I just wrapped up my 16th year of teaching. I can’t believe it has been that long. This was definitely a unique year. If you had told me that this was the way we were going to end our school year a year ago, I would have stared at you in disbelief. Nobody saw this coming.
But teachers are incredibly resilient, adaptive, and creative. And we made it work.
Here are a few things I learned along the way:
- Technology is unpredictable. One minute things are working, the next minute they are not. Even with a two week prep period, FCPS got a false start at the beginning of distance-learning as many of you might have heard. This was the perfect opportunity to practice letting things go.
- Keep things simple. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Do what students are used to, don’t try to teach anything new. Also … all this technology can drive you crazy! IT’S NOT ABOUT THE APP. It’s about the functionality of the app to connect with students. Don’t get too caught up in all the different variations of technology.
- Keep things short. When I look at my YouTube channel statistics, people clicked on a link and stopped watching after two minutes. TWO MINUTES!!! Even when I tried to hook them with a cat appearance in every video, they still didn’t watch it all! My videos average 12 minutes. Yikes! Next time, 4-5 minute videos.
- Less content. Online teaching is not the same as teaching in a classroom. Someone gave me this advice: do what you normally do, then cut it in half. Then cut it in half AGAIN. Do less.
- LET. IT. GO. All of it. I create the content and put it out there and then I have to let it go. I have to let go of how many views I get. I have to let go of how many students click on a link. I have to let go of how many students attend my live sessions. I have to let go of the time I spent recording videos. And the big kicker: I have to let go of my perfectionism. (a constant work in progress!)
So my motto for the fall: keep it simple, do what you can, then let it all go.
And do what makes you happy.
Here’s to summer break!