COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to all of us but particularly to our students. Now that this school year is set to start remotely for my students, I refuse to let the distance between us become a hindrance to the relationships we must establish, the needs that must be met, and the curriculum that we should cover.
With these requested items, I can set up a home "classroom" from which I can film lessons, hold video conferences with students to provide feedback on their writing, provide grammar instruction, analyze rhetoric. As an English teacher, I analyze writing with my students every day, as we look for nuances in language to determine why an author chose to use a particular device. Last spring showed just how difficult that is to do with just a computer. I can use the document camera to display an essay on the whiteboard (just like I do at school), and I can add their analyses in real time. I can pre-record lessons on grammar and writing with the whiteboard (which gives me much more space and allows me the ability to "show" students corrections.
I know the focus here should be on academics and learning goals, and of course they ARE a focus of my teaching, but what is most important is the rapport that I build with my students. I can't do that with just a laptop. Yes I can video conference with students on a laptop, but the focus is either on the face or the screen. Creating a home classroom will allow for both and give my students a little bit of "normalcy," even if it's from a distance.
About my class
COVID-19 has brought unprecedented challenges to all of us but particularly to our students. Now that this school year is set to start remotely for my students, I refuse to let the distance between us become a hindrance to the relationships we must establish, the needs that must be met, and the curriculum that we should cover.
With these requested items, I can set up a home "classroom" from which I can film lessons, hold video conferences with students to provide feedback on their writing, provide grammar instruction, analyze rhetoric. As an English teacher, I analyze writing with my students every day, as we look for nuances in language to determine why an author chose to use a particular device. Last spring showed just how difficult that is to do with just a computer. I can use the document camera to display an essay on the whiteboard (just like I do at school), and I can add their analyses in real time. I can pre-record lessons on grammar and writing with the whiteboard (which gives me much more space and allows me the ability to "show" students corrections.
I know the focus here should be on academics and learning goals, and of course they ARE a focus of my teaching, but what is most important is the rapport that I build with my students. I can't do that with just a laptop. Yes I can video conference with students on a laptop, but the focus is either on the face or the screen. Creating a home classroom will allow for both and give my students a little bit of "normalcy," even if it's from a distance.
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