‘We just do it.’ Centre County teacher balances working from home with being a mom
For Teresia Pimental, some days are better than others when it comes to balancing being a mom, wife and teacher.
The Centre County Christian Academy educator has been working from home for months during the COVID-19 pandemic — teaching a combination of junior and senior high school subjects while making sure her own four kids are getting their schoolwork done.
“Some days, I am overwhelmed by the amount of emails I have to answer and grading I have to do while still meeting the needs of my children during the day,” she said.
With 17 years of experience, Pimental teaches seventh and eighth and 11th and 12th grade English, algebra, consumer math, personal finance and health. Her four children — sixth-grader Josie, fifth-grader Elliot and third-graders Julia and Josiah — also attend CCCA.
“The transition to virtual learning was difficult when we first transitioned to it,” Pimental said. “I had to figure out how to balance my time with helping my own children with their work each day, helping my students when they had questions and grading their work and being a wife and just mom.”
Though the “new normal” came with a learning curve, Pimental said she and her kids have adjusted to remote learning. Overall, it has been a “good experience,” but she misses teaching in person.
“Since I normally do my lesson plans on the computer, doing the virtual lesson plans wasn’t that much out of the norm,” she said. “Not being able to do all of the things I would normally do in the classroom was hard to adjust to at first. Spending so much time at my computer was an adjustment as well.”
Despite being able to connect with her students through email, Pimental misses being able to interact face-to-face and see how they are doing in person.
“It is definitely more difficult to answer all questions when it comes, especially, to explaining math problems,” she said. “But, we are managing, and lots of good learning is taking place. With my own children and helping them get their work done, we just do it. Some days go smoothly while other days are challenging. My kiddos have really done well with this remote learning process, learning how to do more on their own since mom is busy with lots of other things.”
While working from home, Pimental said she tries to maintain a balance between her personal and professional life. But once her kids are asleep, she keeps working.
“I just have to put the computer aside in the evenings for awhile, so I can spend time with them and my husband until the children go to bed,” she said. “My husband has been a great help in the evenings when he is home and understanding when I am still at the computer in the evening hours.”
For Mother’s Day, Pimental plans to celebrate with her family while hoping to reunite with students soon.
“I miss their smiling faces,” she said.
