Just as 11th grade IB Biology students were getting used to online learning in school, they are now switching back to regular in-person learning. It was just announced that Dr. Jan Jaszewski, Ms. Hamlani’s replacement, has resigned. It’s been over two months now since Ms. Hamlani, the 11th grade IB Biology teacher, went on maternity leave. Her original child care leave was supposed to end on December 22nd, however she has made the decision to extend it and will most likely be back some time in January.
At first, many students and parents were skeptical of the idea of remote learning in school. However, Clinton wanted to ensure a smooth transition into it in order to make the best of the temporary situation. As expected, the first few weeks were slow, in terms of learning the content and material. Students weren’t used to remote learning, not since the pandemic which was five years ago. It was an adjustment period and everyone was trying their best to settle in. IB Biology is a very rigorous and challenging course even in-person, let alone on Zoom, so you can imagine how that might have been for the 11th grade students.
After a few weeks, students began to adjust to the new routine as best they could. But, there were still students who felt very lost and in need of help that was not available to them. Not only students, but Dr. Jaszewski also felt like there was a divide, making it difficult for him to effectively teach and communicate. At first, there were several complications with Zoom, such as poor sound and video quality. Towards the end of the class periods, Jan would divide students into breakout rooms in order to give them individualized instruction and answer any specific questions they had. “The reality of teaching through Zoom is inescapable and there was a lot of miscommunication,” says Mr. Tabasso, the IB Biology ICT teacher. It was especially difficult for the two sections that do not have Mr. Tabasso as a second teacher, so the only source of learning was coming from a computer screen. Students in Mr. Tabasso’s sections were able to more easily ask questions and follow along with the material that Dr. Jaszeweski was teaching.
On December 4, an announcement was made that let students and parents know that Dr. Jaszewski was being replaced by a new and in-person teacher, Fjona Prendi. Ms. Prendi is a New York University graduate in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, and excels in STEM. She also happens to be very skilled in data analysis, problem solving, and project leadership. After asking her why she chose to do this job, she replied, “I just graduated, and I was interested in getting into teaching”. She hasn’t even been in the position for a week, but she has said nothing but good things about her experience at Clinton so far. She is now working alongside Mr. Tabasso to teach the IB Biology class, while Ms. Carballo will be transitioning into the one higher level (HL) section in order to provide specialized instruction, since the HL course is significantly harder than the standard level (SL) course. “Jan was confusing, jumped around a lot, and didn’t make it clear what we were supposed to know,” says Melia Murphy, an HL bio student. She also said that he made students confused about what was expected of them and “was not very approachable to ask questions to.” The HL course requires students to cover extra topics than SL students, because the course goes more into depth with the material.
Even though this is another big transition, many students and parents are relieved that Ms. Prendi is able to teach in person, since it was very difficult to learn over Zoom. With Dr. Jaszewski, a majority of the class periods was spent going over slideshows and taking Cornell notes, which many students found tedious and not the best use of the class periods. Since he’s been gone, Mr. Tabasso has taken this opportunity to try a new approach to teaching the course. In fact, he recently assigned a project on enzymes with options between writing a short story, an essay, or creating a research presentation. Since many students were uninterested in notetaking, he thought doing a project would be a better way of engaging students in the material. “Working with Jan had challenges that I had foreseen and hoped I could have prevented,” he said while reflecting on the whole experience. “It’s important to communicate and be open, and we’re hopefully moving towards a more effective way of learning,” he says. “I think that a lot of people thought the situation wasn’t working and in a sense, we’ve ripped a band-aid off”.
Mr. Tabasso says he plans to try to keep the class as structured as possible, in order to make the best of things for the time being, until Ms. Hamlani returns. “Much like ourselves–specifically our proteins–the best way to function is with the best structure in place”.
