How good it is to see, all the children's faces on a google meet, the joy you get from hearing their voices and seeing them interact with each other - really makes it much more exciting for when we finally get back to school.
It has definitely been a case of the teacher is learning in all aspects of how deliver a lesson online, I am continuing to learn on this journey! It has been great to have access to a range of Manaiakalani schools and what they are doing throughout this time in their weekly newsletter.
On the Education Gazette it states that the challenge is to be innovative, to teach the learning objectives with the limited material resources we have available to us at this time. Yes it is a challenge, but it is a challenge that I (and the rest of NZ teachers) are embracing with wide arms. I am stating to get use to hearing my voice play back in videos and not cringing at the sound! Heres hoping the children don't mind!
In the past two weeks these are the things I found to be extremely useful when meeting the children on google meets:
- The microphone is your saving grace
- You need the grid extension
- The chat function is a great learning tool to make sure the children feel comfortable not being in the lime light on the screen
- Sharing your screen is a valuable tool e.g. being able to share children's work and talk through it
- Smaller groups on children online is more valuable understanding how their learning is going
- The use of gestures to confirm what the children have understood or heard makes a difference.
Like I said, still learning, still taking notes and still listening to the experts.
