Online schooling is new for many public schools around the state. Many people have different emotions about this change, especially teachers.

High school math teacher Sara Behm thinks it is much easier to teach inside of a classroom, and she misses seeing her students and colleagues the most. Working from home has its pros and cons, but Behm said, “There is a lot more time to create lessons, grade and communicate with students, but it can be difficult to put a plug on it and stop working for the day or the weekend because we always want to be supporting our student’s needs. The one nice thing is being able to be in comfortable clothing all day!” 

The hallways, classrooms, gym, and cafeteria will all be left empty for the rest of the year. No more smiling students walking in the hall as the bell rings, laughter at the lunch tables, or learning in the classroom. 

March 13, 2020 was the last day students and teachers were in the building all together. The week of April 13th, teachers and staff members had the chance to collect all of their belongings from the high school so the process of renovating the high school into the middle school can continue.

Behm expressed, “It’s pretty sad knowing I have taught my last lesson in my very first classroom, especially now that we have packed up all of our things and may never be in those rooms again! However, I am glad that we were celebrating Pi day on our last day in school because we were able to end the year of physically being together on a positive note!”

In order for teachers and students to interact with each other, they use their school email and a new app, Zoom. Zoom is an app where the teachers can create a video conference call for classes which are password protected to keep others out. Students can then see and speak to their teachers and classmates over a group call. Behm says, “Zoom is a little weird to get used to at first, but at least it gives us a way to connect with our department and the faculty to see what everyone is doing and what is working well for them.” 

She also said, “It is harder to communicate with students now. I can email and try to reach out to all of my students, but you don’t always know for sure that they are getting and reading or watching the information. I like that we are able to communicate over zoom because that helps to be able to explain concepts to students rather than just through email and messages, but it still isn’t quite the same as having everyone together.”

Behm misses the classroom just like many others members at Dover Area High School. Next year when school starts again at the new school, everybody will be welcomed to a brand new building leaving behind memories of this last year in the old one.