The current Coronavirus pandemic in the US and the social distancing guidelines have affected different classes of people. The most affected being the students.
However, the teachers are doing their best to make up for the loss. One such story is from South Dakota where a teacher went beyond his means to help one of his favorite students with her math work.
The student had difficulty solving problems
Graphs and Algebra have always been the Achilles Heel for middle school students. The squares and signs all add up to create a gargantuan puzzle that students find hard to decipher. Last week a 12-year-old middle school student Rylee Anderson was at her wit’s end trying to solve a math problem. Problem was she was in her home alone with her parents out for some work.
Technology comes to aid
Finally, Rylee hit upon a brilliant idea, why not use technology to solve her problem. She emailed her math teacher Chris Waba for help. Her teacher immediately responded to his student and mailed instructions on how to solve the math problem. Chris was an experienced teacher and by his instincts knew that his student might have problems with her homework.
Chris knew that Rylee lived just a few blocks away from his home. So he grabbed his whiteboard and a marker and marched to his student’s front door. He illustrated the steps to solve the problem and his student viewed it through the glass pane. Ten minutes later a satisfied and thrilled Rylee was able to solve the math exercise without any hiccup. Waba was able to leave with the satisfaction that his student did not lose out in any way due to the lockdown.
My 6th grader emailed her math teacher for some help, so he came over & worked through the problem with her on our front porch. @Chriswaba9 , our neighbor, MMS teacher & MHS Wrestling Coach. #KidsFirst @MadisonMSNews @MarkOsports @dakotasportsnow @dakotanews_now @stwalter20 pic.twitter.com/aniqt2goPB
— Josh Anderson (@DakSt8Football) March 27, 2020
Rylee’s father Josh Anderson snapped a photo of the gratifying communication and posted it to Twitter.
Speaking to CNN, the 27-year-old teacher said, “I’m a better communicator face-to-face than [on] the telephone and I think students learn better that way. Teachers all across the nation have been thrown into a situation like this. I think we’re all more comfortable being in front of our classes and that’s where we’d rather be.”
Millions of students are trying to adjust to this new “normal” that has surfaced as a result of the covid-19 pandemic. This inspiring story of one student and her teacher gives hope to many students that may be struggling during this time. It’s one way of doing good and going the extra mile…just because you can!
