San Diego officially met the criteria on Friday to be removed from the state’s monitoring list and if the county’s COVID numbers stay under the trigger points for the next 12 days, then schools could possibly open for in-person learning by the end of the month.
Del Sur Elementary teachers, Nicole DiCarlo and Shantel Raquel are teachers in the Poway Unified School District who welcome the news.
According to Raquel, she belongs in the classroom with kids.
“I think at the end of the day we all want to be back in the classroom. This is not why we are in education at all,” said DiCarlo.
With schools set to start the year online, teachers are faced with the challenge of helping build relationships through zoom.
DiCarlo said the best way to do that is by asking questions.
“It’s easy to do when you’re little because you just have to have a couple of things in common and you’re like 'oh, I can be friends with that person,'" she said.
Raquel agreed and added that teachers need to make their personalities shine through the screen to keep kids engaged. She also stressed the importance of small breakout sessions on Zoom to help connect with kids and make sure everyone is keeping up with the curriculum.
“We are in the business of meeting students' needs and whether we do that virtually or in person, it’s on our resumes to do so," Raquel said.