It’s been nearly three years since COVID-19 forced schools in Central Alabama to close for weeks, if not longer. Teachers and students had to get used to teaching and learning from home. At the same time, there is a loss of learning that can still be felt now. “Well, you know, we have plans to address these specific things, and you’re not going to solve that in a year, either,” says Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, Jefferson County Superintendent. “They won’t solve it in two years.” Gonsoulin says it ultimately has to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. “From school to school, student to student,” explains Gonsoulin. “From community to community. It just depends on how hard this community has been hit in relation to it. How many days have children been away from school or face to face? Because we know that there was a difference here too. “At Birmingham City Schools, teachers are also working to address what is known as the pandemic learning loss. The president of the Birmingham American Federation of Teachers says part of the problem stems from the fact that people generally just thought everything was going on as normal, including the learning process. “I don’t know why we just assume it’s just going on when every other aspect of a human being,” says Richard Franklin, President of Birmingham AFT. “You’ve seen people die who got sick. This has an impact on all of us. So why did we assume, when it comes to students, that they would perform academically just because we simply expected it to be as if they were robots.” Some argue that too much responsibility falls on teachers to find a solution “And we didn’t get here overnight and we won’t get out of it overnight. If anything, they walked back into the classroom with more on their shoulders than ever and less respect.” What has hampered the recovery process is the fact that every district in the state and nation has faced some sort of teacher shortage, leaving some classrooms without a permanent teacher and instead with a substitute.
It’s been nearly three years since COVID-19 forced schools in Central Alabama to close for weeks, if not longer.
Teachers and students had to get used to teaching and learning from home. At the same time, there is a loss of learning that can still be felt now.
“Well, you know, we have plans to address these specific things, and you’re not going to solve that in a year, either,” says Dr. Walter Gonsoulin, Jefferson County Superintendent. “You won’t solve it in two years.”
dr Gonsoulin says it ultimately has to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
“From school to school, from student to student,” explains Gonsoulin. “From community to community. It just depends on how hard this community has been hit in relation to it. How many days have children been away from school or face to face? Because we know that there was a difference here too. “
In Birmingham city schools, teachers are also working to address what is known as the pandemic learning loss. The president of the Birmingham American Federation of Teachers says part of the problem stems from the fact that people generally just thought everything was going on as normal, including the learning process.
“I don’t know why we just assumed it would just move on when every other aspect is just a human being,” said Richard Franklin, President of Birmingham AFT. “You’ve seen people die who got sick. That has an impact on all of us. So why, when it comes to students, did we assume that they were going to perform academically just because we just expected it to be like they were Robot.”
Some argue that teachers have too much responsibility to find a solution.
“They are expected to perform miracles and get these children back to where they need to be,” said Erika Hughes, President of Central Alabama AFT. “And we didn’t get here overnight and we won’t get out of this overnight. If anything, they walked back into the classroom with more on their shoulders than ever and less respect.”
One thing that experts say has hampered the recovery process is the fact that every district in the state and nation has faced some sort of teacher shortage. Some classrooms were left without a permanent teacher and with a substitute instead.