Mr. Fagen Faces New Challenge… Virtual Learning

Adam Abougendia, Staff Writer

  As Covid-19 swept through the world, teachers were really anxious to find out how they would teach their students. For Mr. Fagen, the newspaper and yearbook advisor here at Pines Charter realized teaching two extremely important classes that unites jags in school from home would be a challenge.

  It’s obvious that teachers would much rather teach face to face with their students. When Fagen was asked what the greatest con about this online learning period is, he expressed “no face to face interaction so I can’t help a student on-the-spot, attendance is harder to control. There are also less teachable moments because you’re not in the moment with your students.” Fagen has a similar thought process as most teachers around the globe, teaching from home is not as convenient as being face to face. 

  It’s been a big switch for Mr. Fagen and very different for him, with him stating, “How is it not different? It’s tough not being around the students because we lose that fluid exchange of ideas for stories and coverage. We’re doing our best to stay in touch online through email and zoom.” The switch is difficult for not only students but teachers as well, as students’ ideas and voice can’t be heard behind a screen as said by Mr. Fagen. This transition of creativity is even more difficult with the yearbook and newspaper teams having to write stories without the help of each other as they are used to. 

  Mr. Fagen has been working endlessly to bring out good, quality content for newspaper and yearbook classes. Despite all the mess in the world now, he is giving students something to get their heads off of the pandemic and into something productive. 

  • Contributions also made by Julie De Deus (YB)