Navigating remote learning is likely challenging for any teacher, but what could make it tough in a different way? Being in your first year teaching at Hampton! Ms. Aloe, who teaches AP Government, US History, and American Government, used to be in the peace corps, where she served in Macedonia for two years. She grew up in this area and attended Boston College. Even though she is new to the district, however, her teaching has impressed many of her students. 

“Ms. Aloe has a very conversationally interactive teaching style that’s definitely continued on through online learning,” said Annie Waters (‘20). Annie commented that on the last day of classes at school, she shared her doubts with Ms. Aloe about how the class could continue online with how discussion heavy it is. Even so, Annie said that Ms. Aloe has been able to plan interactive activities like Zoom and Google Meet calls so that students could discuss Supreme Court cases.

Also during these calls were opportunities to discuss topics in preparation for the AP test. “When I came up with questions while I was studying for the AP exam, I’d message her asking for reminders . . . and she was always very helpful and responsive.”

Audrey Eaton (‘20) said that Ms. Aloe is her favorite teacher this year. “I love how obvious it is that she cares for her students – she’s been extremely flexible with deadlines [during remote learning] and she always has a positive comment with some feedback after assignments are graded.”

Although online teaching can make it more difficult for students to understand the lessons, Audrey said that Ms. Aloe’s “online teaching has definitely been the most intuitive for me because she does a really good job explaining the task and providing some extra sources to use.”

Ms. Aloe is available to her students if they need help, and she has tried to keep the conversations going even though her students cannot meet in person, and her hard work has not gone unnoticed by her students. “I love how discussion-heavy of a class AP gov is,” Annie said, “and I really appreciate how much effort she put into maintaining that aspect of the class through remote learning.”

Hopefully, this year marks the first of many for Ms. Aloe at Hampton. She seems to have been doing a great job not only in regular classes but also in the adjustment during the challenges of remote learning!