Biggest Challenges Faced By a Teacher at Teach For America
Shaneli, a Recruitment Manager at Teach For America, identifies the significant learning loss experienced by students during the pandemic as the biggest challenge in their teaching career. This required creative problem-solving, such as incorporating "fifth-grade prerequisite work along with the sixth-grade work," to address the learning gap and ensure student progress despite the setbacks.
Overcoming Challenges, Problem-Solving, Resilience, Education, Teaching
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Shaneli Mirpuri
Recruitment Manager
Teach For America
UCLA 2020
Relay Graduate School of Education; Masters of Arts in Teaching
International Relations & Affairs
Education, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Human Resources (HR)
Video Highlights
1. The biggest challenge Shaneli faced was addressing learning loss in students due to the pandemic. Many lacked internet access or struggled with online learning, impacting their foundational skills.
2. Shaneli highlights the problem-solving aspect of her role, needing to incorporate review sessions for missed concepts while still teaching the current grade level curriculum.
3. Despite the challenges, Shaneli found satisfaction in successfully integrating review and new material, showcasing the rewarding nature of adapting to unexpected educational hurdles.
Transcript
What is your biggest challenge in your current role?
The biggest challenge was definitely, especially since I was still teaching throughout the entire pandemic. The contrast between teaching before, during, and after the pandemic has been significant. Regardless of what anyone says, learning was lost during the pandemic.
Many students didn't have adequate access to the internet or weren't able to truly grasp and retain education delivered online. This wasn't their fault, but a situation no one could really escape. Coming back to teach entirely in person was challenging.
It was difficult to teach students on the basis that they were supposed to have learned essential skills. They were expected to know how to multiply, divide, and work with fractions. The sixth-grade curriculum I taught was built on the foundations of a fifth-grade year without COVID.
It was challenging to figure out how to cope with that learning loss. I had to accept that it happened, but it's my job as the teacher to ensure students make as much progress as possible. This meant finding time for fraction reviews or identifying and revisiting lessons they were missing or found challenging in fifth grade.
It was important to ensure I was teaching them sixth-grade math effectively. This definitely involved a lot of problem-solving, as I mentioned earlier, and made teaching challenging, but almost in a good way. It was satisfying to see days where I could fit in both fifth-grade prerequisite work and the sixth-grade material I was supposed to cover.