Students take over virtual classroom when glitch forces teachers off

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two Memphis teachers temporarily lost control of their virtual classroom last week when a technical glitch forced them off a Zoom video conference with students. 

It happened Thursday during Rachel Levine’s and Summer Cain’s second-grade class at St. George’s Independent School’s Memphis campus. 

“It was so early in the day we had just gotten started,” said Cain.

Levine was cut off mid-sentence when her picture froze before dropping out altogether. 

“I was just continuing to offer instructions to the children. I had no idea I was frozen and suddenly we were then kicked out,” said Levine.

With the two teachers gone, Zoom automatically handed control of the video conference to one of the students. 

“He did okay, but he muted us about three times,” said student Jeremiah Morrow. 

For the next 11 minutes, students sorted through their own technical difficulties, showed off some of their toys and even posed some pointed questions to their classmates.

“Why you got a mask on, Jeremiah? You at the house,” one of the students can be heard saying. 

“I was just wearing it because I wanted to feel like what they feel like when they’re in class,” Morrow explained to WREG.

Like many of his classmates, Morrow says he misses being in the classroom. But as long as class is taking place on Zoom, students say they wouldn’t mind a repeat of Thursday’s lesson.

“I’d say we were in kid heaven,” said student Anniah Lund.