It's no secret. Distance learning is difficult.
Even if you're one of NBC 7's Inspirational Teachers of the Month.
“I may know how to work woodworking tools, but I do not know how to work computers,” said Classical Academy High School woodshop teacher Morgan Lundy.
Like all good teachers, though, Mr. Lundy found a way to make it work.
"First thing that I did was I got a lot of input on how to use the technology," Lundy said.
He even created a YouTube channel, where he could post videos for his students demonstrating different woodworking techniques.
"My own YouTube channel. No. I had never planned on doing that,” Lundy said.
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Mr. Lundy's personal, technological transformation inspired one of what he calls "Lundy’s Life Lessons."
"How change and challenge can actually end up a positive thing," Mr. Lundy said. I didn’t like the idea that I was gonna have to use a computer, but once I learned it, now I have some abilities that I didn’t have before.”
Another of Lundy's Life Lessons really resonated with seniors Julia Hesse and Charles Crosby.
“He went over just, like, the value under the surface," Crosby said. "Like when you sand wood, it can be gritty and nasty on top but just below the surface, it’s something special, and how that’s kind of like people when you get to know them.”
Hesse said that lesson really allowed her to open up and connect with Lundy.
"Because, he actually asked us to share something on a more personal level, on what we value in our self," she said.
Mr. Lundy said surprisingly, distance learning has helped him connect with all of his students on a deeper level.
"When you’re sitting around with a bunch of your peers, and Mr. Lundy brings up something kind of personal... you’re not gonna share something. But in your own private room, you can type something and know that if I send this off to Mr. Lundy, it’s gonna be personal. I’m not gonna share it,” Lundy said.
Still, Lundy said, he can't wait for the day when they're all back in the woodshop together.
"Seeing their faces and laughing and joking with them is good there, but being in person, oh it’s completely different,” he said.
