ALEXANDRIA, Ky. — As more students head back to in-person learning, some schools are getting creative with how to use their new technology in the classroom.
Chrissy Della Bella is known as the queen of virtual learning at Campbell Ridge Elementary School. All 25 of her first-grade students chose to learn virtually, and she said it went better than expected for her.
"I will say it ended up being so much smoother than I thought it would be, especially because mine was an elected position for these families," Della Bella said. "I had a lot of family support."
She taught her class in a hybrid model through the end of the year. She said she's going to have a little learning curve, but not because her students will all be in person.
"The biggest thing is, I'm going to have that big learning curve because we're switching to Chromebooks this year," Della Bella said. "Especially with the iPads and apps you can get on the Chromebooks and iPads, they have white boards and things you can use, so just to switch it up for these kids..."
Lauren Waters teaches fourth grade at Campbell Ridge Elementary School, and she did well with virtual learning, too. But she said she's excited to be teaching in-person again.
"I am so excited. I have totally missed it," Waters said. "I never thought I would be one to say I miss grading papers, but I miss grading papers."
Waters and her students will be transitioning to Chromebooks, too, though.
"We missed book buddies all year," she said. "We talked about doing book buddies virtually, so we're going to attempt to see how that works now that both groups are a little more familiar with Google Meet."
Many teachers said they are optimistic to be back in the classroom, but they are remaining cautious as delta variant cases rise. They said they are ready to go back online if need be.
