‘We’re Keeping Up, Barely’: Kindergarten Teacher Describes Juggling In-Person, Virtual Learning

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As school districts welcome kindergarteners and other grade levels back to the classroom, Winlock kindergarten teacher Robin Myers has found herself juggling the instruction of eight in-person students and six students who are learning virtually at the same time.

Myers, who has been teaching kindergarten for six years, welcomes her masked-up, 5-year-old students to school at 8:15 a.m. and as she teaches her students the lessons for the day she films herself to create video lessons for her students who are learning virtually. 

At about 1:30 p.m. another teacher steps in to watch over Myers’ class while she finds a quiet place to edit and upload the lessons she recorded that day to Google Classrooms and connect with the families of the remote learners. Myers’ kindergarteners who are learning virtually are one day behind those who are attending in-person school in order to make this system work.

“I wear a swivel camera. It uses an iPad and I have a magnet and a speaker around my neck — so it follows me around the classroom and you can adjust the height of it. They’re expensive and I know they’re back-ordered now because everybody is trying to get their hands on them,” Myers said.

Kindergarteners have been back to full-time in-person learning at the Winlock School District since Sept. 28 after a few weeks of virtual learning. Myers and fellow kindergarten teacher Carmen Parkinson are thrilled to welcome their students to school face-to-face.

The daily workload has increased and Myers joked that she definitely earns her paycheck. She said that she knows teachers who were close to retirement who decided to retire this year because distance learning wasn’t an animal that they wanted to tackle. 

“We’re keeping up — barely — but I will say that the superintendent and principal knew that we just needed to take baby steps and so far I am able to get everything done that I need to,” Myers said.

Parkinson, who has been a teacher for more than 30 years, described this year as the most difficult of her career. She is not as savvy with technology as Myers but has learned how to record video lessons that Myers uploads to Google Classroom for her. Myers said she taught herself how to use Google Classrooms over the summer. 



“I’m glad I did because I was ahead of the game. Last spring I was using paper packets and I didn’t feel as connected to the families,” Myers said. “The school also offered training over the summer. The teachers really just helped each other get used to online teaching along the way.”

The kindergarteners have to wear masks during the school day and teachers work to keep the students at least 6 feet apart whenever possible.

“They’re doing as good as 5-year-olds can with wearing masks all day. They’re doing better than I thought. They get to take it off at recess time and as soon as they get outside they rip that thing off. It’s kind of sad to see because it’s hard for them to wear it all day long but they’re doing great,” she said.

Winlock School District plans to bring first through third graders back to in-person school full time on Oct. 19. It is planned that the older students will come back on a hybrid in-person/virtual model — splitting their week between in-person and online learning.

Myers said that her friend and fellow Winlock teacher Megan Schwarz, who teaches fifth grade is excited because the hybrid in-person/virtual learning model will mean smaller in-person class sizes, allowing her to give more attention to students who may be struggling. The class will be split on an A/B schedule meaning 14 students in her class will come into school while the other 14 learn online and vice versa through the week.

“She’s going to be able to take those kids that fly under the radar way farther with their education. She’s really excited about that,” Myers said.