Because I knew there was a distinct possibility that I would not have a classroom, AND the fact that we are smack in the middle of a pandemic, I made the decision to go to a digital teaching format. This was definitely a good decision, because I found out that all electives teachers would have to teach VIRTUAL students, as well as face-to-face (F2F) students! Since I only had ONE Chromebook, I was not sure how I was going to do this! WELL... My motto has always been, "IMPROVISE, ADAPT, and OVERCOME." SO... I did just that! I borrowed a second laptop so I could live-stream my classes, and I use my school Chromebook to display my lessons on the giant rolling TV I borrowed from the library. So far, it has gone well. The kids have been GREAT! They have been extending lots of grace and patience to me as we all learn to navigate this digital world, and they don't seem to mind sitting at the tables.
I LOVE seeing my virtual students every day as well! Some are students I had last year, and I would miss them terribly if they didn't join our google meets. Others are new to AVID, and I have really enjoyed getting to know them as well. Helping them navigate assignments has been a huge challenge, however. I have had to completely rethink how I present lessons in google classroom so they can understand what I am asking them to do--especially those who do not log into the Google Meets. In fact, one of my first lessons I posted had to be completely redone, because I did not give them enough specific instruction! It was a mess! Screencastify has become my best friend! It allows me to walk students through the details of an assignment, and I can SHOW them exactly what I need them to do.
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