If someone had told me this time last year that I would be teaching my 6th form students from my kitchen, there’s not a chance I would have believed them – and I’m sure there are many of you out there feeling the same! The changes to our lives over the past several weeks often seem to me like we’re living in a sort of surreal fantasy novel, but slowly and surely we’re making the small (and some fairly large) changes that are creating, at least for now, our ‘New Normal’.
Like many of you, I’m a teacher and a parent, and finding the time, patience and technical skill to balance those roles has been a challenge. As a maths teacher, I’ve learned to use new technology, and adapt the technology we already used, and since the school closures I’ve had to adjust to the idea that I’m becoming a virtual teacher, whether I’m ready or not!
But I’m not the only one. One thing I’ve realised from watching my Maths Hub colleagues running off mid meeting to deal with a child doing something they shouldn’t, having a colleagues child ‘photobomb’ our meetings (hilarious!), and having one of their children interrupt to introduce us all to his toys, is that we’re all in this together.
When it comes to technology, I’ve discovered a whole host of useful tools, from using Zoom to connect with my Maths Hub colleagues both across Sussex and nationally, to using Microsoft Teams to connect with my A Level Students, to accessing the tools sent home with my Year 8, 11 & 13 children. A colleague of mine uses Loom, a great free piece of software which records you clicking through a task on your computer, which she has found invaluable.