Teachers Abroad: Ms. Mayela
Due to strict travel restrictions, a few teachers from
SLAS are stuck overseas, and are forced to teach students online through video calls. Ms. Mayela, the Spanish teacher, is stuck in Mexico City after traveling there during the Winter Break to escape COVID-19.
The following interview is with Ms. Mayela about her experience online using MS Teams to teach students abroad.
Times: ¡ Hola! Ms. Mayela.( Hi Ms. Mayela) Ms. Mayela: ¡ Hola! Maggie. ¿ Cómo estás?( Hi Maggie. How are you?) Times: ¡ Bien! ¿ Y tú?( Good. And you?) Ms. Mayela: ¡ Bien!( Good) Times: Where are you at the moment? Ms. Mayela: Mexico City [ the capitol of Mexico ] Times: How is quarantine in Mexico City? Ms. Mayela: Quarantine is boring. I only get to go out to buy some groceries. Times: What are the Covid-19 numbers like in Mexico City? Ms. Mayela: Numbers in Mexico are unfortunately very high. At the moment we have 668,000 cases and 922 deaths. Times: Are there any safety measures? Ms. Mayela: Stay home as much as possible. When going out, don’ t touch your face, and be sure to wash your hands often. Times: Do you feel safe? Ms. Mayela: I feel safe because I’ m at home most of the time. Times: How is your family? Ms. Mayela: My closest family is healthy. by Margaret Xue
Times: How is teaching through video calls different from teaching in person? Ms. Mayela: Internet and technology get in the way of our learning experience. I prefer to be on campus. It is more personal. Times: Are there any struggles or difficulties that come with teaching online? Ms. Mayela: Technology sometimes does not cooperate. Some students find it hard to follow as well. It’ s easier to be there and see everything the students are doing than being far away and only being able to see their faces. Times: Are there any benefits teaching online? Ms. Mayela: The benefits of teaching online are that I skip the commute to work. It’ s really helpful to see each student so close on the camera. I can notice if they are following or not. The students like it more because they love technology, and the online activities are appealing to them. Times: Has using MS Teams helped with teaching the students online? Or has it become more of a complication not using WeChat and Zoom, as we did before? Ms. Mayela: I like MS Teams a lot. It’ s more organized and it has more features than WeChat. Times: Why did you originally go to Mexico City? Winter vacation? New Year’ s holiday? Ms. Mayela: I came to Mexico running away from Covid-19 … It followed me … Times: Do you plan on coming back to teach on campus? Ms. Mayela: I plan on coming back. I can’ t wait.
13 | SLAS TIMES