland, a science teacher at Sam Houston High School, says teaching virtually is just not the same.
"My classroom is a bunch of chairs right now. But I just want to be here. It makes me feel a little more normal," she said.
Right now she is teaching virtually on campus alone, aside from a few others.
"My parents are both teachers so I know what the first day of school is supposed to look like. This isn't it."
She says so far the most challenging part is pacing lessons since all the students work at different speeds.
"From what I have seen in the past three days, they're working much faster than I expected."
She's learning how much work is the right amount, and the best way to teach it.
The first few days, she's taught to mostly black screens as students can choose whether or not to use their video feature.
She says she never thought she'd be building relationships, just through the sound of their voices.
"It was a little weird to me, because I am used to being with people."
But those black screens, are requiring a new sense of accountability in terms of behavior.
"When you're on a screen kids can say different things. There's not that, you know accountability of being two feet away from me," she said.
The teachers all have access to a specialist who can work with them if trouble occurs. But so far, virtual problems are the least of her concerns. She just hopes to get to see them at some point in person.
"It going to be good. I just need the kids."