Mr. Lance Boldt, Social Studies, believes that this year has brought a lot of new challenges and obstacles concerning the ongoing pandemic.

“This school year obviously brings a lot of challenges for students and teachers both. I feel that we are off to a good start as far as safety is concerned. My classes and I are starting to get the hang of things. This is all brand new for me, too. So I figured once we got into a routine and a rhythm, things would be much smoother,” Mr. Boldt said. “The first couple of the weeks of every school year is somewhat tough in my opinion. But this year, for obvious reasons, it’s been much tougher,” Mr. Boldt added.

Mr. Boldt also believes that student optimism is dwindling.

“I feel bad for the students. I know most would say in a normal year that they don’t like coming to school. But nearly every student I talk to tells me they would rather be at school that at home doing remote learning,” Mr. Boldt said.

Regarding the new style of teaching, Mr. Boldt has experienced many new difficulties.

“Teaching is much more difficult for me. First of all, I feel like I respond to hundreds of emails a day, which takes up a ton of time. I have to remake a lot of the material I have to fit the hybrid system. I don’t feel like I’m able to truly teach the way I want to,” Mr. Boldt stated. “We don’t get to do some of the fun activities this year as we did in years past. Overall, I feel like I’m treading water. But again, I’m starting to get into a routine, which helps. I couldn’t imagine being a first or second year teacher trying to do all of this. At least I have most of my curriculum planned out and I have a solid game plan,” Mr. Boldt said.

In terms of improvement, Mr. Boldt is always looking for new ways to help conform to this unexpected hybrid year.

“I think that we can always come up with ways to push ourselves as educators. One thing that I am finding about this school year, I am focusing more on the real important parts of history, and less on the other stuff. I want to push those aspects of history to help students understand the big, overall picture,” Mr. Boldt said.

In spite of the difficulties, Mr. Boldt still finds the good in all situations.

“This has allowed me to focus on individual students more since class sizes are so much smaller. I have also learned to be more tech savvy,” Mr. Boldt said.

Mr. Boldt is convinced of the consequences that Corona has brought upon the school year.

“I don’t like the fact that I can’t see my remote learners throughout the week. I know they’re still getting the material and most are turning in their work, but it’s clearly not the same as being in class,” Mr. Boldt said.

Mr. Boldt wishes for this to pass since he believes online learning to be largely unfit for proper education.

“Hopefully this too will pass as my mother mused to say to me. My hope is that our federal and state governments don’t buy into this learning online at home is the new normal. Students need to be around other students and their teachers. They need the interaction. Sitting at home in front of a computer screen is not healthy day in and day out for an entire school year,” Mr. Boldt stated.

Mr. Boldt is always looking for fun and innovative ways to get students zoned into online learning.

“I am continuously looking for ways to improve student understanding. I’m using more and more technology like online games and activities to help. I want my students to enjoy history as much as possible,” Mr. Boldt said.

Boldt is in favor of routine; however, he also is versatile enough to help students in these trying times.

“Like most people. I am someone who likes routine. I don’t like a lot of changes. However, in this instance, I feel that I am constantly adapting to everything. I have to be very flexible,” Mr. Boldt said.

Mr. Boldt clearly wishes for a return to normalcy.

“I want COVID-19 to go away! And I want to get back to normal as soon as possible!” Mr. Boldt stated.