Season Six
Episode 121
Virtual and In-Person Teaching
I’ve been back teaching for just over two weeks now. There’s been a large learning curve as I’ve had to rethink and reimagine everything I’m teaching - likely the same for you as well. Our teaching situations have commonalities, but no two teaching situations are identical. I’ll share how my teaching set-up looks this year to give you an idea of what I’m doing each day and especially what I’m finding that works as I’m teaching students who are home learning as well as students who are in the classroom simultaneously. How do we best educate students in this scenario and is it even possible, right?
So here’s a short breakdown of my teaching scenario this year. I teach middle school music grades 5-8. I am a fifth grade advisor which means I have 11 students who are part of my homeroom and it’s one of the best things about my job. Every morning I’m with them for just over an hour. We spend time preparing their schedule, overseeing their homework, and helping guide them through their entire fifth grade year. This year students are staying in their homeroom classes all day except for PE and recess. Class times are 80 minutes long. Yup - 80 minutes. I see classes every other day for one trimester out of the year, which means that the students I’m teaching right now will have music until mid-November, but then won’t have music the rest of the school year. I am on a cart where I have all of the necessities needed for teaching. I move between two floors up and down throughout the day. I have my laptop for using Go Guardian to monitor student devices and for students who are Zooming from home. Then I’m using the white boards and Promethean boards in the classroom to write content and display information/lead class.
Here are some of the solutions I’ve found in teaching students virtually and in-person simultaneously.
The first solution: Take time in each room to figure out your set-up. Every classroom is set up differently. Some you might have to plug your device directly into the board at the front. Others you might need to Zoom from the desktop computer with the webcam on it. Others you might need to use a device connected to the Promethean and use your laptop for the Zoom. Depending on how much technology you have, the requirements for your school on what you need to be monitoring using the devices, and how comfortable you are with technology will determine your needs in the classroom for these tools and how you want to set-up for class time. It’s strange going into other teacher’s spaces. I feel like I’m entering their home and I want to be sure I know what I am allowed to do. Can I move desks or tables? So far, no. Can I use the teacher’s desk in that room to work or set-up what I need in a larger space? If you’re bringing an surge protector and plugging in multiple devices, where are the plugs located in the room? How long will your cord need to be? Figure out the placement of white boards and smartboards. If students are on a Zoom with you on one device you’ll want to figure out how to best keep them seeing whatever you’re leading the class on and what you’re writing on the board. Being respectful of each room and leaving it better than you found it - and sanitized - is a great way to show respect.
The second solution: Let your music content determine the technology you need to use. I enjoy using technology, but I don’t want it to be a substitute for music making. I don’t want to spend more time teaching the technology and how to use tools than I do having students making music. In our teaching environment now it is nearly impossible to not use technology. How do we make sure that we are teaching music and not technology skills? Keeping the purpose behind my sequence and the musical skills I am teaching at the forefront for why I am choosing specific lessons helps. Then finding technology that supports the skills I’m teaching. If I want students to demonstrate a musical concept, thinking through ways they can demonstrate it helps me figure out what technology I want them to use. I don’t want to say ‘Oh - I want to use flipgrid today’ and then figuring out how they can use flipgrid for something. This is backwards because then we’re trying to find ways to use cool tools for something instead of thinking about how students can demonstrate musical skills first.
Third solution: Find what you can do and use it to the fullest degree possible. No percussion? Hands, pencils, pens, desks. No singing? Can you hum? Can students listen to a recording? Can you make a screencast of yourself singing the piece?
Fourth solution: Giving attention to students at home and in-person is a juggling act. Allow other students to help in working with the students at home if there’s only a few during work time. Check in with them, look at them, and greet them at the start and end of class.
And a few other short tips to remember as we’re facing this new adventure
Expect to feel emotions strongly and for them to change often.
Plan something at the beginning of class that doesn’t involve technology so that you can get everything set up and students can be somewhat self-sufficient… listening to music, tapping the beat to a song that’s playing, completing a google form about what they’ve been learning
When something goes well, savor it.
Prep your cart ahead of time with all the things you’ll need. Need more inspiration for this? Listen in next week to episode 122 where I’m sharing ideas for your cart!
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