The new norm…

Online schooling was something our family experienced earlier this year due to COVID, and although our school did the most brilliant job of live teaching via Zoom, it is certainly a huge learning curve, for both students and teachers. As a teacher who was used to interacting with students in person, getting used to teaching via Zoom was interesting. At first I felt like I couldn’t control the class, that students didn’t engage with the techniques and really ‘feel’ the freedom of creativity. But after a few lessons I realised that you just need to stay calm, talk slowly, pay close attention to those students that find online school more challenging and also, just make it fun! Art classes are supposed to feel different to regular classes, they are supposed to offer a respite from control, from structure…so I found that classes evolved on their own…I learnt to go with the flow a bit more. I learnt that the students will guide you towards what interests them, what inspires them and often they came up with some fantastic new themes/ ideas/ materials while in the Zoom lesson.

So what feedback do I have on Zoom learning…take it slow, make it fun, lower your guard and let children really see you enjoying the creative process…when they see you having a go, making a mistake, it shows them you are just another human being!