Coronavirus In Colorado: Teachers & Students Adapt To Online Learning

DENVER (CBS4) - As Colorado schools make the switch to online learning, many teachers are not only trying to offer kids an education, but a sense of normalcy.

"There's kind of a lot of just unknown. Definitely some anxiety and stress built into that," said Allison Doe, a business teacher at STEM School Highlands Ranch.

Doe says teachers made the switch to online learning quickly and having previous virtual days in the past helped the process. Classes have been online for one week now, and Doe has been posting curriculum online and holding virtual office hours.

Eventually she will start posting complete lectures online.

"My goal is to bring rigor and a high level of engagement with the material we're posting so it's not busywork. So we want them to be learning, but we're also trying to balance that this is stressful, it's an emotional rollercoaster," Doe told CBS4's Dominic Garcia.

To help with that, teachers are also offering virtual check-in sessions where students can get together and just talk with their teachers. Doe says one day they even had a virtual pet party, where students brought their pets on screen to show the class. It's just another way educators are trying to balance teaching and comforting their students.

"One of the best parts of our job is not to give them a quiz. One of the best parts of our job is to say how was your soccer game? How did the play go last night? So building those relationships is pretty instrumental in their development right now."

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