I'm Hannah Grieves and I’ve been teaching spoken and written English to first- and second-year University students at the Shandong University of Business and Technology in Yantai, China for the past 8 years.

Cut-off from the World We Knew

We’d heard about the virus in Wuhan, but it wasn’t until shortly before Spring Festival that we realised the enormity of the situation. Initially people in Yantai were cautious, but not especially concerned. We’re pretty far from Wuhan, we reasoned, so we’ll probably be okay. Let’s buy a few more jars of peanut butter just in case. Then we heard the news about lockdowns across the country, and soon we saw guards at the entrance to our community. Our temperatures were taken when we entered the supermarket and, before long, we were told we would have to register to even leave our community. It was so unlike anything we’d ever experienced before. China is usually busy, full of life, and above all noisy. Suddenly the streets were empty, there were no children playing out and it was quiet. Eerily quiet. We started to feel anxious and uncertain about what to do next.

Zooming around the Country

Our school didn’t have much time to make plans. A week before we were due to start classes, we got a message telling us that we would have to teach our students online for the next couple of weeks. A friend at a bigger university in Shanghai told us that they had been instructed to prepare for four weeks. We thought there was no chance it would be that long, but we got ready just in case.

It’s now week 5 and our students don’t think they’ll be back until the end of April at the earliest, and that’s assuming China isn’t hit by a second wave of the virus. Most of the Chinese staff are using platforms such as Tencent and QQ to run their courses, but most of the foreigners offering speaking classes opted to use Zoom. A huge part of my course focuses on pronunciation of individual sounds and it’s crucial that I not only hear my students but can see them too, so that I can see where in their mouths they’re making the sound and help them make any adjustments.

Just like many other teachers, I hadn’t taught online before and had never tried to chat with a whole class on video call, but to my great surprise it works pretty well. In many ways, it’s been exciting getting to know my students in their home environments – it’s opened up many conversations that might not have happened under normal circumstances. Students can show me their homes, tell me about the foods they’re eating, and discuss how their communities are dealing with the virus. We’re getting to know each other in new ways.

Reaching Out Online

As teachers, I think we often feel like we should know exactly what we’re doing, but when faced with something so new I felt completely out of my depth – how would I cope with any technical issues? How would I make sure my students still feel like they’re learning? How could I make my classes engaging without really being able to read the room? Like many others, I reached out online and thankfully stumbled across the Facebook group “Educator Temporary School Closure for Online Learning” set up by Kirsten Durward. I had found help! So did countless others. It grew and grew and is still growing. There are breakout groups for just about every subject, location, age group, and interest, as well as units to teach people how to use different platforms like Zoom, Seesaw, Google Classroom and Flipgrid. Despite having spent the last nine weeks at home with just my husband and two small children, I feel like I have more support than ever before.

Ask for Help and it Will Come

In some countries the problems caused by the pandemic are only just beginning and I know that the effects will be wide reaching and hard to overcome, but educators should know this: ask for help and it will come.

Your colleagues across the world are ready to support you – to offer you help and hope. You are not alone. In the midst of the unknown one thing is certain: teaching will never be the same again. It will be better. How can it not be when there is a whole community of teachers, educators, counsellors, administrators, and experts in just about every field who are reaching out and offering their help to anyone who needs it?

It’s been a real privilege getting to know my new colleagues across the globe and to see the wonderful things that are happening in their online classrooms. I am proud to be part of such an incredible movement of teachers who care, not only for their students, but for their students’ families, their wider communities and colleagues worldwide.

Hannah Grieves

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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.

My name is Michelle, I live in Bangkok, Thailand.I teach Grade 10 English Language Acquisition and co-teach Grade 7 Individuals Societies. I am also a Service Club adviser.My students' ages range from 12 to 16 years old.

Life as an international teacher requires you to be incredibly flexible as you move between countries, cultures, and schools. However, nothing has required as much of a willingness to adapt and evolve my practice as being locked in my apartment and having to reinvent my approach to the classroom.

Teaching digitally has been much easier than I anticipated. To be honest, it has pushed my practice and approach to the classroom ahead in more ways than I can count, and the effects are still mounting. I am grateful for that - silver linings! But there are brewing storm clouds too.

The Slow Unraveling

I’ve been locked in my apartment for 2 weeks with at least a month to go according to the last update from the government. I have one of my daughters here with me and we are trying to keep each other distracted between our classes. Most of our friends and loved ones are in other countries and the sense of being absolutely alone creeps in unexpectedly at times. I don’t know when I will see my oldest daughter again and I can’t protect her from half the world away. Then this morning the call came that my mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, has been put into ICU with pneumonia, a mass in her lungs, and may have Covid19.

I can’t imagine how afraid or lonely she must feel. Even if I could get a flight from Bangkok to Houston, I wouldn’t be allowed in the hospital to see her. We, like so many, are locked down and unable to reach each other. I think that is the largest stress inducer for me – all control of this situation is out of my hands.

Until she became ill, there was no one thing that has been overly difficult, but concerns for the people I love, nonstop news updates, school emails, student messages laced with anxiety and fear, and learning new platforms and tech solutions all are adding up. As a teacher, it is hard to swallow the total lack of control over anything around me. The inability to create an entirely safe space for my students, daughters, or even myself. Below I’ve shared what has been helping me brave the storm. I hope you find something here that helps you too.

Advice from Lockdown

Relax

Take a deep breath and remember that no matter what, you are still the amazing teacher you were before your school closed. You will continue to be that teacher and your stress and worry for how you will keep teaching today is proof that you are dedicated and committed to reaching your students.

Start over

Your students are not only adapting to your new class and ways of digital teaching. They are also adapting to every other teacher they have and their new systems. Treat the first week like the first week of any school year. Teach expectations, set boundaries, get to know your kids in this new way, find a new balance and a new norm.

Slow down

The biggest surprise to me was how little work my students were able to accomplish in the same amount of time. Even if I kept them in Zoom with me to complete something, they fumbled and struggled to get the task done. We take it for granted that they are digital wizards because they live on their devices all day. They don’t have any more experience at this than we do, and they need time.

Laser Focus

Look at your lessons and decide what the most important things are for your students to master and keep your focus on those critical components. Add in the rest if you have time, but lock a laser focus on the heart of the topics and achieve those goals first.

Walk away

Do not let yourself fall into the trap of confusing down time and work time. Just because you moved your work to your home, doesn’t mean it should dominate your life. You and your students need you at peak mental and emotional health right now. Take breaks, walk away, and don’t let this overtake every part of your life. You are living in this crisis too. You have mental, emotional, and physical needs too. See to them first so you have something left to give to your students when you hit week 3, 6, or 10 of school closures. Locked down? Have a Zoom game night or dinner with friends. Take walks. Have a life. You need it to sustain you.

Reach out

Remember you are not alone. Most teachers are in the same situation you are and we are all just figuring it out. Join a group where you can find resources and advice from other teachers like Educator Temporary School Closure Community. Don’t just Zoom with your students, have check-ins with your co-workers to see what they are doing. Don’t feel as if you are the only one struggling. We are all adapting and coming together like never before.

Lean in

In the end we will all come out of this as better teachers with countless hours of self-study professional development from all the new systems we are adapting to. So find your fellow teachers and learn from them, teach them, and stand strong. Show your students what it really looks like to embrace a life-long love of learning and take them on the journey with you.

Michelle Overman

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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.