During the 2019\u201320 school year, Ms. Morris taught 8th grade science at a rural middle school in Indiana. As COVID began to spread throughout the US, her school quickly moved to online instruction. Ms. Morris recalled how difficult it was to adapt to an online mode of teaching:<\/p>\n
Prior to last year, we\u2019d never had e-learning. . . . So I really felt like I was starting in the deep end of the pool, and it was a sink or swim kind of time. I didn\u2019t have time to really figure it out, I just started doing it. . . . It was more of let\u2019s just get by in the spring, let\u2019s just do the best that we can with what we have to work with.<\/em><\/p>\n She noted the added challenge of trying to facilitate online instruction when her students didn\u2019t have access to reliable internet. In her words:<\/p>\n We were running into problems of some students didn\u2019t have internet, and then the internet was down in some locations. So it was not reliable initially to be able to say, \u201cOkay, I\u2019m getting [online] with everybody.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Due in large part to these obstacles, Ms. Morris did not address the topic of COVID in her science instruction, choosing instead to devote class time to covering the required standards. As she said:<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t teach on the topic of COVID. I have standards I have to cover, and we get only so much time. And then when the pandemic hit and I did not meet with my students, really I couldn\u2019t meet with all my students, so when I did get them, I had to stick with my standards. And so, no, I never did talk about COVID. It was like, gosh, I don\u2019t have enough time to open that can of worms.<\/em><\/p>\n\n