There is evil lurking.
It’s an evil that is ever-present in the online teaching world. Disguised as good, it whispers sweet buttery lies to teachers that drag them down into a black hole of stress and overwork.
So difficult to resist is this cruel tempter that it will devour all but those aware of its schemes and strong enough to ward them off.
The evil isn’t a somebody. It isn’t technology, like Zoom or Google Classroom. It isn’t your schedule or your cramped home office. It isn’t even your principal.
It’s a culture.
You no doubt feel this culture pressing down on your shoulders and crawling its tension up the back of your skull. It’s a culture, you see, of perfection, competition, and long hours toiling away at your desk.
Of style over substance.
This culture, and all its Mephistophelian effects, was created by the confluence of . . .
Last spring’s nation-wide distance-learning failures.
The many (many) online trainings you had to attend this summer.
The endless technological options at your disposal.
The expectation of using every online tool available to you.
Tech-savvy colleagues who like to show off.
Administrative pressure.
Parents unhappy with distance learning.
Your pride in being a good teacher.
Together, they converge into a gushing, churning rapid of pressure to learn it all, do it all, and provide exemple parfait of revolutionary distance education.
It’s a culture that boxes you in and forces you to be someone you’re not and never wanted to be. But here’s the thing: Although its perniciousness is overpowering and undeniable, the meaning behind it is an illusion.
It’s an illusion you can break free from by keeping in mind three undeniable truths.
Perfect in teaching is boring.
Trying to put together a seamless procession of videos, surveys, screenshares, musical clips, flashy techno-wizardry, and the like may make you feel a momentary sense of accomplishment.
It may make you feel like a good soldier, but the truth is, it’s boring teaching.
Your students don’t need you to compete with TicTok, video games, or their favorite YouTube channels (nor can you). They just need you to be YOU and share your passion for your subject.
They need you to be the skilled teacher and leader that you already are.
Simplicity always wins.
Your focus should be on being understood. It should be on your one objective per lesson and your students proving they understand that objective.
If a video snippet helps, then fine.
But nothing is going to be as effective as you, standing in front of the camera with your wits, humor, and personality. Nothing will be as effective as showing your students precisely what you expect by way of doc cam, easel, or whiteboard.
Great teaching is about connection.
You will not motivate your students off their sofa and engaged in your lessons if there is no connection. It is you, and only you, that can build influential, behavior-changing, intrinsically motivating rapport.
It is only you that can reach through the screen and grab them by the lapels (or hoodie stings).
A high production lesson, no matter how slick and orchestrated, will never have the impact that you will. It’s the human connection, after all, that students are craving now more than ever.
It’s the one and only thing that will inspire them to learn.
Zag While They All Zig
The criticisms of last spring, I believe, were less about being unprepared as they were about a lack of real teaching. So what do we do as a profession?
We train and encourage teachers to use more and more technology.
We weaken the connection with students, build an even higher, colder wall of ice between us, and create competition among teachers for who can have the best online newsletters.
We even perpetuate the lie that all this fluff is what makes a good teacher.
It’s silly, and it makes everyone miserable. Not to mention, the students suffer. They get bored and don’t want to show up for class or do any real work.
They have enough screen time in their life.
So I encourage you, when your colleagues are zigging, zag to your heart’s content. Be your own culture. Laugh in the face of Beelzebub and Screwtape by turning on your camera and teaching.
Set your students up for success, check for understanding, and then turn them loose to do the work while you observe.
It’s that simple, and not so different than being in the classroom. But it takes tossing aside the prevailing culture of online teaching, seeing it for what it is, and embracing what is right and true and real.
And, most important, effective.
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This is so true! The students need YOU! They need you to be human, passionate, and knowledgeable. Technology is just a resource not the content! I’ve seen my students 4 times so far and already have a connection to so many of them through my personality, not the tech I use.
I think that is ridiculous. Never has there been a time for parents to be more active in their students education and learning. Heck I’m teaching parents, siblings and my little scholars. I connect great and see right into their homes. I am getting first hand knowledge as to what their life at home is like. You are wrong and not doing a good job if you haven’t embraced all the learning opportunities available online. Sure it’s draining, sure it takes more planning, sure it is forcing us to learn more technology to be able to provide the best educational opportunities available. But the reality is, the classroom behavioral issues are gone, parents are within earshot and the kiddos aren’t getting away with the bad behaviors that were present last fall. Parents appreciate teachers more than ever and this opportunity is an excellent reason to make the best of it!
I’m glad you’re experiencing such positive online learning. I have not. Parents are leaving 9 year olds to their own accord, then hijacking a meeting to yell at the teacher as to why their child doesn’t know what to do. This isn’t every parent and certainly there are plenty of great, engaged parents, but they can’t all be there for their kids. It’s just reality. Learning every single new tech tool hasn’t helped me at all to teach, but connecting with my students has. It is the best tool I have. The rest is gravy. Wishing you a continued positive experience.
You sound like a fantastic educator! Thank you for your comments!
Thanks for this revelation. Invaluable pieces of information indeed.
WOW! I am almost in tears….. this is how I am feeling after 2 weeks of complete feelings of failure at every corner! Thanks for this today!
Loved this article! Thank you!
This is the first article on here that I’ve found misses the mark. It presumes that remote learning is an inferior mode of connection. I’ve found that it’s him the opposite for many of my students, for whom home is one of true few places they feel safe. There is an intimacy to remote learning that can be achieved through the constant dialogue that some of our online tools afford – tools my school would never have gotten if the district didn’t HAVE to provide them. My students have enjoyed the audiovisual components of those parts of lessons where I do, unfortunately, have to speak for more than a few minutes. And those aids HELP the kids engage when they are turned loose, too.
I think there is some nuance missed here, as evidenced by the invocation of demonic nomenclature to describe a necessary tool for the current circumstances. I’d love to discuss it further with some other educators, though.
Kevin, I can see where you saw that assumption being made, and why your experience rejects it. I didn’t see it, so the very helpful take-aways for me were the list of elements that are creating a new kind of pressure, and the reassurance that my instincts are still valid under these circumstances. Since you have students whose safe place is home, your observations make a lot of sense. I have students whose safe place is school, and it’s very different – tragic, in some cases. Students’ ages might make a big difference too; mine are second graders. And since 1/3 of them have parents who don’t speak English, overcoming the distance is very, very difficult.
Well… I don’t think that remote learning being an inferior tool of connection is the point that this article seeks to address… if anything, what i see is this: that whatever tools you choose to use, if you choose to use any, just be encouraged to be YOU…let the students experience you… the online tools help..no doubt…but should that be the focus? Should it now be all about videos and games and lacking the “feel”, presence and “special touch” of the teacher?
I think that this might be what this article seeks to bring our attention to, as educators…
My sentiments exactly. This was the understanding I got. You can use the available technologies but don’t let it use you, remain original and seek to connect as if you’re still in a face to face setting. Keep the students engaged. Another point I got was not to make to the use of these things about competition with their colleagues.
You missed the point of the article completely. Your focusing on a title?
It is inferior, jackass… nothing compares with an authentic TEACHER reaching out in person, or via technology, to personally and intimately touch the hearts and minds of their students. No amount of bells and whistles can replace that – the point of the writer. So get off your high horse and get real!
As Michael explains, it’s not the technology or remote teaching he’s against but a culture of pressure to perform in a particular way using these tools. It sounds like you’ve successfully avoided the influences of this mindset, which is great.
I agree. I was so disappointed when I read this article. Most of my adult life I have utilized online learning to advance my education. I embrace all the technology to the point of frustration and then master it. This generation of students need to be able to embrace technology. I had one of my 1st graders say, why do we need school I just want another google Alexa so he can have one in every room because he can ask it anything ang get an answer. My fear is they will taint the information being provided rather than keep it true. Thanks for calling this article out for what it is! I homeschooled my four children and they have all graduated from University, they appreciated all the time I spent with them and this is a great opportunity for parents to be actively involved in what their children are learning.
I’m disappointed in your bias expressed that online learning can never be as good as face-to-face. This long standing myth is perpetuated by those who are uncomfortable with distance learning themselves. The effectiveness of face-to-face instruction and distance learning depend on the pedagogical skills of the facilitator—not the format.
Kathryn Lee, I would suggest it’s not entirely true that the effectiveness of distance learning depends on pedagogical skill. That skill can’t overcome certain innate elements of distance learning. When I have to spend significant portions of my instructional time teaching 7-year-olds to navigate a computer, from another location, and sometimes in a language that’s foreign to them, having excellent teaching skill doesn’t help very much. It’s hard to teach a child to read without having an actual book. It’s hard to teach certain math skills without hands-on tools.
Lisa Greene, I totally agree and relate!
To Kathryn Lee: I respect your view of the article, and I agree that online learning can be effective. I saw the article from the point of view of an experienced teacher that is trying very hard to learn to be effective as an online educator, but is drowning in the sheer volume of new tech and apps being thrust upon me. I am not complaining or putting the interactive content down, I just needed to hear that simplicity is o.k. as I learn to navigate a completely new (to our district) LMS after training all summer for a different one.
Thank you! Your words ring true, bringing me encouragement and direction.
Why is online online evil? Evil is everywhere and anywhere. The title of your article ads fuel to the current culture being blamed on the existing evil of a virus.
But then you could say your journalism topic worked, as I wouldn’t have responded to a positive theme. Is that what you were trying to accomplish? Trying to see if anyone out there is reading your articles?
Marina, I think he’s saying the culture to which distance learning has given rise is the evil. If you’re not feeling oppressed by that culture, then you are fortunate.
Curious to hear your thoughts regarding online tests & how to minimize cheating w HS students in particular. Thx!
Thank you Michael. I have noticed what you describe in this post. Not only is it a problem for teachers, but students get incredibly frustrated when they have to learn the newest tools and apps too. A lot of my colleagues are having to teach students how to use Kami.
Kami is a great tool. But, our kids in our school already know how to use Google Docs and Google Slides. I’ve pointed out that it might be better that if we can, we utilize the tools our students already know how to use. As their frustration with the “how” (means and methods of completing work) increases, their learning of the “what” (content and skills we’re teaching) decreases.
Yes, Kami is amazing and well worth the trouble for everyone. I love being able to easily grade worksheets and tests. It then populates our Schoology grade book instantly. To turn worksheets into Ggl slides where you have to make texts boxes for every answer justifies the demonic horrors this article articulates.
Amen !I totally agree. The passion of knowledge – you as the teacher-sharing it… seeing the acknowledgement in a child’s eyes when he or she grasps the learning material!!
They makes me me… what I was intended to be! A mentor, role model.
Michael, this was pretty special. Thank you. (I think you are a CS Lewis fan)
Reed
Ditto to enjoying the Screwtape reference 😊🙌🏻👏🏻👏🏻!
I echo the thanks, Michael, for this encouragement. I may have tried zigging while they zag, but look at this permission. Remembering the kids are first, the connection with them is The Thing, and that technology is just another tool…it’s all very helpful.
I wish I could leave a meme I saw recently, showing Mister Rogers, Steve Irwin, LeVar Burton and Bob Ross… virtually teaching us for years. And good at it because of that connection and love and enthusiasm we felt from them. Anyhoo, cheers to you for encouraging us.
I would like your opinion on allowing students to put up a blank box with name only versus their faces. I work in a liberal district taken over by the state and sanction by DOJ regarding MLL instruction. A person of influence felt blank screens should be allowed bc of privacy and students may not want to be on camera. of course if a parent comes to me with a special issue, I am flexible. I would certainly allow an alternate screen for a student with ticks or after wisdom tooth removal. I feel I should make eye contact as much as possible, monitor engagement, and at the least supervise that students are attending and participating in class. Seeing kids helps me get a feel for how they feel about the lesson and their learning. After 3 days, I recognized a student who was waiting for his sister to pick up a Chrome book. I was surprised by that! In middle school their is no summer school or staying back. I have never seen any student retained for academics or truancy. I don’t need to tell you our scores.
I struggle with this even at the elementary level. At every class, I ask them to please keep their video on unless they have a good reason for not doing so. I’ve also told some students who are really self-conscious that it would help me if they kept the video on, even if they move so they’re not exactly in the camera. Even if I see a bit of their head or hands as they’re working or listening — that’s better than nothing to me….
While it is certainly more comfortable for us as the educators to be able to see faces, there are several valid reasons for students wanting to have their cameras off. We discussed this multiple times in our district’s trainings this year, and I have seen teachers make it work by asking those students to communicate via private messages so they can “get a read” that way. It’s not a perfect system, but again: there are several very valid reasons why a student’s camera might be off (such as: anxiety, poor internet connection, being in a home setting that they are uncomfortable displaying to their peers, etc) and this is another opportunity to build rapport and trust with those students (instead of potentially assuming the worst).
The thing to remember about all of this, whether it’s seen as insidious or innovative, is that we all have to be a little more flexible than we’re used to being.
Our County mandated that cameras were optional. What exactly were they expecting from most kids… that they were going to turn the cameras on? Why would they do that when they can go back to bed, play videogames or text with friends?
I needed to hear this today–so much. You validated everything I’ve been thinking and feeling about this nameless pressure. I see it when I’m with my students–they need and want us to see and be with them. Bells and whistles are great, but that is absolutely not what is best for our learners.
Wow!! This post is so accurate and such a relief!! All I’ve been hearing about the last three weeks are how to incorporate “Google” this and that, online “breakout sessions”, Jamboard, etc. It’s almost like if you’re not using this stuff, there’s something wrong with your teaching. Meanwhile, I was simply overjoyed to share my passion about the stories and analyses of The Great Gatsby and To Kill a Mockingbird. No fancy software needed. I taught the way I did before the pandemic. After reading this post I’m reassured that what I’m doing is just fine.
Thanks again for posting, Michael.
Have a great week!!
I am currently teaching online to 1st graders, your article is so spot on! My main concern with my teaching is always making connections, I feel like teaching online is stifling all the great things I have learned and used as a teacher. I have no intention of teaching online next year and if it means I have to take a year off, I will be prepared for that too. Thank you
Well said. I agree wholeheartedly. It’s not about a google slide show or a virtual class room set up with bit emojis. This is not where you will find good teaching and the human connection. My document camera is my slide show!
In solidarity,
Magnus
Abso-damn-lutely. I’ve been looking over all of these new software tools, with their interactive quizzes, animated emoticons and flashy graphics and I can’t for the life of me figure out what the students are supposed to be learning from these. Exciting and entertaining is not the same as teaching. Teaching is making basic concepts and structures clear and simple. It’s using real-world examples to make those concepts and structures concrete and relevant. It’s using practical exercises to ground them in experience. And all of it is based on having first built an honest, caring and trusting relationship with the students. There are certainly good tools that can make remote teaching more effective, but they tend to be the simpler ones. Let’s focus on teaching, not putting on a show.
One of the most refreshing things I’ve read in a lonnnnng time, Michael! So encouraging to us “less-than-tech-savvy” educators! I will keep this in a file and look at it often when I’m tempted to think my online classroom is not up to par with the others. I’m so encouraged that I can be a “zagger” and still help my students! LOVE IT!
Thank you, thank you! I have been so stressed about not being able to keep up and do the cute things. I really needed to hear validation that simple teaching is effective and o.k.
Me too! I’m an elementary teacher of gifted students, and I haven’t made that little Bitmoji classroom. I don’t think I’m going to….
Sharon,
I totally agree. It has been overwhelming trying to learn all these new tech skills and teach virtually. I find it takes me twice as long to plan and organize to ensure there are no surprises during our zoom class.
There are not enough hours in my day to effectively plan and get enough sleep. After several years of training to learn Google classroom, we switched to a totally new learning system. Our students no longer have access to Google classroom.
Thankfully, our Administration is understanding and supportive. They keep encouraging rather than criticizing. Makes us all feel better when they remind us we aren’t alone in all this.
Best wishes that things get better.
Lynn
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Thank you so much for this article! It is what I have believed all along, but when I saw others’ cute Bitmoji classrooms and their technical expertise on various platforms, I would get discouraged. I teach primarily with my whiteboard and I have them show me their work on their whiteboards. Sometimes I add a video clip if it will help their learning. Thank you for confirming that I’ve been on the right track!
I could not agree more! Been reading your book’Happy Teacher’ and l sad no to a weekend worth of online training. I sunbathed in the back garden drank Muscadet and read my detective novel and l feel great! Thanks for giving me permission to decline 👍
That is awesome! I say no to weekend trainings as well; I think I went to one very worthwhile one last year, but in general, I want my weekends free for reading, knitting, and spending time with my family.
This was amazing, exactly what I need to hear! In the days of fancy Bitmoji classroom and all the flashy stuff, it’s easy to feel incompetent. Thank you!
Two words….thank you.
I teach online. Its safer. I love it. My students love it. Its better than risking lives in the classroom. And its not remotely evil. Stop being an idiot and playing with peoples lives just because you dont want to work hard. If one single teacher or staff tests positive at your school you best believe its too late for you, your families, your students families, the communities they live in. Online EVERYTHING is the way of the future. So figure out how to do it like a boss. If you make it fun, engaging, use Gifs, props, realia, your white board, music, art, and free technologies like obs, your students will love love love it! Stop using fear as a weapon to hurt people with and start protecting the students you claim to care about. If their family members die because of you how would you feel? Not responsible? Because its evil to teach online and save those lives just through hard work on your own part? Wow….
I don’t think you understood the point. . . Or didn’t read the article.
In summary, the “evil” is the temptation to focus solely on the glitter and glitz when good teaching relies first upon a relationship with kids and a passion for content. Excellent online teaching and learning can happen if we don’t get sucked into the vortex of meaningless fluff.
Did you read the article? If you did, you kind of missed the whole point. I hope that maybe you were trying to be funny with your comments and it didn’t quite work?
Those are strong words from someone not strong enough to use their name. Anonymous, you appear to have missed the kindergarten lessons on being kind. It’s ok to have an opinion, but not ok to call someone an idiot because your opinion is different.
I can see why you went anon with this reply. Wow indeed.
I think the message of the importance of connections is so true. I feel like the connections I’ve made with students so far this year are the strongest I’ve ever had, and frankly that is what is keeping me going right now. I’ve heard so many parent complaints about seemingly every little thing (since they are now sitting in on most of our lessons). I’ve heard other teachers call each other out for not working hard enough or not doing enough. But getting a message that a kid is enjoying my class or wants to tell me about something in their life shows me that I’m doing something right. I understand the comments that say that online learning can still be good instruction, and for some students they may do better at home. But either way, making it clear to kids that we care about them right now is the best way to impact as many as possible, and the reciprocation from students means more to us now as well. We will get more from our kids for establishing a positive online environment than we will for maximizing minutes and using every tool we have.
Sorry, I can’t agree it’s evil, even with some of its disadvantages. I’m a teacher currently without a job, so I decided to stay home this year with my kids to do distance learning. Best decision for us during a pandemic. Yes, it may be less than ideal, but these times we are in are less than ideal. I know nothing replaces face-to-face with a physical person teaching them, but my kids are quite content with zoom calls and are motivated, self-directed learners. Anything that helps their learning progress is not evil. My teen says she’s relieved she doesn’t have to be involved in all the drama that goes along with her peer group at school and my son feels less intimidated by certain teachers and the bullying has stopped. They are still working hard on their schooling, but with more choice and flexibility. This has been an asset to our family and to their learning. That’s just our situation though, and I realize not all parents/kids have options outside of attending a physical school. As for technology, we’re keeping it pretty simple and learning together as we move forward.
I love your articles and recommend them to everyone I know. I wish I could embrace what you say here though. I know I am dynamic and passionate in my teaching. But then why do my students prefer Tik Tok videos over me? Why do students feel like zombies within a half hour but can watch Roblox for hours. Without the structures of accountability, we have to compete with novelty we can give them. Some websites are a great deal of fun where kids can show clever ways to show what they’ve learned. There is a huge gap between the way we learned in school and our students preferences. Check out for example Voki.com.
I teach 21 students face to face and record and post everything online for those who are at home learning virtually. (I also use a lot of what I post online with the kids in class. I teach them and use paper and pencil when feasible.) I basically have no contact with those learning at home. They can contact me once a week on a zoom office hour, but they don’t. I know this is terrible teaching and they are probably not learning anything! I just don’t know how to record and post all assignments AND find time to reach out to my at home students. There is not enough time in a day or week! Suggestions?
Can your at home students logon and watch your lessons while you’re teaching the face to face students? The recordings can be for the absent students and for review.
Thank you. I appreciated this article. There are times when having a short video with another “expert” is more relevant or more appropriate. But my students have overwhelmingly shared how much they loved seeing my face and hearing my voice last spring. Sometimes, we underestimate how much they need us.
I tend to agree with this perspective of teaching online. I’ve found it provides engaging formats for students. Quite frankly I used some of these online formats during my pre-Covid face to face classes since I had a big screen and internet access in the classroom and my students responded very positively.
There are however, some nuggets of truths in the article, which have to do with the way the technology is used. Over-use to the point of loosing that relationship/ connection with your students is something to be aware of.
I read your article today, just as I am starting online. I am doing exactly what your article suggested – turning on my camera so my students can see me in all my craziness. I worried I was being old school compared to my colleagues but now I am sure I am doing the right thing. I will be using technology as needed, but I want my students to have a deeper connection with me. Thank you for the read. I needed it!
Thank you!!!
This post is balm to my tired teacher soul. I feel like I’ve been saying this for 3 weeks but soldiering on in order to follow the rules and expectations set out for me by the district and state. I only lasted a week before I scrapped all things fluff (it took 3 HOURS to make ONE ASSIGNMENT). I followed my gut, taught new content during live sessions, recorded a summary right after to keep things equitable, pared everything down to fun, manageable bite size pieces and had a WONDERFUL week with my students. I hosted an extra help mini session that was a blast, scrapped all the fancy schedules loaded with links and just emailed a quick message to parents. (Ex: Things are great, we learned this concept, your kid turned in x number of assignments. Let me know how I can help.) I only worked 50 hours this week. I read a book. I slept well. The tough thing is that I had to go rogue in order to pull it off. My heart goes out to my colleagues around the state who are putting in hours of extra work while feeling their blood pressure rise day after day. Michael, thanks again for being the voice of reason and for this timely reminder to be myself and follow my gut.
I appreciate this article a lot and wholeheartedly agree!
I have had two completely online classes now as an adult and it definitely takes away that human connection. The instructors are so buried at home watching the kids or running the household that they just really only had enough time and motivation to slap some PowerPoint lessons online. Totally boring, totally uninspiring.
I agree with a ton of this. Thank you for saying it!
First of all, as professionals, we should be lifting each other up, if not for each other, then for the students. Instead of competing, we need to collaborate. I’ve never understood this culture. It is SO limiting.
I am lucky to be pretty technologically proficient. While I definitely don’t know all the tools out there, I can usually figure them out really quickly. That being said… giving kids 123840234 tech tools is NOT effective. It’s better to give them a few and let them get REALLY good at them! That’s just my opinion, anyway.
We already know how to teach, and we already know what works in the classroom. We just need to keep doing what we know works, and it’s not always the Pinterst-worthy cutesy stuff. There’s NOTHING wrong with it if it’s effective teaching, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to worry about the perfect, cute clipart/fonts and the newest tools before I worry about relationships with the kids. The kids want YOU.
Thank you for this article. I just got my first contracted teaching job as a recently credentialed teacher. This year. I have put immense pressure on myself to be completely tech savvy as a measure of excellent teaching. Thank you for reminding me of why I went into teaching – to connect with impressionable lives in a positive, meaningful way so they enjoy learning. I just need to be me and engage with my students just as I did when I substituted. When I learned their names even if I was only there for a day, when I listened to their questions and was a guide on the side, not a sage on the stage, when I smiled – I let them know their class was still a safe place to learn, I can do that online too! The tech will assist, but it is not the star, it is a tool just like any other to be used to enhance teaching and learning.
Thank you for giving me permission to take the pressure off of being a professional videographer and tech guru , and just teach.
Michael, you’ve done for us again what you’ve been doing for years: reassuring us and removing that invisible burden of a pressure mindset that can so easily weigh us down and hem us in!
I laughed my way through the article and felt the pressure melt away. As you say, when you step back and see it for the illusion it really is, it loses power.
Thank you for being such a great mentor!
I’ve been looking for more information (research) on simultaneously teaching in-person and at-home students for long blocks of time. I’m concerned about the synchronous approach to meet instructional hours vs. the approach of focusing on those cohorts separately, especially when there are high numbers of students with special needs in each group.
Most of the research I’ve found covers college and high school courses. Anyone able to share sources specifically for elementary and middle school?
I appreciate Michael’s article immensely. As a veteran teacher and being asked to teach a virtual class of 33 5th graders who have spent three weeks attempting to log onto a MAP reading and language test, I know the struggles and frustrations of techology.
The reminder to be myself, keep it simple, show my sense of humor, focus on the objective, see if the students understand that objective, and let them practice for understanding, is all I need to do daily. I’m keeping myself away from those educators who flaunt their technological skills in my face without ever thinking of sharing.
Thank you, Michael Linsin, for the great, timely article.
I found this article really good for reminding me what is important in online teaching. It is teaching! It is easy to get distracted by the overwhelming array of technology out there and take hours putting together presentations when actually all you need is a camera and a flip chart.
You are all missing the most important fact in all of this dialogue. THE GROSSLY NEGLIGENT LACK OF COMMON SENSE IN THE 1990’s when Education leaders ignored the availability of the entire Human experience via the Internet. Did they put a laptop or tablet in every students hands? Did they Provide access for all K-12 students? Just imagine 40 years of student, parents and teachers using this tool re-I’m age what we consider to be an education. The Pandemic would have had little impact on learning. If you think this is pie in the sky thinking just read this old article of a view of how schools could be an enriching collaborative environment.
https://sites.google.com/view/schooldays1991
You describe me, “. . . while others are zigging, zag to your heart’s content!” BUT, our school district is following a hybrid model–I have 1/2 my class (kindergarten!) 2 days per week, while the other 1/2 is at home following online lesson plans. Then we flip-flop. On Mondays, EVERYONE is online. Teachers are at school 5 days per week.
I want my life back, and this attitude will help me crawl out of the hole I have dug for myself (or that I got sucked into). I’d like to hear from other “hybrid” teachers about how you’re handling writing 2 lesson plans per day.
Thanks,
Carolyn
Possibly the best article on education I have ever read. Hands down. Don’t know what else to say.
Hi everyone! After reading a dozen or so comments, I like the way everyone is trying to be so positive under these trying, difficult circumstances. Even the “jack @$$” comnent was great. But the elephant in the room no one mentioned fron what I read was the “soul-less” experience of DL. Talking/almost shouting into a computer screen, constantly wondering if the connection is clear enough to be understood, clicking on a mouse pad has worn out my left index finger and now I am wearing out my right finger!! The everyday exercise of life is removed too now that we can literally sit for hours clicking away on countless Google document, never having to stretech more than a couple of inches to reach a point on the new 9 by 13 inch worldview we have reduced our poor sight to. The efficiency of computers has reduce human existence to physical drudgery by mindlessly clicking for hours without end. I can only imagine the development of student brains with computers. As a classical pianist and ibstrumentalist in woodwinds and brass, I think the years of pattern development in my brain must be very high because of the complexity of music. But computers are removing so much this development from everyday life, students may not develop much at all. Lord knows students do not use a pen or pencil enough these days to have decent handwritting worth reading. The New Normal will kill us all, very slowly. I will be very thankful when the Old Normal returns and humans come back to life.
You covered almost everything I realized is so messed up about it these teachers rushed through the hard stuff because they don’t understand it and slow down for the easy stuff because they can actually explain that and then they send them off to do work knowing that they’re all behind because they’re tired of staring at a screen with a headache and their eyes burning they basically give them a free hallway pass and don’t even really teach the class
I agree. It is teaching for dummies 101. Online teaching stifles creativity because it offers limited options. It is a narrow view of learning with definite boundaries- a dangerous development in ‘ education’.
Are you still holding a question and answer on Facebook? I don’t see that info in the article.
Hi Luis,
There was a glitch on Facebook this past weekend. Because we didn’t know when it would be resolved, we had to cancel. We’ll reschedule soon. Thanks for your interest in the live Q&A!
Thank you! I have learnt something powerful – human connection. Your articles are very good.
Absolute rubbish!
My school has delivered a normal daily timetable of lessons, as if the children were in school. Teachers have adapted normal practice to fit into a Zoom environment. Students and parents have cried out for even more!
As a school with 98%A*-C and over 60% A*-A at IGCSE and 4 world top scores for IBDP, we pride ourselves on our high quality teaching and dedicated teachers.
As a retired teacher, having taught online in higher ed for over 15 years, my coworkers and I (who started online teaching back when we had to type code) found ways of connecting. The canned in-class lesson must be tossed away in favor of other ways, and those ways are being founded and honed daily now. The tech-savvy show-offs appear to pander to admins in evaluations, or are bucking for promotion (an old military term). If I were asked, I’d go back in a second, and help other make those connections that truly educate our youth. I have used Zoom, Skype, and Duo, as well as Moodle, Canvas, and Blackboard. Yes, everyone has too much screen time; so, adjust the lesson, adjust the work, and empower parents and others to help. Offer free seminars instead of parent-teacher conferences. Ask the older students (yes, even at 4th grade) to help in assessment: what did you learn, and how did you learn it? That kind of authentic assessment died with standardized exams in primary grades. We need to push back on that kind of assessment, and bring creativity back to classrooms, even in a virtual environment. Your assignment: go outside and see the world, even with social distancing. Math and science (even in secondary grades) can be taught in the back garden. Try it! -Rev Dr M (Post my email if possible; I’ll answer anyone.)