A Job or a Mission

By Sandy Ho

Teaching ESL is my job. Under the Covid 19 pandemic, the program where I teach told us to implement online learning. It was all very overwhelming and challenging. At first, it was tempting to just do the minimal, and I had thought, “It’s just a job.”

But God is showing me otherwise. When I realized my students were missing school, I began to see that God was giving me an opportunity to stretch my thinking and find ways to touch their lives when the traditional ways I had relied on in the past were no longer available. I wanted our ESL classes to be a safe place; a place to smile, have fun and a place to remember we are not alone. God is asking me to turn my job into a mission.

I use Google Classroom as our main platform. Because our students are already emotionally distressed, I consciously stay away from topics like “Covid 19”, or “health” or “pandemics.” Instead I used fables and fairy tales in the first few weeks. Even though Google Classroom is “asynchronous” online teaching, meaning we do not see and interact with the students in real time, I encourage them to share and comment. They will not do so at first, but I press on. I introduced stickers and emojis so that even those with lower level proficiency could participate.  The more participation, the more positive the experience for all. Simple connections throughout the day make the class special, and remind them they matter. 

We also have live sessions via Google Meet with the class every morning. Those who can join do so. I record them too. Many shared they were so happy to ‘see’ their classmates’ faces. It is often the highlight of our days in isolation. 

But I did not restrict my interactions with my students to our live sessions. I chat with my students on social media platforms outside of ‘class’. We do well to take the initiative and check on them. “How are things going?”, “Do you have enough masks?”, “Are you still working?”, “Did you apply for the subsidy offered by the government?”, “Do you need help with groceries?”.  Frequent check-ins are treasures for many.

On these check ins, I found out a student had run out of money and had to break her kids’ piggy bank to get groceries. Another one had no way to go for groceries because she had two kindergarteners. A couple of students lost parents in China and were unable to go to the funerals because of travel restrictions. A student’s son was stranded in Iran and couldn’t get back. Many others confided that they were feeling guilty because they were yelling a lot more to their kids. We may all seem fine, but not all is fine.

We need to listen to our students’ problems and remind them that they are not alone. Sometimes we have to do something tangible. I dropped off a pot of flowers to a student who was struggling with her family. On Mother’s Day weekend, I wrote and sent notes to all my students via snail mail. I did not know if the addresses I had were accurate, but I just prayed. I told the Lord, “Whoever needs to receive these, let them get them”. 

I don’t think anyone knows how long we may be separated from our students, but this can be a great opportunity for us to be on a mission to show our students how God’s love surpasses all our understanding. We don’t love when it’s convenient. We don’t love when they come to us. If the mission is so that they know God is love, let’s try to push through the ordinary and find extraordinary ways to continue our mission.