If you have taken a history class at Woodward, you might have had Mrs. Linda Wyatt as a teacher, or have been near her classroom. If you have had her, you know the enthusiastic ‘hello friend’ greeting she gives as you enter that first-floor corner classroom.
What you may or may not know is that she lives a secret second life. In addition to teaching history at Woodward Academy, Mrs. Wyatt also teaches a one-credit course at the University of North Georgia. The class she teaches, History 2112, is fully online and asynchronous.
“This is a part of the university system of Georgia,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “There is a website, and the assignments are pretty loaded. What I do is publish when the assignments are due. I create a calendar. I’m in contact with the students. If they are sick or they need extra time, then I’m the person that gives them that. I also give feedback for their work.”
There are two different formats of the class. There is a 12-week course (one semester), and an 8-week course (half-semester). Mrs. Wyatt assigns the work and gives feedback and encouragement. In the semester course, there is an assignment every other week, and in the half-semester course, there is an assignment every week. The classes are usually about 70 students each, with students ranging from all different ages. The students who take the classes generally do not want to take in-person classes out of convenience for virtual classes.
“All the students are anywhere from high school kids to grandmas,” Mrs. Wyatt said.“They are people in general who have full-time jobs. They are usually older or younger. Some are college kids that are, um, trying to get credits because they don’t want to, you know, take a history class.”
When Mrs. Wyatt was in college herself, she originally did not want to teach history. She knew she wanted to teach, but in a different discipline.
“I was a major at Florida State, and bass was my instrument,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “And so I thought, oh, I’m gonna be a choir teacher. And then, music was a really, really hard major. There’s a lot of classes you have to take, and you don’t get very much credit for them. Like, you have to be [in] a performance ensemble. And so there’s a lot of rehearsal, but you only get one hour credit.”
She then switched to an American Studies major, which she graduated with. Her son came to Woodward in elementary school, and Mrs. Wyatt had taken 12 years off to take care of her four kids. She later applied to Woodward and got a job teaching. As Mrs. Wyatt has had 4 kids and has taught at a college level, Mrs. Wyatt knows what it is like for students in college. Mrs. Wyatt applauds the job Woodward does at preparing students for college, wherever the students end up.
“Woodward kids are going to be very prepared for college,” Mrs. Wyatt said. “That’s all I have to say. They’re going to be extremely prepared.”
