The joys of online teaching

With the current pandemic making our everyday lives challenging, teaching has also become more demanding. Technology has fortunately come to the rescue, or so I thought! Currently we have two year groups self-isolating which has meant that TEAMS lessons have become the norm. This has been an interesting experience. Initially, shouting “please mute yourself and camera off” were common phrases as I navigated my way through the systems. After some training, I am now fully confident and competent!

To be honest, most students have adapted quickly to the new routine. They have been super receptive and together we have been able to work out a routine.  However, for a small minority, it has been an opportunity for silliness. Classroom management is not only in my physical space, it has also shifted online. I have had to learn ICT pretty fast. Knowing the shortcuts to mute all the students and monitoring chats is currently part of my daily routine. For now, the stern glance has been replaced with the mute button.

TEAMS Teaching has been a learning process.

One thing I could have done as a teacher in order to have quality online lessons was to involve the students in establishing the new norm. However, because the process of online teaching happened so quickly and to a certain degree, I was scared to engage students in the process as I did not know what online teaching would look like. I guess my teacher insecurities took over. After the first couple of lessons and a training sessions, norm and structure was established and learning finally started occurring.

A conversation with a teacher friend this month shed a light on how most of us might be currently feeling about teaching. Not to be cliched but it is a difficult time. Most of us probably feel like we are not doing enough, and we are not the best teacher versions of ourselves. However, taking the current pandemic in consideration, we need to stop being so harsh on ourselves. We should be very proud of ourselves on how adaptive and flexible we have been.

Let's also talk about COVID interviews. So, this month I was lucky enough to have had the opportunity to interview for a full-time permanent role because as you know, sis is currently in a part-time maternity cover role. It was a success, but it was the second weirdest interview procedure I have ever had. Firstly, it was masks all around as we went to the holding room, no school tour and the 2-meter rule was in full effect! For now, I can relax and don’t have to stress about looking for a permanent role. Have a great rest of your week! Keep going! The half-term is so near I can feel it...