Teaching in today’s environment with all the external issues like COVID-19, income inequities, hunger, and basic mental health issues has provided a challenge for the most seasoned instructor. This new reality we have come to live in has changed the way that we think about traditional teaching methods. Instructors are now more aware of the hardships students face. Going forward instructors should allow for a more compassionate teaching environment. The inequities some students are facing is very real.

I had a student that was interested in learning the construction practices. He was enrolled in the structural framing course at LCC’s West Campus, this course allows students to learn the basics of traditional conventional framing while learning local building codes and work safe practices. The unique part of this course is the 16-week hands-on experience the students receive. The class builds a tiny house from the ground up and meets current residential codes. The structure is also inspected by the local building inspector. Students learn the entire process from the layout, permit requirements, framing, and sealing up the houses thermal envelope to prepare them for real world workplace.

This student was around 20 years old; his mother had just given birth to a new baby brother. Because of the living conditions, he had the responsibility of helping to take care of this new addition to their family. Unfortunately, this posed a problem with school due to excessive absences and not turning in his homework. My goal was to encourage him as best I could under the circumstances to complete the semester successfully and to gain an experience that is once in a lifetime. As the semester rolled on he came to class more often and turned in most of his homework. When the finals exam came around he was nowhere to be found.

This was at a time during COVID-19 when we were in a virtual classroom under lockdown. I had sent a private message to explain how important it was for him to finish the final in order to complete the course. I was able to extend the due date for this situation to a couple more days for him time to prepare and to take the exam. To my surprise, he had received the best grade in the entire class on the final exam. He only missed one question out of 100.

This showed me that circumstances can dictate how successful a student is at any time. Outside factors can cause students to not be able to focus, hunger can make it difficult to concentrate, and stress can create anxiety and basic frustration at the process. As teachers it’s our responsibility to become more aware of students hardships and adjust our teaching techniques accordingly.