Engineering teacher Kristina Granlund Moyer

Students are not alone in their struggle to adapt to shelter-in-place life. Engineering teacher Kristina Granlund Moyer has adjusted to a new routine during these difficult times. Granlund’s daily schedule differs greatly now than from when we were still at school: teaching now involves a lot more technology. “I tend to wake up at seven, brush my teeth, pull on some clothes and, boom, I’m on the computer,” she said.

She also noted that there is a lot of maintenance work needed to help students keep up with the material. Since she is not physically with students to make sure they turn in work, the only communication available to her is email. “[In the morning] I’m also checking to see who’s turning in work and sending nag emails,” she said.

According to Granlund, it’s difficult to understand how students are feeling. “Unless you’re having a one-on-one conversation, it’s really hard to how people are doing, whereas when you’re in the classroom and they walk you can just say ‘Oh, are you doing okay today?’” she said.

On a more positive note, Granlund says, in some ways, getting to have small Zoom meetings is helpful when it comes to seeing how students are progressing. “With groups that I’m doing one-on-one or one on-two, I can actually see how each group is doing,” she said. “In a classroom of thirty students, I can
only catch a little bit of what people are doing.”

Granlund realizes that this may be a hard time for students. Her advice to students on how to feel less stressed in the future would be to keep in contact with teachers and keep checking Schoology. “Stay up to date with your assignments,” she said.