Photo By Cydney Scott

Alumni

Inspiration

Javier Rivera on how COVID-19 lockdowns highlighted the tenacity of teachers—and the ability of students to adapt

Javier Rivera was in the final semester of his master’s in special education when the COVID-19 pandemic forced Boston Public Schools to move classes online. While the switch to remote teaching was an arduous task for many educators, it was one that was particularly challenging for Rivera (CAS’18, Wheelock’20): he was working with students in grades 1–3 with autism and developmental delays as part of a student teaching practicum.

According to the Autism Society, autism is often characterized by a preference for routine—transitions can be tough for people with the developmental disorder. Before the pandemic, Rivera and his supervising teacher at the Orchard Gardens K–8 School in Roxbury, Mass., made sure to have clear and explicit routines for the students.

“Everyone knew what to expect,” Rivera says. Those routines evaporated overnight when school buildings closed. “There was very little precedent to springboard from when remote learning began. Teachers were mostly left to figure it out on their own.”

Besides needing to adapt lesson plans and digitize materials, Rivera says he and his supervising teacher also needed to gauge their students’ thresholds for online learning. But once they settled on an approach and established a routine, they found online learning provided some fun moments for their students. One student even learned how to compose emails and would send them updates. “She got a real kick out of using emojis—moments like these brought light to our dark circumstances.”

Rivera is now teaching kindergarten and first-grade students with autism at Sumner Avenue Elementary School in Springfield, Mass. His time at BU Wheelock, he says, taught him to “seek out and amplify the voices of those I serve. Often, the voices of students with disabilities, especially students with severe disabilities, and their caregivers are ignored under the guise of teachers being perceived as the experts,” he says. “It’s critical to understand that the best way to serve these populations is to view them as equal collaborators.”

And if there is one thing the pandemic has revealed to Rivera, it’s that teachers and students alike are resilient. “Overall, the transition to online learning has demonstrated the immense tenacity of teachers and the capability of our students. It has been extremely motivating to see how teachers’ innovation, passion, and compassion have coalesced to tackle these complex issues related to educating students remotely.”