HOW TO ‘CONNECT’ WITH YOUR STUDENTS DURING PANDEMIC
Distant learning is the trend in the field of education nowadays. The ability to personally connect with students seems to be challenging. Unlike in the traditional teaching, teachers can communicate directly to their students. They can immediately address the concern of the students at hand. Teachers automatically send parent-needed form to erring students. They can directly talk to misbehaving students and correct them at once. A bond between teachers and students is expected even in the first month of the start of the year. On the other hand, students are given the chance to talk to teachers any time of the day once an unpleasant thing happens.
I had cases when students confined their problems or concerns to me. We will then meet at a private corner, a place where no one hears our conversation except the student and me. I give my full attention to those students and provide advises as necessary. The next day, parents or guardians arrive to talk about the problems or trouble that students had incurred on. This is one of the advantages of the traditional educational setting before the pandemic. Now that we are in distant learning, whether online or modular, tv or radiobased, ‘connecting’with students poses a challenging role for teachers.
As an adviser of 38 high school students, it is not easy to communicate to these students. I reach them out via messenger or text for important announcements or concerns of their section or subjects. Most of them, like 95% replies to my queries or messages and the other just read and make no comments at all. There are students whom I had connected more deeply with may be because they chat me often for school concerns. Other students have no care because they do not inform me or reply to my messages about my question whether they will still continue their studying or not. I will then reach out their parents or guardians whether on text/ call or via messenger.
--oOo-The author is SST-III at Francisco G. Nepomuceno Memorial High School