If you look beyond the masks and social distancing procedures, it might seem like a typical day in the classroom pre-coronavirus: students sitting at their desks, learning, laughing, and having fun. 
But at Bishop Dunn Memorial School, located on the campus of Mount Saint Mary College, the teachers and staff can tell you it’s no small feat to pull off the educational dilemma that is 2020. Bishop Dunn was one of the first schools in the area to reopen for in-person instruction for Fall 2020, and there in the trenches with them are six Mount Saint Mary College student teachers, engaging in what may be the most unusual student teaching experience in history.
Despite the challenges the pandemic has brought, Bishop Dunn had an enrollment boost of 20 percent this year, offering both in-person and remote learning options. For many students, this is the first in-person school instruction they’ve received since March, when area schools switched to remote learning for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
Camryn Christensen of Wallingford, Conn., a senior Mathematics major seeking certification in elementary and special education, is a Mount student teacher in BDMS teacher Marie Altavilla’s second grade classroom this semester. She noted that although her particular classroom only has in-person students, there are still plenty of adaptations necessary. Students have to keep their own set of materials – no sharing with others – and the “new normal” routine of social distancing, temperature checks, and mask wearing is very different than the traditional academic experience. Water fountains, the playground, and the cafeteria are also closed to minimize exposure, leading to “a very different academic atmosphere for both the students and teachers,” she noted.
And of course, there’s the process of trying to keep second graders from being too close to one another.
“This also means we are trying to keep 18 students socially distant and in line following protocols throughout the entire school day in the classroom,” Christensen explained. “This is a challenge in itself.”
Fellow student teacher Kyle Conway of Middletown, N.Y., a Mount graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Education, is balancing both in-person and remote students in the fourth-grade classroom with cooperating teacher Brian Kimbark ’15 MSEd ’18. He’s grateful for the opportunity to have in-person students with whom he can practice his skills, but notes that it’s important to also engage with his remote students as well. Finding the balance of interacting with both sets of students at the same time requires creativity to keep everything “student centered,” he explained.
One of the particular challenges he’s faced is finding opportunities for the students to continue to experience school in an age-appropriate manner, particularly in keeping attention. “It’s a challenge to ask students to sit still for that amount of time,” he explained.
Christensen notes that the students are adapting to these new challenges. “They have reacted to the current situation amazingly!” she said. “Our students are great with masks and being as polite as they can be with their peers. These students are so resilient, and they have blown me away with how much they can handle. [They] have been a blessing to get to know and have made my experience already one I can never forget.”
In fact, teaching during a pandemic is an experience that Christensen values. “It is so relieving to be able to see the students in the classroom every day and have some sort of normalcy through these crazy times. If anything, the students have taught me more than I have even been able to bring to the classroom thus far and I truly am so proud of how they are able to adjust to this new teaching environment.”
In some cases, the bonds they’ve developed are even stronger as a result of this shared experience. “I would say the social emotional contributions I have given to these students’ lives [has been positive],” Conway noted. “These relationships are going to be hard to part from.”
One thing is certain: These student teachers are receiving a preparation for the field like no other. “If I can master teaching under these conditions, then it will be phenomenal under normal conditions,” Conway said.
Christensen echoed his sentiment: “I would have never imagined that this is what my student teaching experience would entail, but I think I can speak for us all when we say we can handle anything from here on out.”