Teaching Through The Pandemic

I was asked to tell my story of the pandemic. Like others, this year has had so many ups and downs, cries and laughs, alone times and togetherness. I guess what makes my story significant or interesting is the fact that I’m a teacher—even further, a Montessori primary teacher with a combined classroom of preschool and kindergarten. Maybe you haven’t heard of Montessori,  but to sum it up, Montessori is a philosophy of teaching where everything is hands on and into nature.

My classroom is full of wooden shelves, large windows, gardens, and a plethora of hands on learning materials to keep any child engaged with learning. I chose Montessori philosophy because it was the closest I could get to authentic learning and developmentally appropriate practice in a public school setting. It’s child centered, open ended, and individualized. All of which are very important aspects to respectful and meaningful learning. I am not that kind of teacher that could just slap a worksheet in front of a child and demand them to write. 

I think the hardest part of this pandemic is leading others through it, especially tiny humans who don’t understand what is happening. I’m sure every parent feels that way as well. It’s difficult, and you have to find the time to analyze things in your own headspace and put your worries and anxieties aside in order to be strong and prepared for them. 

I’m rambling. Let me try and start from the beginning.

It’s August. We are six months into the pandemic at this point, and fears are still high. I have just accepted my first job as a public school teacher in the city. I’m feeling every emotion under the sun. I’m excited to finally “make it”, finally graduate and land my dream job. I’ve known I landed the job since July so I’ve had about a month of anticipation, and lots of time to make my Pinterest perfect classroom. I took many trips to Lakeshore Learning center to gather plant borders, birthday wall stickers, and sight word world walls. Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools finally makes the call…. We will be virtual until further notice. 

A little background and history about me. My name is Courtney Gregory, and this is my 5th year in the education system. I started my journey into education when I graduated from Central Piedmont Community College with my associates degree in early childhood education in 2016. My first job in education was a kindergarten teacher assistant at a Title 1 school. While being a teacher assistant I was also working in the evenings at a child care center, who then later hired me to be there full time teaching the 3s classroom.


I was blessed with the opportunity to pursue my bachelor’s degree through the state initiated child care program geared towards helping early childhood educators obtain their degrees after teaching for a certain amount of years. While teaching three year olds I went to school through the university of Greensboro and finally (big breath of relief) I graduated with my degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a concentration in Early Care and Education this past May 2020. 

Like most people, I had very mixed emotions. I was very nervous about Coronavirus because I have a heart condition and at the time I was living with someone who is autoimmune. I was scared to be around children again because we all know it’s a germ cesspool when two or more are gathered. However, I was so sad to miss my “first year” excitement. I always loved the first day of school, and I wanted to experience that child like joy once more. Of course, I never want to risk anyone’s life so I definitely will put that above any of my feelings. There will always be another first day of school for me, and I’m sure that next year will also feel like the first year for me if we return to normal. 

The first couple of months were so difficult. I am not tech savvy at all, so I really had to relearn my teaching style and transform it into an online platform. I took so many professional learning classes to learn the Canvas platform. How to make pages, assignments, tests, insert videos, pictures, etc. It was HARD. After learning so much about Canvas and online learning, after the start of school glitches were happening everywhere. I spent so many days crying. Everything that I had learned was made for computers, but my school district decided that iPads would be best for kindergarten.


I do agree of course, however, none of us were taught that certain things do not work on computers and iPads. It doesn’t translate well. I put weeks of work on Canvas only to have most of it not work. Simple things that inserting a google doc or google slides just wouldn't show up on an iPad. It was GREAT. 

Needless to say, yes, the beginning of the year was hard. Everyone was frustrated. I was stressed trying to complete a job I didn’t feel prepared for, and the parents were frustrated having their kids online and complete online learning that was nothing like what they expected coming to a Montessori school. This tension led into a demand that I simply couldn’t fulfill. 

Parents and families felt more connected to me than ever before. Which if it was anything like my old preschool, I would have loved because there I was looked at like a partnership with them. It was honestly a shock of cold water to the face when I constantly had parents angry at me. Public school parents were a new breed for me I guess coming from a private preschool. They would say I wasn’t doing enough, their child is above what I’m teaching, their child this their child that.

I felt so overwhelmed being so connected. I was working from home of course, so the only way they could contact me through my cell phone. So I constantly had calls, texts, emails. I was always on. If they were having a canvas issue at 9 o’clock at night I would get up and fix it. I was teacher and tech support all in one, and without the salary. Speaking of, did you know that the beginning teacher salary is $35,000 in NC? LIKE WHAT. This is why I chose a school an hour away in the city because they at least had a small supplement. Anyway end of that rant.

I know that is a lot of negative emotions. It was a very stressful time. I never felt like I was doing enough or doing it correctly. I had no model, no one did. It was unprecedented! Don’t we just love using that word?? 

Fast forward to whatever month it was--Maybe October?They decided to introduce a hybrid model. Let me tell you…that is just double the work. Now you have kids coming in two days a week, three days virtual and rotating. Now I’m planning in person and online at the same time. I’m running from my in person kids to my online small groups. I’m completing virtual IEP meetings and virtual parent teacher conferences. Can I mention that I can’t breath? LOL. 

Let me backtrack a little to how it feels to have children in-person. It feels so great to have the kids again. They do need social interaction from their peers so much. I hate that it is in this limited capacity. At the time we weren’t even allowed to use the playground. I had to implement rules when we were outside like how to play tag. I taught them to go up near someone, put their hand in their general direction, and say “got you.” They did it so well it hurt my soul. Children shouldn’t have to do this; it’s simply not in their nature. 

Without fully understanding why they had to go against their innate desire to connect, they complied. The sidewalk was the designated mask break area. “Look around you before taking your mask off and make sure no one is around you.” I began hearing phrases from them like, “don’t touch that, it’s coronavirus”, and, “you’re too close!” 

We know through child development research, children learn through play and reenacting what they see and hear is a way to help their brains process what is happening around them. It was still a very somber feeling to be the one hearing young children process through the pandemic what you yourself cannot process fully. It’s a helpless feeling because all I want to do is hug and comfort them and tell them it will go back to normal one day. Even if I cannot tell them “when” it will go back to normal. These children don’t know school differently though, this is their first public school experience. 

I think one of the most powerful and ever lasting impacts that I had this year would involve the teaching on the election and our Black History Month study that we completed in February. 

The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris was an important topic to teach on. Since Kamala Harris is the first woman to take the oval office, I wanted to make sure that the young girls in my classroom knew and understood that this was a historical event that they were a part of. When we were learning about Kamala Harris, I could say to my class “Why is this important, friends?”, and they would respond, “she is the first woman to take office!”, then I could continue on, “ and what else is significant about this?”, without missing a beat they would say in unison, “because she is also the first woman of color.” It is important. It is important for women. It is an important event in our collective history.

With this momentum we went into the study of Black History Month. Now, I want to begin this section by stating some obvious but important things. I am a white woman, in the south, at a public school, teaching very young kids about some of the most complicated, important and sensitive topics there are in this country. Do I think that I am the leading authority on all these things like, racial justice, equity and systemic racism...hell no. I fully understand my limitations in that regard. I am trying my best as the teacher for these kids. I will undoubtedly not say or do everything perfectly, but, that being said, these children are four, five, and six, and they get it. They got it at a level that shocked and astonished me. 

I will also state that my school district, and my school in particular, provided us with lessons on how to navigate these sensitive topics. We had training that broke down the issues in public schools today around the topic of racial injustice, such as the astounding statistics of punishment towards black students. My school has the philosophy that we love and respect people of all backgrounds and celebrate it openly in the classroom. It is very progressive and we are able to do a lot more because we are Montessori, despite the fact that we are a public school. For example, most schools have a rock outside their school. It’s tradition that parents will “rent” the rock and paint their child’s birthday on it or a special message. What does my school paint on it’s rock? BLM. Yeah. It’s that kind of school.

SO, all of this to say my Montessori public school takes black history month very seriously. Every class had to pick a current black voice to study as a class and we proudly displayed it in the hallways. My principal and school leadership team provided books to read to, videos to watch, and various resources for us teachers to teach to our students around the topics of Black history. 

Their minds were blown when we talked about Martin Luther King, segregation, separate but “equal” racism, slavery, and The Civil Rights Movement. They asked surprisingly hard questions, and we navigated their difficult answers. “So Ms. Courtney, I wouldn’t have been allowed to go to the same school as so and so?” So, we talked about empathy, “How do you think black people felt during this time?”, and “Do you think this was fair at all?” It is important to teach these topics to young children and instill empathy and knowledge of our unfortunate past. 

We discussed black names in history that are often overlooked for their white colleagues. We talked about inventors and scientists. We read books that said black names, and we emphasized those names. We ended the month with a black history project about someone who is influential today. This was a school wide project, and each class chose a name to study together. As a class we chose Michelle Obama. They came in with poster boards and we discussed her garden, schooling, roles as first lady, and many other details. It was so amazing. 

And those are just a few of the great memories from this school year. There are many, many others I promise, but that means I would be here all night, and as those who are teachers or who know teachers closely, I am already working late at night. Always connected, wondering how little Timmy is doing at his baseball game tonight, or remembering that I need to email Sarah’s mom.  I love what I do and I look forward to continually learning how to teach and be better for my students. It is one of the greatest adventures of my life and I am very, very grateful. Here’s to a great rest of the school year and amazing summer of rest and recuperation for the next group of students. Cheers!