Virtual English: Yay or Nay?

From classic 16th century novels to Shakespearean skits, contemporary works to graphic novels, English class at Stuyvesant offers some of the most varied curricula out there. Whether it be an Advanced Placement course or a writing workshop, students have the opportunity to explore and build their skills through a diverse set of options.

At Stuyvesant, a typically STEM-oriented school, English classes typically revolve around class or small-group discussions. “We start off with minutes, we use an aim question that we answer throughout the lesson, the majority of class is responding to a prompt in their notebooks, talking to the students around you, and then sharing in a large group discussion,” English teacher Heather Huhn described.

During in-person school, these discussions are easily facilitated by the way most English classrooms are set up. “Like many English teachers, I have my seats in a U around the room,” English teacher Annie Thoms said. “My biggest goal in most classes is to have discussions where students are comfortable calling on each other, and discussions can go on without me.”

In this way, in-person English classrooms allow for a lot of collaboration between students that builds a unique sense of community. However, ever since the pandemic moved classes online, English teachers have had to adapt their teaching methods to a remote setting, a format that makes it difficult to maintain the same type of easy-going conversation that happens in a classroom.

Teachers have used several techniques to connect with their students outside of an academic setting. “Being in a classroom together, when everyone is writing together, there is an energy of the quiet room that isn’t the same quiet [as] everyone being muted. It’s a totally different feel. I have struggled to establish the kind of rapport and community feeling, and I’ve tried very hard to work on that,” Thoms said.

English teacher Eric Ferencz echoed Thoms’s sentiment. “I try to meet students individually during office hours to develop a rapport with them,” Ferencz explained. “I’ll ask them silly questions so that we can get to know each other, but during class, I really rely a lot on breakout rooms.”

Breakout rooms have become a new norm during online learning. On Zoom, teachers have the option to place students in random rooms, in specific rooms, or have students choose their room. However, like with many other aspects of virtual school, teachers lose some of the typical capabilities of a classroom while using breakout rooms. “In the classroom, I’m able to see and pop into different conversations and hear from a lot of student voices, but in the breakout rooms, I’m just not able to get to all of them. There’s just a lot of trust I’m putting in my students,” Huhn said.

Another aspect that teachers had to consider was Stuyvesant’s shortened schedule this school year. Most, if not all teachers, have had to find ways to condense their curriculum. “We want to be more expansive in our curriculum by including more women and more writers of color, but that goal was hard to accomplish by cutting in half the things we are already doing,” Assistant Principal of English Eric Grossman said.

However, because English requires no specific quotas that teachers need to fulfill, many feel that they have a considerable amount of flexibility when adapting their curriculum. “I’m lucky in that, in English, I don’t have a specific amount of content I have to cover—my classes are much more skill-based,” Thoms said. “Because we have so much less class time, I’m doing fewer units, with my freshmen in particular, than I normally would.”

English teachers have had to choose which books to teach, which is limited by more than just Stuyvesant’s shortened schedule. Students have been reading material digitally, often in PDF format. “The only real difficult factor is books that I want to teach that are not necessarily found online. If they don’t have something available, we can’t do it,” Ferencz explained.

However, not all teachers have found that reading online has been completely detrimental. Some feel that remote learning has its benefits, including not being restricted to physical books kept in the Stuyvesant building. “I really like being able to generally have easier access to books, because in the building, we have to constantly buy books and replace lost copies,” English teacher Mark Henderson said. “There are some books that almost all teachers of a grade teach, and because we only have a set number of physical books, it sometimes becomes a struggle.”

Reading online with a changed curriculum has also offered some teachers the chance to try new things. “I had the opportunity to teach a new book for the first time, The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas,” Ferencz said. “Teaching a new book remotely was a little daunting at first, but it was a really rewarding experience, and I was glad I got to experience a new text with my students that I’ve never been face to face with before,” he expressed. This new opportunity for Ferencz’s students also gave them the chance to connect the literature with real-world current events. “There are times when, serendipitously, things that are happening in the news come up in the classroom, like how the Derek Chauvin trial aligned almost exactly with The Hate U Give,” Ferencz said. “When you’re working with literature, you are going to find parallels between whatever you are working on and whatever’s going on in the world.”

And for many English teachers, the benefits don’t stop at book selection. The chat function on Zoom has been praised by many, as it allows students to connect with each other in a time when connection is so hard to find. “My sophomores are all over the chat. Like all over the chat, all period long, and in the best possible way,” Grossman laughed. “I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the way that can create opportunities for students who may be a little quieter in a full discussion to be really visible, and for me and the rest of the English teachers to get a sense of what they’re getting from the lesson.”

Teachers are looking to find ways to implement certain remote learning features when they eventually transition back to in-person learning. Students who may not feel comfortable raising their hand and discussing in front of the full class may use the chat or post in the Google Classroom stream instead. This way, teachers can get a better understanding of student participation. “It's been really interesting to see certain students who may not be as stimulated in the classroom really come alive in an online context,” Ferencz explained.

Another benefit of remote learning comes from the easy access to technology. For example, when Thoms invited guest speakers in her Writing to Make Change class, she found that it was much easier to host speakers that typically might not have been able to make it. “[Since] now, they just have to log on to a Zoom, I’ve been able to get guest speakers who might not have been able to take the time to come to Stuyvesant for a whole day,” she said. “It definitely is an option to continue to have virtual guest speakers. For example, if we have a guest speaker who lives in California, I wouldn’t necessarily have to wait until they were in New York to have them, so it definitely opens things up for me.”

Despite the hardships accompanying online learning, most teachers agree that this has been an invaluable learning experience for them. Many have become more comfortable with technology and wish to adapt it for in-person learning. “It has forced me to become more familiar with technology and online resources, such as Google Classroom, which I used in a limited capacity beforehand,” English teacher Emilio Nieves said in an e-mail interview. “I realized the immense value of these resources, and I am considering working with a ‘smart board’ in the future, where I can combine my usual in-class preferences with the online resources I learned so much about.”

Teachers aren’t just learning through technology, however—they are also learning from their students. Stuyvesant is largely made of driven, motivated students, and this has reflected through remote learning. “I am repeatedly struck by how quickly you guys started this year. It’s almost as if you guys just looked around and said ‘okay, it’s school.’ You guys are showing us that you want to make the most of this year, and when it feels hard for us, it’s a nice thing to see and be inspired by,” Henderson said.

Other teachers added to this sentiment. “I’m impressed by the creativity students apply in the face of these problems when trying to connect to each other and when trying to maintain their mental health,” Ferencz said. “I draw a lot of strength from my students when I’m struggling, and it’s just been a gift to witness.”

Online learning certainly has its ups and downs, but English teachers are committed to doing their best to maintain their optimism and provide students with the best education possible. As Huhn said, “There are certainly days where remote learning is monotonous, and you are in front of a computer all day long, but if my students are showing up, I need to show up too—and show up with a smile.”