Monica Schwafaty 10/16/2020
Description
Monica Schwafaty is an 8th grade English Language Arts teacher in Torrance while living in Redondo Beach, California. Ms. Schwafaty has been teaching for twenty-five years. She shared how writing poetry during the COVID-19 pandemic caused her to reflect on the past and also bond with colleagues. She told of sharing her poetry with her 'sisters,' teachers she used to have lunch with every day, which inspired them to also write poetry as a way of healing. Monica also noted inequities revealed by distance learning, including access to technology, parent involvement, and teachers’ technology, saying she was responsible for paying for her own at-home classroom. Monica’s poems speak to her journey of reconnecting with her inner writer that had long been set aside during her years as a teacher.
| Date(s) | 10/16/2020 |
| Call Number | CTP_015 |
| Subjects | Online education, Teacher friends, Reconnecting with writing, Self-doubt, Title I schools COVID-19 Pandemic (2020-), English language--Study and teaching, Internet access, Interviews, Middle school teachers, Middle schools--Administration, Poetry, Poets, School management and organization, Teachers |
| Interviewee(s) | Monica Schwafaty |
| Interviewer(s) | Sarah Donovan |