Looking Back at 2021
by Abby Kindelsperger
While much continues to evolve in our world and our schools, when I look back on my Ethical ELA post from 2021, I am struck by the consistency of my teaching philosophy. I still learn from my students, student teachers, and daughter’s teachers; I still see education as deeply complex and complicated; I still constantly assess my practice.
Many of the specific teaching practices highlighted in my post remain a regular part of my instruction today, such as whip-around questions and daily slideshows. I continue to incorporate tech tools, such as PearDeck. When weather conditions dictate, I can transition a planned lesson into remote learning pretty quickly, and in most winters, at least one class session switches to Zoom.
Relief to be teaching in-person, though, is my primary response. I love the energy of multiple simultaneous small group conversations, and online class discussions never have as much depth as when I ask students to circle up their desks. Although the student teachers I highlighted in my post did extremely admirable work, I experience so much more joy when I visit student teachers in physical classrooms. Last semester, I witnessed a spirited debate over Nick Carroway’s reliability as a narrator, saw students act out imaged dialogue from characters in Before We Were Free, and observed literature circle groups discussing a graphic interpretation of Frankenstein.
In 2021 I wondered about the changes the Covid era would bring to classrooms. The biggest shift I’ve noticed is more screens in the classrooms, both at the high school and college level. Some of my students really benefit from having an e-textbook option that they can easily access, and the ability to use screen reading software if needed. My daughter, now a sixth grader, loves her Social Studies “techbook” where she can read, watch videos, and explore related links about a topic. She cannot imagine the hardback books covered in brown paper sacks that I lugged around when I was her age. However, laptop and tablet screens have a stronger pull than physical books, with eyes darting away from class discussions more frequently. My student teachers express frustration with the amount of time spent monitoring students’ open tabs. I have picked up their language of “please lower your screens” when I want to be sure the class is listening.
The students in my Teaching of Reading and Literature class notice these tensions too. In a recent discussion of “Use of Multimodal/Digital Tools for Responding to and Creating Multimodal/Digital Texts” by Beach et al (2021), my students questioned how to balance potential distractions with the ways tech tools can enhance learning. They raised points about using technology as part of culturally responsive teaching, while at the same time expressing concerns about access and equity. And a conversation about technology in 2025, of course, includes AI. That is another topic I look forward to exploring alongside and from my students as we navigate this additional complexity of the field.
Abby Kindelsperger is a Senior Lecturer at University of Illinois at Chicago where she teaches English Education methods courses and supports student teachers.