San Diego Teachers Learned Lessons During Pandemic – NBC 7 San Diego

Many teachers are out of school for the summer break after a tough year during the pandemic.

“It’s over, it’s over,” San Diego Unified educator Joanne Ensign said on Wednesday. “What a year!”

Ensign teaches 4-year olds preparing for kindergarten at Ocean Beach Elementary School. She said she’ss learned a lot over the past 15 months — technology, for starters.

“Unplug things, plug things in, turn everything off, turn it back on,” Ensign said with a laugh. “Turning your computer off and restarting it ends up being very, very important. Do that regularly. That’s what I learned!”

“What a year”

Joanne Ensign, teacher

Ensign also learned she can adapt.

“This has been an opportunity for teachers to really embrace the technology,” Ensign said. “Even if they’ve been hesitant to do it before now, you kind of had to do it. You had to get in the technology pool.”

Ensign said her experiences during the pandemic have made her a better teacher. 

“I think all adversity makes you better,” Ensign says. “I mean, you cry, but it makes you better, it makes you stronger. You learn from it, hopefully.”