Second in a Series: Sidney Teachers and the COVID-19 Virus The Challenge of Staying Effective

"I will say it is tough to have the same level of engagement online as in my regular classroom.  I try to say the occasional ridiculous thing in my lectures, so hopefully, students will stay awake," said Tyler Shaw, a teacher of chemistry and physics at Sidney High School.

Shaw is one of the many educators around the world that is affected by school closures, a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic that began in December of 2019.  Now, Shaw is working to move his everyday classwork into an online-based course of study.

Shaw spends much of his time recording lessons and posting assignments on Google Classroom for his students to view and complete. He does this in order to continue teaching the content needed and keep his students on a similar learning schedule. While using technology as a new means of learning is useful, it has its drawbacks. Chemistry and physics can

be hard subjects to comprehend in the classroom, therefore switching to online-based teaching can provide additional challenges such as communication between a teacher and their students.

"It is tough because you don't have the usual dialog with your students, and you don't get the same questions," said Shaw.

Not only has the COVID-19 pandemic affected his way of teaching, but also his way of life. In order to stay on track, Shaw has to spend most of his day indoors grading papers and preparing lessons to be recording for his students.

Tyler Shaw has taught for 19 years, making an event such as a school closure a result that he and all educators did not think possible. Although this can be a setback, Shaw is viewing the closure as a positive way to help him in the future. Shaw is achieving this by saving the videos he records this year and potentially using them if he is gone next year during the second semester. Shaw is an individual who enjoys working with high schoolers in the classroom and on the basketball court. He hopes that "we have minimal serious infections of COVID-19," and as a result, return to a state of normalcy in the foreseeable future.