Jerrod Schwarz, 28, is an adjunct professor at the University of Tampa in Florida.
He teaches creative writing andedits poetry for Driftwood Press.
The class sat in silence.
Jerrod and his wife, Seneca, carry their three-year-old daughter, Emerson. Emerson’s twin, Briar, watches. Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder
Tissues were being passed around, and I held in my own tears.
Empathy makes students engage with a piece of creative writing on a whole new level.
These shared experiences are often cumulative as well.
COVID-19 has changed this semester in a profound way.
Instead of writing on a board, I upload lectures to YouTube.
Instead of talking through a concept, we email about it.
Simply, there is more silence now.
No Interest Til Almost 2027?
The rain clouds are battling my own anxiety while recording lectures from home.
Is the mic working properly?
Are my PowerPoint slides succinct but informative?
Do I sound engaging and focused, or can they tell Ive been checking the latest death tolls?
Rain clouds are knowing my students are travelling back to problematic households.
Most of the students took the class as an elective, anyway.
Meshing my home life and job adds to my anxieties.
I can feel these important responsibilities whittle away at my teaching focus.
As I felt this drain, I turned to reading.
Sylvia Plath churning out new work from her hospital bed.
Soren Kierkegaard furiously penning a new branch of philosophy amid the diseases claiming his family members one by one.
Did you know?
For this reason, Ive chosen not to recreate a shoddy clone of my class through Zoom.
Ive chosen not to expect students to peer review each other with the same intensity or camaraderie.
Instead, we are reading more.
And its starting to work.
As our cumulative seclusion continues, I expect more hiccups, more unforeseen challenges to teaching long distance.
