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Teachers speak on impact of virtual learning two years after shutdown

Earlier this week, we talked to parents about the lasting impact virtual learning had on their kids. Now, we're hearing from teachers too.

SCRANTON, Pa. — In March of 2020, teaching online for two weeks sounded like a tall order.

"It's only two weeks. It's only two weeks. We've got this," Kelly Mastreselva recalled saying at the time. She teaches seventh and eighth-grade math at West Scranton Intermediate School.

Fourth grade Hanover Area Memorial Elementary School teacher Alicia Kole remembers feeling "panic, confusion, worry."

Jennifer Rizzitano, who teaches fifth grade at North Pocono Intermediate, thought, "OK, so I guess we're home for two weeks, and then life will go back to normal in two weeks."

Instead, two years later, some of those teachers still have students they only see from behind a screen.

The Scranton School District kept students online for more than a year.

Now, Mastreselva is playing catch-up.

"With math, you need prerequisites. So if you didn't learn your materials in sixth and seventh grade for whatever reason, there were kids that couldn't be online, and there were kids who chose not to be online — they [missed] a whole year, so we are doing our best this year to catch them up to be at grade level when we're covering last year's grade level and this year's grade level curriculum."

It's a similar story in Kole's fourth-grade classroom in the Hanover Area School District.

"On a daily basis, I'm just tailoring my education for tomorrow based on how they did today. So we're not losing sight of what our goals were originally for this year, but sometimes we do need to go back and remediate and make sure the students understand what they should have before we can get to today's lesson."

For Rizzitano, she felt like her students didn't miss a beat when they came back to the classroom. But she's worried about the future.

"I don't know if, in my grade level, we're going to see that falling behind for another year or two. I worry about the students who are in kindergarten and first grade, who didn't get that foundation – phonics and writing – to come up to our level. So I'm not seeing it immediately, but I may see it in a year or two; I may feel the difference."

And these teachers aren't just catching kids up on their reading and writing skills, but their social skills too.

"The biggest thing was it felt like we were starting just day one of how to come to school again. The students needed a lot of reminders of how to be students in class. They weren't sure of raising their hands and not shouting out and things like that," Kole said.

"We are in desperate need of social and emotional learning. Just as much as the academics, I really want to get responsible decision making, and having self-awareness, and having good self-management," said Mastreselva.

One thing all of the teachers we spoke to agreed on — every day is getting a little bit better.

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