Thursday, September 17, 2020

Distance Learning 13

In no particular order, today I have some random observations about this whole distance learning thing and how different things are this school year. (I'm borrowing the meme from Barefoot Susie who got it from Thursday 13.)

1. School campus is so empty, it's eerie. But there is still a small contingent that remains, either those that have to be at school or those teachers who find they work better out of their classrooms. 

2. Since no one is on campus, the teachers working from campus have started parking their cars next to their classrooms. 

3. We were prepared for this, and not at all prepared for this. A lot of the work was already done via computer and Google Classroom, so that's not new. But putting it all together online is so very different. 

4. I've completely given up with regards to wardrobe and makeup. Even though I'm on camera and on campus, I'm going for comfort. It's not like they're seeing me in person. 

5. Classroom control is a breeze when all the kiddos are on mute. I don't have to talk over them. But I wonder if they're really paying attention. 

6. It turns out that there are Extensions that one can use to make sure all participants are on screen in Google Meet (grid view) and there's also an attendance app. Now I can see all the students on screen, although since I'm co-teaching, I don't have to worry about attendance. 

7. But before they got the attendance app, the teachers were trying different things to keep track of attendance. For the first couple weeks, they'd have the students type their names into the chat box. The teachers have told the students they no longer need to do this, but the students still do, so at the beginning and end of class (and sometimes in the middle) we get random messages with student names. (Which is totally redundant as the chat function tells us who's posting the name, so the name is on screen twice.) 

(So, it turns out the chat box does have a useful function. Although, I have found that there is a way to turn it off.)

8. Throughout the period, we see messages that "so-and-so has left the meet" followed soon after by "so-and-so has joined the meet". Initially I worried about the leavings, but as they return so quickly, I'm fairly certain it's just their connection. (And the attendance app tracks this, so after class one can see when they were offline. For the most part, these are minor interruptions.) 

9. We can't see if they leave the room (if their cameras are off), so we don't know if they leave to use the restroom. Yet, I've still had kids ask if they could go. (Of course I let them go. I'm not a monster.) 

10. And I've had kiddos apologize for getting logged out or logging in late due to connectivity issues (or others in the room closing their laptops). 

11. At the end of class, we teachers remain online until everyone has logged off. Sometimes a couple kiddos remain behind because they have a question. But then there are two or three who just linger. Clearly, these are the kiddos who logged in and then walked away from their computers. (We can log them out at the end, or we can just leave them to the empty meet.) 

12. There is a designated time for the students to come in to "office hours" if they have other questions. It's as simple as setting up another Google Meet. 

13. The schedule is modified. The kiddos are attending classes every other day. Tuesdays and Thursday are periods 1, 3, and 5. Wednesdays and Fridays are periods 2, 4, and 6. (Mondays they do a truncated all day thing.) They have an hour period followed by ten minutes of "passing". After the last class, they get a 40-ish minute lunch followed by "office hours" followed by an hour of independent work time. (They're expected to complete assignments.) 

I'm glad I have the blog now. I get to tell you all how this new thing is going.

18 comments:

  1. We live in a complicated world.

    NYC has announced that there will be no snow days this winter. With all the students equipped for on line learning, if we get hit with a blizzard they can all go remote that day.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was wondering about that. Now that the infrastructure is in place, you could totally go remote for the winter. I'm sure the kids will hate that ;)

      Delete
  2. Such crazy times, but I can see good in it all too. Hope you are adjusting well, sounds like you are :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't imagine shop class over the internet working out. Band probably loses something over the internet, too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I wonder how effectively the kids are attending? They get so easily distracted in class, I imagine at home it must be a hundred-fold worse. I guess as the semester goes on you'll find out!

    ReplyDelete
  5. You're adapting so well. I think things are going better than we could have hoped. Best wishes!

    ReplyDelete
  6. All I can say is that I am so glad it is not me dealing with all this. My attention span these days sucks, my being able to handle things sucks, my being able to grasp things like I used to sucks and that part has nothing to do with COVID...but COVID has not helped matters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, grief is hard enough without a global pandemic on top of it.

      Delete
  7. This was intersting to read with your observations. It certainly is an experience but it seems like everyone is trying to do the best they can with a horrid situation.

    Betty

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Liz - it must be challenging adapating ... I guess the open mind and easy reactive style helps ... but fascinating to see how it's going from your pov. Good luck = enjoy the weekend - Hilary

    ReplyDelete
  9. So challenging. They can't see you if you have slippers on.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This is true. I could totally be in pajama bottoms :)

      Delete
  10. It's a shame they don't have to have their cameras on so you know for certain they are there, but I bet some of the kids don't have those.

    ReplyDelete
  11. That sounds like a trial. I feel bad for everyone who has to adjust to news ways of doing things - so quickly and without guidance. But I also see many individuals living up to the challenge, and that is encouraging.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A very nice compilation of everything that makes up the (now cliched) new normal in teaching. How true! I am sure this is the way it's all over the world! Unbelievable!

    ReplyDelete

I appreciate your comments.

I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.

*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.