November 27, 2020
She started sneaking her Dad’s schoolbooks when she was a little girl to teach in her imaginary classroom. She wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a teacher.
Alyssa Anton is a first grade teacher in South Portland. She recalled her passion to teach starting at a young age, but the stresses of this year are nothing she ever anticipated.
Switching to a hybrid model of in-person and virtual learning has presented challenges. Focusing on individual student needs is difficult because teachers are not interacting with their students in person daily.
For Alyssa, language barriers and differentiated technology for students have been some of the biggest challenges. Some of her students, and their families, speak a different first language. Navigating a new normal and explaining virtual technology has not been an easy feat. Despite that, she said, “Kids are rockstars! They come to school on their days, and only get one mask break for lunch. They’ve adapted so well to wearing their masks and following new safety procedures. I'm grateful I get to see both cohorts 2 days a week.”
Alyssa hopes that all students can be together again since some of the students haven’t seen their kindergarten classmates since being promoted to first grade.
