IT Infrastructure & Management

High School Teacher Battling Cancer Skypes His Lessons

By McClatchy-Tribune — June 15, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

About once every three weeks, Brother James Kelly didn’t feel well enough to teach because of the chemotherapy he was receiving to fight his prostate cancer.

Yet instead of giving the 28 students in his third-period honors British literature class at Mount St. Joseph High School in Baltimore a day off, some busywork, or a substitute teacher, Kelly utilized Skype, a software application that allows for real-time videoconferencing.

“I get to sit while it’s going, so I’m not exerting as much energy as I might if I were in the classroom walking around,” says Kelly. “I see the kids so I can watch the classroom dynamic.

“It’s different,” says Kelly, who also is president of the all-boys Catholic high school, “but I think I’m still able to engage them.”

On the first day of class, juniors Robert Stryjewski and Brent Hartley remembered walking into the classroom and seeing Kelly’s image projected onto a 4-by-6-foot whiteboard.

“It was a bit weird at first because it was different than anything we’ve ever had before,” Stryjewski says. “After a few times of him doing it, it got to be a normal everyday class, basically.”

Hartley agrees.“The first day was kind of awkward just because you have to speak really loud because there’s a speaker in the middle of the classroom,” Hartley says. “After a couple of weeks, I got used to it.”

Even without a teacher present, Kelly says the students don’t often act out.

“The kids are very aware of what I’m going through,” says Kelly, who has been at the school 10 years. “They don’t give me grief. They wouldn’t get away with it if they tried.”

Mary Ellen Dolan, Kelly’s administrative assistant, watches the students in the room and will write things on the board when Kelly needs to show something.

Having the ability to see each other was important to Kelly. “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to see them,” he says. “If I couldn’t see them, I wouldn’t be able to teach them.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 15, 2011 edition of Digital Directions as High School Teacher Battling Cancer Skypes His Lessons

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar
Inside PLCs: Proven Strategies from K-12 Leaders
Join an expert panel to explore strategies for building collaborative PLCs, overcoming common challenges, and using data effectively.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Science Webinar
Making Science Stick: The Engaging Power of Hands-On Learning
How can you make science class the highlight of your students’ day while
achieving learning outcomes? Find out in this session.
Content provided by LEGO Education
Teaching Profession Key Insights to Elevate and Inspire Today’s Teachers
Join this free half day virtual event to energize your teaching and cultivate a positive learning experience for students.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

IT Infrastructure & Management Cybersecurity Demands Are Growing. Funding Isn't Keeping Pace
State education leaders worry funding for cybersecurity isn’t enough to cope with the worsening problem of attacks on schools.
2 min read
Dollar Sign Made of Circuit Board on Motherboard and CPU.
iStock/Getty
IT Infrastructure & Management Sizing Up the Risks of Schools' Reliance on the 'Internet of Things'
Technology is now critical to both the learning and business operations of schools.
1 min read
Vector image of an open laptop with octopus tentacles reaching out of the monitor around a triangle icon with an exclamation point in the middle of it.
DigitalVision Vectors
IT Infrastructure & Management How Schools Can Survive a Global Tech Meltdown
The CrowdStrike incident this summer is a cautionary tale for schools.
8 min read
Image of students taking a test.
smolaw11/iStock/Getty
IT Infrastructure & Management What Districts Can Do With All Those Old Chromebooks
The Chromebooks and tablets districts bought en masse early in the pandemic are approaching the end of their useful lives.
3 min read
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made, April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. While many teachers nationally complain their districts dictate textbooks and course work, the South Florida school's administrators allow their staff high levels of classroom creativity...and it works.
Art and technology teacher Jenny O'Sullivan, right, shows students a video they made on April 15, 2024, at A.D. Henderson School in Boca Raton, Fla. After districts equipped every student with a device early in the pandemic, they now face the challenge of recycling or disposing of the technology responsibly.
Wilfredo Lee/AP