Amid Covid: Teaching in a Pandemic

Week 1: Launch in 10,9...LAUNCH.

Assignments online? Check…with 887 video tutorials I’ve made dating back to 2012.

Students ready to complete work in a completely new way, taking on all time-management responsibilities? That one’s tricky.

My 6 and 7 year old kids ready to sit still for hours doing work, letting me do my own work? Ha, no.

Ongoing S.M.A.R.T. Goals Project

My plan is to improve myself in a specific skill set, and use SMART goals to achieve this.

SMART Goals – Defined

My SMART Goals

Specific

I will complete a 2D Space Shooter video game made in Unity by the end of the school year.

MODIFIED in APRIL: I will be able to identify 3 new hobbies for each of my children by exposing them to new experiences

Update: Tuesday, 3/31

It’s been hard not seeing my students in person. Online teaching is a different skillset for both the teacher AND the student. It’s more accountability. There is a lack of “presence” That can only be made up through synchronous meetups using video chat, or if it were realistic, in a VR setting.

Things that are different about this new way of teaching life:

Time is relative. The school day is an amorphous blob that oozes around from morning until evening. Answering Schoology messages at all hours is normal. Note to self: Ignore Schoology messages starting at 6 pm.
I take my kids with me to work everyday. Their work interrupts my work, all day. Note: Preload several activities for them, not one at a time.
I know more about what my kids are learning. I see what comes easy, or hard, and know them better as a result. A positive!

Friday, 5/8: It's the end of the year as we know it

I went to school this morning to get VHS tapes to finish digitizing. The school still feels cavernous without students. I miss them.
This is what it looked like:

May 13 - End of Year Zoom Meeting (Q+A w/ T&E Students)

Q1: How did you grow this year?

“We bonded through, I felt more accepted as a result of the sit-on-the-couch meetings”
“I left my comfort zone!”
“I’m a new me. I switched from an Engineering major to Business”
“I can now just jump in without caring if I’ll mess up or not”
“I have better personal skills, less anxiety”

Q2: What DIDN’T Work this year?

“We got off topic a little too much. The Grit9 Club ideas were good, but started too late.”
“Got off track more than I should of. To-do list was good but we avoided some of it. The club was not working…we need ways to get more attendance.”
Me: “Not enough structure in leadership training, tech skill training, tracking the training (Quest based next year?)
“Getting off task and not immediately getting back on task”
“The Grit to Great book was good, we just didn’t finish it, it needs to be a priority”
“Stay on task!”

Q3: What Advice do you have for next year’s T & E Class?

“If it needs done, do it. Don’t wait for someone else to.”
“Jump into what needs done, could be website, vhs, scanning, etc. Get over your like/dislike, you get to work with clients”
“Start the marketing plan immediately”
“Invest in themselves, how to communicate with each other (couch conversations, critical decision making, running a client meeting)”
“Trust-building activities – couch conversations, Games like Snake Oil, making phone calls, the ‘my identity’ presentations are great”
“Open yourself up as early as possible, do Ted Talks (watch one, write about it, optionally give one)”
“Nothing grows in your comfort zone…leave your comfort zone”

Q4: 2019-2020 was the year of ____.