PART 3 - Take it from the top

When it was decided that the Fall term would be entirely virtual, Marty began her preparation. After a few days of thought, she made a worrisome discovery. Closing out that Spring term was as successful as it was because she knew her students, and they knew her. Given the seven months of in-class time she had with her kids, she knew who could be trusted to work on their own and who required constant prodding. Having a new set of high school students who have never laid eyes on their high school hallways or teachers, the challenge was different, very different, as would be the path to success.

As a teacher who is largely successful because of her ability to connect with her students, Marty was hobbled by this circumstance (and she was certainly not alone in this). All of the tactics she had developed in her many years of experience were all rendered inert. For example, at the start of a new semester, she groups the students at assigned lab tables. She then tells them they have been grouped according to something they have in common, and it is their job to figure out what that commonality is. This forces them to engage in a curious problem-solving exercise. It fosters interaction between students who may or may not have ever met (many would have known each other from their middle school, but sometimes there are new students who don't know anyone--this gets them into the conversation as well). Sometimes the kids figure it out fast, and sometimes it might take a few days or weeks, but fast or slow, wheels are spinning. Then a few weeks in, new table assignments, new people, new puzzle to solve--what is the connection this time? You don't see many first-year teachers dialing that one up out of the gate. This is all just to say this exercise looks way different using a zoom breakout room.

Think about that. That is pretty much just getting the students seated and introduced to one another. We haven't even gotten to any actual instruction yet. This means pretty much every facet of the experience, no matter how small or large or proven or exceptional it was, needed to be re-tooled. It's a big ask. And many chose not to do it. But not our Marta. She still sought to find ways to get those mental-fluids pulsing. One trick I overheard as she closed out one section and was about to start the next which dealt with reproduction. Most teachers would introduce that with something like, "Next up is Chapter 3: Animal Reproduction - read pages 58-64". Marty introduces that same chapter at the end of a class by saying, "In our next class we are going to talk about why humans don't give birth to giraffes?" Whose class would you rather be in?

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