Kirk Faris, Tecumseh, NE

We are asking rural communities to share how COVID-19 is impacting them and how teachers and teacher-leaders are adapting in the face of nationwide school closures. Read below for a perspective from Kirk Faris of Tecumseh, NE. Submit yours today: bit.ly/iaartcovid

I teach Calculus, Precalculus, Trigonometry, and Business Math at Johnson County Central High school. I do not consider myself to be a technology expert but rather an old dog learning new tricks.

Johnson County Central High school is one-to-one with each student using a school-issued i-pad. This has made communication and therefore education much easier to accomplish during the current situation. These days my classroom has become more of a communications hub/movie studio. I record myself teaching lessons and email the videos to my students. Google classroom is used to send weekly assignments that the students complete, submit, and then receive back these assignments with the appropriate feedback. We have set up a classroom zoom schedule that allows immediate 2-way communication between students and teachers. I use these sessions to answer student questions. Students that need help outside of our scheduled zoom sessions can email me to receive that help or to set up an individual zoom session if needed.

I have been able to move my classes forward, learning new material during these tough times. It is not the same as having students in the building but I feel that our administrators, teachers, and support staff at JCC have and continue to work hard to better our students and community.