AP Art History teacher William Renninger shares his feelings about distance learning. Renninger has been teaching for 25 years and teaches 200 students. 

Q: “What are your favorite things about teaching?” 

A: “I love encouraging students to open their minds. I firmly believe that the teacher can make or break a subject. It is my job to get kids excited about all the things that art history includes religion, politics, culture, geography, etc.  

Q: “What have been the biggest adjustments for you in moving to distance learning? How has that affected you and your students?”  

A: “Biggest adjustment: lack of control. As a perfectionist, it is a struggle to be flexible. The highly motivated students will be fine. Slackers can, unfortunately, get away with putting in minimal effort.  

Q: “What are some advantages that come with distance learning? Both anticipated and unforeseen advantages?”  

A: “I have the time to create Kahoot! games and Quizlets, which are both great resources. I also like the ability to assign quizzes and essays on Edsby. The ability to give immediate feedback via an Edsby message is very useful.  

Q: “What are some disadvantages that have come with distance learning?”  

A: “Some kids just need the structure of a traditional classroom to stay motivated. I do Zoom classes twice per day and reliably get 100–120 kids per day. What are the other 80–100 kids doing? I have no idea. The district does not allow teachers to make the Zoom classes mandatory, so kids can just turn in the daily classwork and earn a passing grade.  

Q: “Do you think there are particular challenges that AP teachers and students both face?”  

A: “My biggest challenge is keeping kids focused and motivated for the exam in a few weeks. For students, they are going to have to demonstrate 35 weeks of learning in two essay questions. That is scary.  

Q: “Has this experience taught you anything about teaching or just life in general?” 

A: “It has reminded me that good teachers can adapt to anything. I’ll bet your best teachers in a classroom setting are still your best teachers during a quarantine. I’ve tried a bunch of new things; some have worked, some have flopped. That’s learning. It’s also the only way to get better. This experience has reminded my daily how lucky I am from my wife, to my town, to my job. I’ve been able to stay busy, fulfilled and happy so far.