Jordyn Oster: On Both Sides of the Virtual Classroom

Student-athletes have been faced with many changes and challenges over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, not only in their sport but in their studies alike. With the transition from in-person to online classes, the virtual setting has proven to be challenging due to increased distraction, lack of personal interaction and a decrease in hands-on learning. The challenges for teachers have been just as prevalent, having to adapt to the new learning environment and aim to provide the same value to their students through virtual means.

Temple gymnastics senior, Jordyn Oster, knows this struggle better than most as she has been on both sides of the virtual classroom during the pandemic.

An Early Childhood Education major at Temple, Oster is currently a student teacher with a third-grade class at Alexander Adaire Elementary School.

Oster spoke about the new virtual setting and the importance of adjusting teaching methods during this time. She said, "it has taught us so many different strategies and all these different tech tools that I now know how to use, I would have had no experience with beforehand, so I am definitely grateful to see the teaching side of this transition."

Oster was placed with a mentor teacher and they do a great deal of co-teaching. "I am in charge of the morning meeting with the students and then my mentor teacher will do a lot of the read aloud and shared activities" she said.

Social studies is the primary subject that Oster teachers her third-graders, while she and her mentor switch off when it comes to math. Gaining experience teaching multiple subjects will prove to be very valuable, as teachers tend to teach multiple subjects at this stage in the education system.

Oster did not always hold aspirations of being a teacher, in fact her initial collegiate studies pointed towards a much different career. When she enrolled at Temple, Oster had declared a Criminal Justice and Psychology major with the goal of working in prisons as an inmate psychologist. She said, "I wanted to work with prisoners, so I did a year of studying towards that."

"It was the last day of second semester during my freshman year that I was in a gen ed class under the education department that my professor called me up and asked what my major was." Oster explained, "She asked if I were interested in being a teacher, and explained that the way I presented and communicated would be a good fit in the classroom."

It was immediately after that meeting that Oster went to her advisor and filed for a change in program. In hindsight being a teacher should not have been that far fetched of an idea as during her childhood, Oster loved the classroom. She even turned her entire basement into a classroom and joked about asking for a laminator for Christmas.

With the future of education and methods of teaching ever evolving, the experience Oster is gaining teaching during the pandemic will prepare her for success as a future educator.

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Jordyn Oster: On Both Sides of the Virtual Classroom

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Jordyn Oster

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