Teaching Level 1 - Postmortem for Classes 20-27.06.2021 and 04.07.2021
Class: Level 1 (kids aged 6, 7, and 8)
Platform: Zoom
Issue 1: unreliable internet connection
It’s monsoon season. The rains have been torrential these few Sundays, and consequently, the internet connection during classes have been less than ideal. All the lesson prep in the world is for nought if we’re not able to even be in class (this has happened; scripture memorisation was a bust that week). We need a backup plan for when teachers lose connection. Ditto for students. They need access to a lesson summary of some sort, some way to catch up.
Fixes:
For teachers: share digital materials we plan to use that week with co-teachers on Google Drive so they can sub if needed -> Flaw 1: just co-teacher access as backup may not be enough. Sub may not know how the on-duty teacher plans to use the materials for class (It's like being expected to give a good presentation with slides you've just had sprung on you. That ain’t gonna fly, man). Flaw 2: this fix is useless if the on-duty teacher doesn't use slides or videos in their lessons.
For students: post a lesson summary on Google Drive or the parent/teacher WhatsApp group chat to catch them up.
For class (video lag during screen share): share the video link instead of screen sharing, allot time to watch, then reconvene class? [to be followed up in a future post] -> Flaw: might not work with really young kids.
Issue 2: super short attention span of young kids
Like, you can lose them in the time it takes to stop one screen share and start another. Any sort of disruption to the lesson flow seems to drastically affect the kids' ability to retain what’s being taught. I’ve had a session where all they remembered that day was the WiFi failure that interrupted class 😢
Fix: become more proficient at switching between screens so delay times are minimised, OR eliminate the need to switch between screens at all. I’ve recently switched to using only the whiteboard during class. I narrate and draw out the Bible story of the week instead of using videos and slides. The kids seem to enjoy my drawing, but whether this method is actually effective at communicating lesson points, I’ll have to observe a few more lessons to see. [to be followed up in a future post]
Issue 3: messy communication system and information archive
I have four separate WhatsApp groups for Sunday School, and keeping track of all the scattered announcements and discussions can be tedious and time-consuming. Student access to class materials could also benefit from streamlining. We're using a mix of WhatsApp and Google Drive to assign/check "homework" and post up lesson summaries and announcements right now. Not the worse way of doing things, but definitely not the most efficient.
Fix: Convince Sunday School to use Google Classroom? It is built for having online classes after all, and it would streamline all the different communication channels we have going on. [to be followed up in a future post] -> Flaw 1: Sunday School just recently revamped how we have classes. Not sure if the superintendents will be willing to implement another major change so soon. Maybe suggest we use Google Classroom for communication (minimiseWhatsApp groups) and student access to class materials, but stick with Zoom for actual class sessions? Flaw 2: you need a Gmail account to use Google Classroom, and not everyone has one. My students are barely out of kindergarten. They use their parents' devices and accounts. Is it worth asking the parents to create another email account just for this?
Teachers on Tumblr, have you faced similar issues? How did you deal with them?
