You do the best you can do

Cecilia Stanton-Verduzco is a high school Spanish teacher of 14 years at John Adams High School in South Bend, Ind. Cecilia shares that the best part about her job is working with the kids, she has a clear passion for teaching and spending time with her students. Dan and Cecilia discuss the many challenges that teachers have confronted since the start of the pandemic. They have had to completely reinvent their curriculum to support online learning and Cecilia shares that as a language teacher the loss of in-person communication has been especially challenging. In April and May there was a lot of applause for teachers but a shift started at the beginning of the school year with a lack of patience and empathy towards teachers who are instructing through e-learning. “You do the best you can do,” says Cecilia, “everyone is trying their hardest.”