If there was one benefit that came from remote learning during the 2020-21 school year, it was sleeping in. But, if there was another benefit, it would be the pre-recorded math lessons that some teachers now post in case a student misses a class. 

In an era of disease and quarantine, students have been missing school left and right, making recorded lessons, especially for the speed and rigor of honors and AP students, extremely valuable. 

In these recorded lessons, many of which were created by teachers during last year’s quarantine, teachers guide students through the notes packet, just like they would in class. It’s similar to being in class with the teacher at the board, but now you can stop and pause, continuing on at your own pace.

For me, trying to be a future collegiate athlete and taking an AP math course, I missed more days than usual traveling, playing and going on college visits. Without being able to take notes and do my homework on the road, I would have missed many valuable lessons. 

Pre-recording lessons also benefit a different group of students: upperclassmen. When visiting schools, attending college and career center meetings or traveling, the online lessons help them stay on track while simultaneously fumbling through their future plans. 

According to math teacher Kathleen Adamczyk, pre-recording lessons took about two hours per lesson (first recording the lesson and then editing). There are roughly 10 lessons per unit in a normal Calculus AB course, which equals about 20 hours of extra work per teacher per unit. 

However, because of the consistency of mathematical practices, the year-to-year lesson plans do not tend to change very dramatically. So, recording the lectures once could lead to years and years of help. It also allows teachers to feel more at ease if they were to miss a day. Their typical lesson plans are not thrown out the window because the substitute may not know advanced Calculus, instead, the students can just watch the lesson with the same routine that the teacher would normally have in class. 

Students have had a difficult time academically, socially and emotionally adjusting to school in the pandemic, but teachers have had many of the same struggles. Through all this adversity, these extra resources that teachers have given us have made all the difference.