This year has been a whirlwind, but we could not have made it through without our teachers.
Here at the Newspaper we believed it would be a good idea to interview two teachers on their experiences during lockdown.
We questioned Ms Burke ( Amazing Geography teacher) and Mr Hine (Incredible English teacher) to get their responses. This is what they said:
Questions | Ms Burke | Mr Hine |
Best part of lockdown? | TIME – having time to press pause on life for a while, and to take more time with all the little things. This actually led me to be more mindful with everything I did (accidental mindfulness!) since my way of life is usually very fast-paced. Also, to catch up with people one-on-one as opposed to socialising in larger groups. Due to the lockdown laws of only walking/exercising in a pair, it was a good way to catch up with people one-on-one for the first time in a long while. I felt that my friendships benefitted from that. | I moved into a new place during lockdown so setting up my garden felt pretty special. Being able to go surfing in between my timetabled lessons was a highlight too. |
What hobbies did you adopt during lockdown? | Gardening, gardening and MORE gardening! My veggie-patch is now overflowing with all sorts of fruit and veg and I’m looking forward to harvesting it all come the autumn. I also felt very lucky to be able to continue with my morning training and, though a few things had to be put on pause, was still able to be out training at 5.30am Monday-Friday. I actually find that I now – very weirdly - miss those cold, winter mornings running around outdoors in the dark! | I bought myself a keyboard and started practising for about an hour everyday. Another new hobby was making meals based on my intuition and whatever was in the fridge, rather than recipes. |
What do you miss from lockdown? | Time – especially in the mornings before school. I also miss the slower pace of life and the feeling of not having to rush off to be somewhere. This slower pace is something I had never experienced before the lockdown and which I initially hated – I definitely struggled with that at the beginning. In the end, I adapted to the slower pace of life and now I completely miss that. | I miss not commuting to and from school. Being able to cook my lunch each day was pretty great as well.
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How was it teaching in Lockdown? | Difficult – especially because students seemed to hate having their cameras on. It was incredibly disheartening to talk to a blank screen and felt like I was talking to myself a lot of the time. However, there were always lessons that perked me up, where the students seemed to engage and were happy to involve themselves in discussions. | Teaching was challenging because so much of the way we communicate is non-verbal. Some days I would monologue looking into the green light of my laptop and be met with silence which sometimes made me feel like I was losing the plot. Having said all this, I was pretty astounded by the work produced by my students, particularly my Year 9s and 10s who had to study Shakespeare remotely! |
Favourite Netflix/Books you enjoyed during lockdown? | I discovered Disney Plus (!!) and started the long journey through all the Marvel films 😊. I also rewatched every Harry Potter film. I started rewatching Parks and Recreation which is a US comedy series written by Amy Poehler who I think is extremely intelligent with her comedy and timing. Oh, and the incredible Ted Lasso – although this ended up making me feel even more homesick for England, honestly. As for books, I took it upon myself to nerd out on some philosophy books over the lockdown but ended up struggling with this decision to abandon fiction and so switched them out for some fiction in the end. | Honeybee by Craig Silvey. This is such an inspiring story which made me a lot more aware of the challenges transgender people face everyday. While I am a huge fan of Silvey’s earlier work Jasper Jones, I think I preferred Honeybee. I also watched ‘The Game Changers’ which helped me reconsider my consumption of dairy products. |
-Interviewed by Rachael Hickey, year 10
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