As hundreds of students logged on to Google Meet calls for their first periods of the 2020 to 2021 school year on Monday, Aug. 17, each teacher leading the class had already undergone five days of online instruction of their own: staff development.

Staff development usually helps teachers prepare for the year ahead in broad ways. It was more specialized this year to help prepare teachers for distance learning moments just like these, as teachers are bombarded with messages and chimes on the first day of school. Hours were spent on distance learning technology, communication, and understanding how different the coming year would be from regular, in-person learning.

This year, the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) increased the length of the staff development from two to five days, math teacher Auban Willats said. Usually, the first day of school is preceded by one work day and one professional development day. Due to distance learning, the district added three days for professional learning.

“This year, we’re contracted 188 days because of those extra three days,” Willats said.

This means teachers that were paid more for their extra work this year, but not on the normal salary schedule, Willats said. The salary schedule gives teachers based on benchmarks of how many years or courses they have taught at PUSD.

The week covered many topics, including available technologies and distance learning protocols, math teacher Doyle O’Regan said.

“It was pretty overwhelming,” O’Regan said. “I remember a lot of teachers about the second or third day [saying,] ‘Oh my god, how am I going to figure out all of this stuff in a short amount of time?’”

The five so-called “pillars” of distance learning were also addressed by the administration, social studies teacher Hillary Freeman said.

“They really emphasised with us building community as a number one [pillar],” Freeman said.

Other pillars included engagement with students and The Three C’s: clarity, consistency, and communication, Willats said.

Junior Frank Udouch said that Willats is good with clarity.

“She makes sure students know due dates and is good at checking in on every break out room during class,” Udouch said.

Freeman, who is teaching in a full-time position for the first time, said she is gradually introducing the technologies taught during staff development into her classes.

“I am very eager to just dive in,” Freeman said. “I want to get things right, and I want things to be the best—but at the same time, I’ve had to really allow myself [to] take baby steps and learn.”

On the other hand, O’Regan thinks his over 35 years of experience have helped him transition to distance learning.

“I think it’s easier for me having done this for so long [because] I can see the big picture,” O’Regan said.

While he focused on the day-by-day operations of his classes when he first started teaching, he said that he has now learned how to prioritize and think ahead.

“All of [O’Regan’s] assignments have super clear instructions,” senior Calla Kra-Caskey, who is in O’Regan’s Honors Statistics class, said.

Each week, O’Regan’s assignments are the same style and classwork is really manageable, Kra-Caskey said.

“The disadvantage, though, is that the manner in which I engage with kids in the classroom is totally different now,” O’Regan said. “The problem is, I have been going a certain way for 30 whatever years, and now I’ve got to change that style.”

More changes this year included a refresher of the social justice standard, led by educational consultant Sarah Wicht. But for Willats and other teachers newer to the district, the social justice standards were completely new. Willats said that the training must be done more frequently.

“We can’t go through this training [and] feel like that training is done for the district,” Willats said. “Next year, there is going to be new staff.”

Willats said that there needs to be a specific person dedicated to enforcing social justice standards constantly, not every three years. She is unsure if Wicht, a white woman, is the best person for the job.

Both O’Regan and Freeman said that they have been teaching from school because the internet connection is better on campus.

“Plus, I think it is nice to get up and drive to work,” Freeman said. “I guess it is more of a mental thing.”

However, Freeman said she has had to change her lifestyle due to the extra screen time.She tries to work until 5 p.m. and then takes a break of an hour or two.

“I get away from the screen because it physically hurts my head,” Freeman said.

O’Regan said that he has seen the same problems reflected in his students.

“When I see my seventh period group, they look like they are about done,” O’Regan said.

Willats also said that she is very worried about screen time and mental health for her students.

“I say this every year to every group of kids that comes through: ‘I see my job as the math, but most of all, it is helping you guys navigate this time and come out of this space stronger and more resilient,’” Willats said.

She said that it is important to remember that the world is not normal right now.

“What I just want [is] for all [students] to feel seen and noticed,” Willats said. “That is so hard in this mode of teaching.”

* Jonah Broscow contributed to this story