Life of a Fellow: Sam

Sam studied Sociology with a focus in Criminology and earned certificates in American Sign Language/Deaf Studies and Disability Studies at the University of Iowa before joining 12+. Her commitment to supporting and empowering her students makes her an incredible addition to our Belmont Charter High School team, and we’re so glad to have her as a member of the 2020-21 Fellows class!

“Ms. Sam, are you kidding me… you don’t know who I am?”

As everyone knows, this school year has been defined by screens. 

By the way, I’m that classic Zoom user that screams at the computer screen because everyone is so far away that they must not be able to hear me, right?! My partner often reminds me that even though people on the other side of the screen aren’t in the room to hear my high pitched remarks, they can still hear me. Oops.

Anyways, back to screens…

For the Fellows and other educators, the screens we see often contain no image, just a name, and often the student on the other side of that screen isn’t comfortable even speaking out loud. Without any visual or audio cues it has been so challenging to have any idea of who is on the other side of the screen.

Belmont’s first day of hybrid learning!

For my Fellowship year, I’ve been working with Juniors and Seniors at Belmont Charter High School. Until the beginning of April I had seen maybe three or four of my students' faces. Which I got used to. It wasn’t a big deal at all honestly. I feel like I really mastered the art of talking to a screen full of Zoom boxes the same way I would talk to a room full of people. But, at the beginning of April our school opened up for hybrid learning (Hybrid learning: “a teaching method where teachers instruct in-person and remote students at the same time”) and we began going into the school twice a week. This is what we’ve been waiting for all year! But, this posed a unique challenge. 

“Hi! It’s so great to meet you in person finally! But... who are you?”

I realized as we entered the classrooms of Belmont Charter High School that I could hardly recognize any of my students without the Zoom boxes labeled with their names. I felt like I had created some great bonds with many of the Juniors and Seniors, but would that be ruined now if I can’t recognize them in person? 

I’ve thought long and hard about how to ask my students who they are without sounding like I don’t know who they are. 

Some options I’ve considered:

• Asking students to identify the other students in the room 

  • This gets a little awkward because it’s simply impossible to whisper in masks.

• Trying to eavesdrop when other teachers say hi to a student

  • This never worked, not even once. Again, masks really muffle things.

It’s all so awkward. You ask new people what their names are, but not people you’ve been talking to for 9 months.

WHAT’S A GIRL TO DO?!

I’ll tell you, I just had to embody the weirdness and be direct. 

“Who are you??”

It honestly wasn’t awkward at all. It was actually pretty exciting when I finally got to put a name to a face and finally engage face to face with students. Just a couple students regularly came into the school for in person classes though.

A typical day of working from home.

Until...

Last Friday *drum roll please*  DECISION DAY

We got to help the school set up a big celebration for all of the Seniors to recognize the post-grad pathways our students have chosen. I got to meet 30 plus of the students behind the screens. It was AMAZING - a whole room of humans that I care so much about but have never met before. 

I was in charge of passing out raffle tickets. I got to tell students they had the chance to win free stuff. What's better than that? I was going person to person asking their names, handing them tickets. I was getting to the end when one student looked up at me and said

“Ms. Sam, are you kidding me… you don’t know who I am?”

This was the reaction I had been so worried about. I scrambled to say something but again had to embrace that there was no perfect response. 

“No I’m so sorry, I don’t know what anyone looks like”

The students stood up with a huge smile on her face (behind a mask don’t worry) and told me her name. This was one of the students I have spent the entire year working with. She was the first student to reach out to me and personally ask me to help her. You know usually you’re the one trying to convince students to talk to you. I was beyond excited to finally see her face!

The excitement continues!

I got to meet more and more students that I had never seen before. One of the students I’ve been working with even ran up and gave me a hug. We’ve learned to cope with the distance created by online learning, but getting to be in a room with students that I’ve spent countless hours on Zoom with made it all worth it. They are beyond amazing and I’m so glad that during a global pandemic I still had the chance to connect with such lovely humans.