Covid has had an impact in almost every aspect of our lives. We have had to change everything we do to stay safe, including how we work at school. Some teachers who have more “hands-on” classes have to adjust to conditions as well, and have had to change their classroom completely. 

One of these classes is choir. The Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) has strict rules about choirs. Given the challenge, our choirs adhere to all of them.The directors use movements, ice breakers and audiation exercises to help connect to the students. 

Teachers have changed teaching styles due to rules. Head choir director Amanda Harrison, says that she thinks she’s “just as energetic, engaging, and effective in the classroom as I’ve always been but with a mask.”

She does say that in the past she likes to be close to her students while teaching and this year she has to keep distance. It is also hard for directors to model good singing while wearing a mask, but they accommodate using a headset. 

Choirs don’t have any rehearsals or concerts coming up, but they are planning to use different things such as flipgrid to use for virtual concerts. They will share this information with the school community when they get planned. With the hybrid schedule, their class sizes range from six students to 28 students. 

Harrison is proud of how students are adjusting. 

Another class is ceramics. Cara Owens says that she has had to completely rearrange her classroom. Instead of gathering students together to use equipment, she has to send out videos online. It is also a struggle having to manage teaching in person and online at the same time. 

Teaching and time management in her classroom is a lot harder. Her students have to clean up their area because of the clay, and then sanitize everything, including machines. This cuts into class time. She also has to send out demonstrations online; her students need all of their class time to focus on production. Clean up time in her class takes up to 10-15 minutes. They constantly wash their hands and sanitize supplies such as markers and cutting tools. 

Owens tries to stay away from her students as much as she can, however, in some instances, like learning the wheel, it is required that she is close to her students. Because of this, she frequently has to sanitize in class and sanitize her supplies. 

Be nice to your teachers. They’re trying their best.