I LOVE me a good doc cam. Considering I started my teaching career with only a blackboard - no projector, no whiteboard (and this was 2014!!) - I've been on the path to find the perfect, cheap classroom tech that works best for me and my students. For in-person teaching there is seriously nothing better than a doc cam. But that's not what this blog post is about. This is about my new love: my Wacom drawing tablet.
Tag: zoom teaching
A NEW TEACHER NIGHTMARE
In the spooky spirit of October, I want to share a scary story with you. Remember those school nightmares you used to have growing up? You forgot your locker combo. You had a final but didn't study. Well, teachers also have school nightmares. One of my nightmares was often a reality: we had one printer/copier for the entire school and it broke. But now I have a new nightmare: I'm teaching remotely and my internet crashes.
DISTANCE LEARNING 2020-2021: WEEK 1 THOUGHTS
Week 1 done! This week my school just did 1/2 days with students Wednesday through Friday. We did some whole-school meetings, as well as short individual classes. I've been thinking so much about school all throughout summer, it's funny too realize all the things I forgot about until actually starting again!
Virtual Teacher Interview: middle school social studies, upstate New York
Being a teacher is in my blood: most of my grandparents were teachers, some of my extended family taught, and my dad is currently finishing up his 30th year of teaching. My dad teaches middle school social studies in a public school in upstate New York. He's seen a thing or two in his day, so when the whole distance learning idea started to solidify into a reality, he was ready for anything.
COVID-19: End of ’19-’20 School Year Thoughts
Our school year is over. I've taught via Zoom for 12 weeks. That's 55 days, for a total of 241.5 hours, which is 14,490 minutes. I wanted to summarize my thoughts from these past 12 weeks and my hopes for the future.
COVID-19: Why Distance Learning IS Working for My School
Week 3, here we are. I can't lie, remote teaching is TOUGH. The days feel weirdly longer and shorter than usual. I honestly feel like a first year teacher all over again. So much is different than regular classroom teaching. With that said, after talking with my dad this weekend, who's also a teacher (7th grade Social Studies as opposed to my high school Math/Science), I realized my school was set up really well to succeed with distance learning.