 | | Caitlin Hernandez working on her Braille Note Touch Plus.via Caitlin Hernandez |
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“I tell them, ‘I got you, I’ve been there.’” |
— Caitlin Hernandez, a teacher in San Francisco |
When Caitlin Hernandez, 30, was in graduate school, she was asked the same question over and over again: Can someone who is blind really be a teacher? The doubt she heard made her all the more certain she did want to go into teaching, so that her students — many of whom have autism, dyslexia, A.D.H.D. and physical disabilities — would have a role model who really knew what they were experiencing. She wanted them to learn from her success, not to question their own aspirations. |
Ms. Hernandez typically starts out every school year introducing herself as someone who is totally blind and has been her whole life, then reads a book called, “My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay,” which has a blind protagonist. (This book was not written by a blind author, but Ms. Hernandez is currently writing her own young adult novel about a blind person.) |
But Covid, paired with Ms. Hernandez’s blindness, made the adjustment to virtual learning all the more challenging. She teaches special education to second, third, and fourth grade students, as well as kindergartners, at Rooftop School, an alternative public school in San Francisco. She is accustomed to using hands-on tactics, like counting out objects with her students in math class. These tactile learning techniques are no longer possible on Zoom. |
Before the pandemic, she started her days taking an access-a-ride service to school, arriving just before class started at 7:50. Now she “rolls out of bed” and starts with an 8:30 Zoom session, offering one-on-one reading assistance to one of her students. |
In the pre-Covid classroom, Ms. Hernandez had an assistant who kept an eye on the students and ensured they were paying attention. Now that classes are remote, that assistant functions as a “back seat Zoom driver,” helping to monitor the chatbox and unmute students while Ms. Hernandez reads her lesson plan. Ms. Hernandez uses the Zoom app on her phone, which is linked to a Braille display. In the afternoon, she offers 30-minute larger classes, and smaller group reading exercises for just two or three students. |
She misses being in person with her students, which helped establish trust. “There’s this in-person connection we have of being like, ‘I’m also disabled, so I get that it’s hard but we’re going to do this together,’” Ms. Hernandez said. “I tell them, ‘I got you, I’ve been there.’ And that looks very different over Zoom.” |
It is not just Ms. Hernandez who is experiencing the difficulties of remote learning. She has heard from her disabled students that they are struggling emotionally. They depended on their in-person classes both for structure and community. |
“The nature of the pandemic is that everything is so unpredictable, and that’s hard for autistic people because structure is so helpful,” she said. “I hear people say, ‘This must be great for kids with autism because the classroom is overwhelming.’ It’s really not. They’re missing out on being with folks who engage them.” |
Most troubling to Ms. Herandez is the widening gap between her students who get support from their families at home, and those who have to push themselves through virtual learning and even provide child care to their younger siblings, because their parents are struggling too. “It’s not equitable,” she said. “Some students have support at home and others just don’t.” |
Ms. Hernandez has seen her students struggle to focus during virtual classes. Sometimes they wander away from their computers, or forget to mute themselves while calling for a snack. She knows that privately many of them are suffering, especially those with parents who lost jobs. Ms. Hernandez has provided comfort and structure by arranging activities they can do together virtually. |
“I asked the kids what books they had at home that they really enjoyed,” she said. “Then I would go download it so we could read together.” |
In Her Words is edited by Francesca Donner. Our art director is Catherine Gilmore-Barnes, and our photo editor is Sandra Stevenson. |
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