Talar Kaloustian

Talar Kaloustian (Assistant Professor of English as a Second Language and Assistant Chair, ESL Unit, Community College of Philadelphia)

Pre-COVID, I think I operated under the “if push comes to shove…” mantra. I never really felt that I needed to learn how to use the many online teaching tools available to us, or that my students really needed to learn how to navigate the online education world. Don’t get me wrong: I do use some tools, such as Canvas and Screencast-o-matic, just because the times have dictated this gradual shift. I have even taught asynchronous online courses before. But this pandemic has certainly brought me to the “shove” stage of learning how to use online educational tools, and to use them in a deeper and more systematic way.

I teach ESL at a community college, and my students, most of whom already lived with pretty challenging circumstances, have now been thrust into this unimaginable situation. Most work at least one job to help pay rent; some have been parentified from a young age as translators for their parents; some have no personal computer at home; and some do not even have internet access at home. Fortunately, my college is providing students with laptops as needed. Unfortunately, some of my students have had to drop my course because they do not have internet access at home. And my reality check occurs on a daily basis as students tell me about someone else in their family, or in their close circle, who has passed due to COVID. Their plight is my motivation. I am taking full advantage of educating myself, watching every possible YouTube video, poring over every possible tool, website, you name it, to do what I can to make this as seamless a transition as possible for my students. I agonize before my daily video-conferencing classes over whether or not I am making this work. My hope is that I am. It is rough going, but we will make it through this period in humanity’s history. And indeed, I will remain in a state of self-shoving to come out “triumphant”–if such a concept can exist at this time–on the other side.