Behind the Scenes in My Own Distance Teaching and Learning Journey

By Tania Dooley

     When the various school districts in northern California began announcing that Distance Learning would be the norm until schools physically re-opened, teachers went full force into learning new online platforms to deliver lessons.

Image Credit: Simon Rae via Unsplash

In the traditional classroom seasoned teachers often go by a curriculum guide or more simply, a binder that tells them what units of study their classes should be on in a particular moment in time.  So for instance, for 8th grade history in April we teach the Civil War and use and reuse materials from year to year.  Now imagine what teachers have to recreate after realizing that some resources will not work through distance education.  We can certainly use some and post them online, however, there are specific materials and activities laboriously designed for group work or pair work that would not work for individualized learning, and much less for distance learning. Given these circumstances teachers have collaborated, brainstormed, and have been driven to action with a host of new ways of engaging students. 

       By now, most teachers have an ebb and flow to their online teaching methods.  Some pre-record video lessons and post everyday, others schedule live conferences with students a couple times a week, and still others find a myriad of other creative ways to reach students.  As a creative type I find that blogging gives me the flexibility to teach content, to motivate and teach life skills, and to include some fun and entertaining content too. 

    There's a lot of planning that goes behind each post, from the research to the writing process, to finding just the right pictures to complement the story.  Due to my librarian training I making sure credit is given to others when it is due, this can also be time consuming.  Imagine writing an essay every time you want to post, and that is essentially how much thoughtful work goes into publishing each one.

     At the end of the day, we want to reach all students, and although it looks different than before we are still here, we still care, and we are trying our best even to the point of surprising ourselves.  Even though I include history content, I also like to connect through short explanatory videos, and entertain with recipes. The lighter content such as the recipes are mainly a way to keep my personality alive, something that we can convey in person but is lost in online education.

     Distance learning is a work in progress and as such teachers and students have had to adjust, although adults could do so with more ease.  Of course though, I dream of when I can step into the classroom once again, and when I can wait at my door to say hello to every single student that passes by.  Those are the days, really, those are the small moments we live for and enjoy about teaching and the profession as a whole.