‘Awesome to be back in the classroom’

Joe Williams’ school day starts as early as 7:15 a.m., with temperature checks outside his classroom door. As students get the all-clear, they go to their desks and log on to Google Classroom, where a Bitmoji in Williams’ likeness (who might be break-dancing or lounging on a couch) greets them with a choice of activities they can work on independently until morning prayer and announcements. By 8 a.m., it’s time for math class.

A fourth grade teacher at Saint Michael the Archangel School in Clayton, Williams spent many years as a business owner. “This is the career I went to school for … and the career I finally came to,” he said of his eight years at Saint Michael. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Williams embraces technology and the role it continues to play in a forward-thinking classroom. He said he felt well prepared when the school moved to remote learning last March due to the coronavirus pandemic. Every student already had a school-issued Chromebook (iPads for younger students), and Williams was using Google Classroom, now a school-wide platform.

Although he adapted quickly, Williams said it was “awesome to be back in the classroom” and he is determined to do whatever he can to stay there.

“We’re going to stay as safe as we possibly can and do our job as teachers. We’ll do everything we can to make it as ‘normal’ as possible.”

He said students were used to wearing masks when they arrived and adjusted quickly to plastic dividers and other safety and hygiene protocols. “I know it’s cliché to say kids are resilient, but these students, from little all the way up … they go with the flow because they are so happy to be here.”

Williams described being moved not only by the joy students found in reconnecting with each other, but in the way returning students welcomed new students to the class. “They basically became instantly a part of our family. We’re not just teaching [students] math. We’re teaching them how to treat other people,” he said.

One of Williams’ students is learning remotely. “I call on her as if she is sitting in the classroom. They can hear her,” he said. At the end of the day, he turns his computer around so her classmates can see her and say good-bye.

Williams said technology offers unlimited creative options for his paper-free classroom, but it takes time to get set up. He spent much of the summer with webinars and tutorials, looking for new ways to get students to work in groups and rotate learning stations while maintaining social distancing protocols. Now he spends more time working on lesson plans at home. He understands the value of time management skills.

What Williams misses most is the ability for the entire school to attend Mass in the church. He is grateful for livestreaming, but looks forward to a time when they can receive the Eucharist together.

His biggest hope for the school year is “we get to June and we can run this with no shutdown, no sicknesses. We started this as one giant family and we finish as one giant family.”