“Um, Mrs. Burwell, can you hear me?”
“I can hear you, Nora.”
“So you can hear me?”
“Yes, dear”
“Oh, okay... (awkward
pause)... Well, I was just wondering what
we would be doing today.”
“Hon, I just told y’all.”
“Oh, you did?
Sorry.”
“Alright, let’s get started. Remember everyone should have your video
cameras on. Leah, please turn on your
camera. Leah? Thanks, Leah.
(Leah turns her camera on, and then immediately back off.) Leah, hon, you need to leave the camera on for
the whole class.” (No response. No
camera.)
“Okay, well, let’s move on to our mini-lesson.” “So, here is a globe…”
“Mrs. Burwell!
Hey I am sorry, this is Amy and I had computer issues and I am just now
getting into the call. So, did I miss anything? I mean, like, have we done anything important
yet?”
“Welcome to the call, Amy. Next time just join us and let me know in the
chat box that you have arrived. So, like
I said, here is a globe…”
“Mrs. Burwell!”
“Yes, Amy?”
“I am sorry that I interrupted the call. Next time I will use the chat box.”
“Thank you Amy.
So, on a globe, there are invisible lines of location called…. Hey, kids?
I can hear a trumpet practice in the background. Everyone look at your volume and make sure
you are muted. Okay, thanks, okay, let’s get back to the lesson. There are these invisible lines of location
that are set at 15 degrees apart. Wait. I am echoing.
Do y’all hear an echo…echo…echo…?
I think that someone still has your volume on? That is what causes echo. Hey, again, will everyone please make sure
that your microphones are muted….muted…muted?”
“Mrs. Burwell?”
“Let’s remember to use our ‘raise your hand’ feature
and not interrupt.”
“Okay.”
(Student raises hand.)
“Yes, Riley?”
“Can I go use the bathroom?”
“Well, I mean, sure.
You don’t really have to ask me since you are at home. Please just make sure that both your video
and audio are muted. Please.”
“Thanks Mrs. Burwell.
I will be right back.”
“Anyways, these lines that are on a globe are called ‘longitude’
and ‘lat…’”
“Mrs. Burwell?
Do we have homework?”
“Kids, let’s remember to use the ‘raise your hand’
feature. Do you have homework? Well, in one way, everything you do right now
is HOME-work. Ha! Get it?”
(Total silence. Not one laugh. Not even a muted smile.)
“Alright, anyways, yes you will have homework. We will get to that after the mini-lesson.”
“Mrs. Burwell?
“Yes, Riley?”
“I’m back from the bathroom.”
“Thank you, Riley.
Next time, you don’t have to tell me.
Just put it in the chat box. Ok,
back to the lesson. Longitude and
latitude. These are very important features
in geography. Wait. Um, Jason?”
“Yes, Mrs Burwell?”
“Hey, does your mom know that your camera is on?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you might tell her. I just don’t think she would want us to watch
her crawling on the floor cleaning.”
“Oh. Yeah. Hey Mom!
You might want to…”
“Jason! Hon,
can you mute yourself?”
“Sure, Mrs. Burwell.”
“Ok. Oh, Riley,
do you have a question?”
“Oh, no, sorry, I left that on from earlier.”
“Ok. Kids, let’s
remember to turn off the ‘raise your hand’ feature once you are done with your
question. Well, back to the lesson. Oh, actually, it looks like our time is about
to end. I will see you tomorrow, same
time, same place, and of course, same lesson.”
“Hey, Mrs. Burwell?”
“Yes, Nora?”
“Can you hear me?”
“Yes, Nora.”
“I really like this class.”
"Thank you, Nora. Me too."
I promise you that every scenario that I just described has actually occurred in the past few weeks. Names have been changed to protect the guilty. Now, about online teaching... It isn't my favorite. (That his what we teach our kids to say when they hate something.) I want to see my students' real faces, know how tall they are, give them fist bumps. But, I will say this...I do feel like I am connecting with many of them. While there are some students who "hide" from me every day, there are others who are engaged, learning, and writing me notes that I am their favorite teacher. Awww....how sweet...and I need that kind of encouragement these days! (I usually answer notes like this with, "Well, YOU are my favorite student. But ssshhhh...don't tell the others!")
I pray that we are back F2F (face to face) soon, and that we STAY that way. I am ready for my online teaching career to wrap up, thank you very much.
I hope all is well with you and yours, as you experience the strangest school year ever. Dear Lord, please send us back to school, and keep us safe. We need you. Amen.