We used to see proctors every once in a blue moon: during standardized testing or as substitute teachers. Now, proctors come on a day-to-day basis in the Fieldston classrooms due to COVID-19. Every fully remote teacher is assigned a proctor that is physically in the classroom monitoring the students. “You make sure the internet is working and the projector is on and that there is communication between the teacher and the class.” Describes Liz Pogact, who was proctoring for Ms. Yun. Additionally, proctors fill important spaces of the school to make sure students are socially distanced.
In these unprecedented times, the concept of a middle man between the teachers and students adds to the bizarre world we are living in. However, proctors are extremely useful in the classroom. The number of technical issues that have to be dealt with due to this new learning style is substantial. Lisa Stafford, another proctor, notes “It’s difficult for remote teachers to see students in the classroom. But I also think it’s difficult to teach when students are remote because everyone has different resources and WiFi issues.”
“Technology is an imperfect thing” Pogact notes, “Whether it’s students being bumped off of the class due to WiFi issues, or Google glitching”. There is no such thing as a smooth class during these times. One teacher even stated that the highlight of online learning was when two remote students were engaged in debate. One student simply went off of mute and cut the other one off. He said it was the one time where he felt he was having a face-to-face conversation while online.
Proctors also do a lot of unnoticed work day-to-day, “You have designated places to go where a lot of students hang out, like the library or the commons. And during lunch we make sure students are abiding by social distancing rules and regulations,” states Pogact. If you ever hear a group of kids being yelled at because they are too close together or are not standing on their sticker in the lunch line, it is probably a proctor making sure that Fieldston can continue to do in-person school and preventing any shutdowns from happening again.”
“It’s kind of frustrating sometimes,” Pogact comments. Being prohibited from seeing all of your teachers and having a full, in-person class is a difficult adjustment to make. But thanks to our proctors, our hidden heroes, the amount of difficulties students and teachers have to deal with on a daily basis are greatly limited.
