Ms. Hwang's struggles
Changes in her classroom due to COVID-19
Ms. Hwang is a middle school teacher with nearly ten years of experience. She was highly confident in her teaching abilities until COVID-19 restrictions hit her class in 2020. The past year presented unfamiliar challenges that her decade of experience had not prepared her for. In her teaching, Ms. Hwang valued caring for students as a loving teacher more than imparting subject knowledge. However, in the online environment, she could not meet with students in person, only through video calls. This made it difficult to understand what was happening in their lives. The small on-screen faces hindered reading their emotions, reducing her sense of connection. One of the hardest parts was being unable to speak to students one-on-one and express genuine care for them.
Introduction to Lello
Sign-up/in with students
She told her colleague teacher, Mr. Kang, about the problems she was facing, and he introduced her to the Lello emotion analysis app. "Students can use this application to record their daily emotions and events. Teachers can easily identify major events in students' lives and even detect emotional patterns. I strongly recommend using this app for your classroom management!" Ms. Hwang's eyes lit up with excitement, as she desperately needed such tools! After downloading the app herself, she encouraged her students to do the same and invited them to join her Lello class during their next video call. This way she could address any questions that came up as students downloaded and registered for the app. Since many students didn't have email addresses yet, it was relatively easy to let them join using the ‘class code’ option. Some students without smartphone access registered on the website instead.
"Ding-Dong!"
Caring for students with Lello
“Ding-dong!” After the class, a notification appeared on the screen. Daniel, one of her students, pressed the "I need help" button. Ms. Hwang quickly opened the app and noticed that he had indicated "100% Sadness" with the hashtag "Family." She went to his diary menu and discovered that Daniel's father used abusive language that hurt Daniel's feelings. She texted him in Lello right away, asking if he was okay. "Daniel, keep in mind that I am here for you whenever you are worried, afraid, or lonely. What would you like me to do to assist you? Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" Daniel politely asked if she could meet with him this evening. Ms. Hwang sighed with relief. Despite the fact that he was depressed, she was grateful that she was able to figure out his problems and speak with him. He shared his story in the Lello app's "support group" the next day. Ms. Hwang also noticed that students in his support group sent him a "I am with you" icon. Thankfully, the "Emotion trend analysis" page showed that he was gradually feeling better day by day.
