Julie Laflen

   “I definitely feel [teaching is] more normal, I mean I very rarely have a kid wearing a mask I think people feel more just like comfortable. I don’t feel like I’m constantly worried about COVID. I feel safer it just feels more natural. I think it allows me to have better relationships with kids because I’m not afraid to have a one on one conversation with them for fear that they may give me COVID or I could take COVID home to my family So I do feel like it helped me build better relationships with kids I feel like as a teacher. I have brought back assignments that I took out because of COVID like group projects. [Group projects] kids did was really fun but I took them out [due to] social distancing reasons. I think they’re better and they’re more exciting than they were a year ago. I’ve got 3 kids at home so like that’s stressful with teaching but I don’t feel as stressed as far as like worrying I’m going to take something home to them that’s going to be dangerous I am stressed about different things so like with debate and forensics we’re doing in-person nationals for the first time. That costs thousands of dollars to go to so as yea, I’m stressed about raising $13,000 for nationals. Instead of being stressed about contact tracing and all the worries that like if I take my kid to see this family member and this were to happen, as those types of worries. I just don’t feel that I am as cautious as I was and it actually feels really nice just to feel more natural so I do still have stress it just has switched to other things and I actually prefer that.”

   What COVID made me do as a teacher was actually pretty awesome because I always told myself that there was no way that I could put everything on Canvas, there’s no way I could do that. The pandemic forced me to do it and I think my life is better for it. I feel like it has streamlined my classes, it makes me more organized it helps the students who were gone and even having the opportunity to Zoom. I had a student in a group project but she was unexpectedly gone for a family thing and she was like “Can I hop on Zoom for class to work with my group,” and we were able to do that without COVID. I would’ve never even known that was an option to do. I try to look at things as a glass half full rather than a glass half empty. So if I’m looking at what the pandemic made me do as a teacher I think it made me a better teacher.

   A lot of programs around the state and in our area, they’ve seen a big decrease and the retention from like kids who were in it as novices last year compared to this year those kids went away because they didn’t want to do online stuff. I did not have that problem, my kids came back and they’re thriving doing in person compared to online. I think a lot of that is the students I have and the culture of the program, my kids really thrive on being in an atmosphere that is really competitive. I think it has really made them better because of that like being back in person and even we debated with masks on for months and we never once had a COVID issue at all. This year we really got back to normal. And it was really just awesome.   

   I know teachers feel burnt out and I’m finishing my 13th year of teaching. Last year was hard and stressful, I think it was hard and stressful for me because I was pregnant half the year and I was really worried about getting COIVD when I was pregnant. I came back to school and I was really worried about taking COIVD home to my newborn but like for me, being vaccinated and boosted. I [got] COVID and no one in my house got it, I didn’t quarantine away from them because I had already exposed them all and so I think the big fear for me. COVID has kind of subsided and I just feel better knowing if someone in my house were to get it its probably going to be ok and we just need to live life normally and still be cautions because life is a beautiful thing.”