I’m a former traditional public school teacher in the US and I now work for a virtual charter school and I couldn’t be happier.

I was a traditional classroom teacher for nine years and struggled to teach the range of students in my classroom- from SPED to gifted- with the limited resources I had. I always had to lean toward teaching to the middle, and I always felt like I was holding back the advanced students and not properly supporting my struggling students. I was constantly having meetings with parents and my grade level team to try to find ways to support them. I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough. <br><br>Last year, I found out about a virtual option in our state. It’s a virtual charter school run by a company that specializes in virtual learning. I applied immediately and was hired for the following school year. This is my first year and I couldn’t be happier. I get to teach students from all over the state, so I have a very diverse classroom. Even though I’m virtual, I can see all of my students on my screen, And because of that, I can easily see if they are engaged or not and adjust my teaching as needed. <br><br>My students are all able to work at their own pace in the curriculum. They don’t have to wait on the rest of the class to finish an assignment. They can just move on to the next thing. If my advanced students need harder work, it’s just as simple as a few clicks on my computer, and they have access to higher level courses. All of my students have access to virtual tutors whenever they want them, and if English is not their first language, they can even get a tutor that speaks their native language. My students with IEPs have all of their accommodations met and they don’t have to be embarrassed by having a para pull them out of class to work one on one with them. Everything is tailored to meet their individual needs. And we can easily make changes whenever we need to. <br><br>My classroom is much calmer and more conducive to learning. I don’t have to worry about one student disrupting the rest of the class. Bullying and social conflicts are not a problem, and my introverted students get to sit in their own space and don’t have to worry about being called on to talk in front of the rest of the class. They can even turn their microphones off and just type their answers if they want. I have so much less stress and anxiety and I feel like I’m doing a much better job as a teacher. I will never go back to a traditional classroom.