COVID 19 has disrupted our normal school routines. We are physically separated, our extra-curricular activities are suspended, and we will be foregoing typical school rituals like Prom and Graduation. While I never wish for tragedy to befall our community, I wanted to take this opportunity to challenge my practice as a teacher.
I have always seen myself as a weird teacher and the root of that philosophy comes from challenging the very nature of what school is. With this event upon us, everyone has had to ask the types of questions I continually ask myself. I have seen my colleagues struggle with the loss of typical routines and procedures and am working with others, specifically the #808Educate Twitter community and the Hawaii Distance Learning Forum. I'm grateful that I chose to focus on Educational Technology during my Graduate work as many of our courses dealt with effectively using technology through the framework of TPACK, where technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge intersect.
I have always seen myself as a weird teacher and the root of that philosophy comes from challenging the very nature of what school is. With this event upon us, everyone has had to ask the types of questions I continually ask myself. I have seen my colleagues struggle with the loss of typical routines and procedures and am working with others, specifically the #808Educate Twitter community and the Hawaii Distance Learning Forum. I'm grateful that I chose to focus on Educational Technology during my Graduate work as many of our courses dealt with effectively using technology through the framework of TPACK, where technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge intersect.
Reflection - Summer 2020 |
Having completed the school year with distance learning, I have come to a few conclusions regarding how best to continue, whether we resume regular operations or not.
1. Relationships are key. The success I found teaching during COVID was entirely coincidental that it was the 4th quarter. I had already spent more than eight months getting to know my students. More importantly, I spent that time growing their trust in me. My desire to make my classroom somewhere students want to be made it possible for them to want to continue to attend class, even though the same extrinsic pressures did not exist. Moving forward, this must be maintained. This means maintaining and creating new relationships with colleagues and administrators. 2. Student Choice is more valid than ever. Having seen the possibilities of distance learning and integrated technology, it is imperative we allow students to do what is best for their learning and leverage our resources to support them. We can rid ourselves of the stigmas created by the contrived rituals of the school day (desks, bells, dress codes). I was amazed to see students blossom in distance learning by working at their own pace; some fast, some slow. Introverted students who hadn't said two complete sentences to me were pouring their hearts out in video reflections. 3. Synchronous AND asynchronous. If we force students to sit in a virtual lecture hall for an hour listening to a tiny talking head, what have we learned? Simultaneously, if we eradicate all collaborative time, we destroy the fabrics of school culture that binds together the school community. Each teacher must find their balance. I broke my weeks up into two assigned tasks: a small group zoom chat and an asynchronous task, like EdPuzzle lectures. |