Samantha Julien is a preschool teacher at Martin Luther King Elementary. Julien has always had a passion for teaching and especially loves teaching pre-school. This is her second year of teaching and adjusting to the new norm of E-learning has been a bumpy road. As a teacher, her main priority is to keep her students safe but also to provide them with the skills they will need in the future. Julien has been online teaching for six months and expects to continue even though it is not the ideal way she pictured this school year to go.

“I feel disconnected from my students. I no longer have the structure of the classroom which I feel is very important in learning,” said Julien.

Julien has also expressed the concerns she faces daily while instructing online.

“There are privacy concerns, especially on the student’s end. Anything can happen in the home,” she said.

Julien makes it a priority to tie her lessons back to the current pandemic we are facing, making it pre-school friendly of course. She makes up counting songs while the students are washing their hands.

“My students are aware of the pandemic. It’s important that they do,” she said.

Julien hopes to be able to see all of her students soon but also wants to make sure that the environment is safe first. She values the health of her students and understands that if online learning won’t jeopardize the health of her students she’ll have to stick with it for now.

“I think E-learning will become a part of our education. Nothing will be the same,” said Julien.