Summer Learning Place 2020 Review

This year my summer program – Summer Learning Place 2020 – was taught virtually. I had eight teachers and 32 children. There were 2 teachers and 8 children per classroom and each classroom was held on Zoom from 9-11am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I asked the teachers to reflect on whether they achieved their goals, how they may have changed from the first week, a summary of the eight weeks, and whether it met their expectations. I enjoyed reading their reflections and I think everyone felt like they had grown professionally and that the whole experience was better than expected.

My goals were:

1. Help my students (the teachers) as much as possible to make this class meaningful.
2. Give constructive suggestions for online teaching.
3. Look at ways that I can make this online class better for the next time it is taught online.

I believe that I achieved all three of my goals and it was a very positive experience for me also. I think the program went well but I never had any doubts that it could be done.

It was very hard to not be in the classrooms face to face for me. Every year I get to know the children and enjoy seeing them every day. This year I didn’t get to know any of the children very well and I missed that part.

I think it was very hard to teach three subjects in a two hour period and if I have to do this again, I will only require them to teach reading and math. Time management was a major issue for everyone but it may be because they were trying to squeeze three subjects in. In spite of that issue, everyone did a great job of teaching. I enjoyed observing all of the lessons.

I learned a lot about teaching online and how there need to be some adjustments compared to teaching face to face. Here are some things I learned (not in order of importance):

· If using Zoom, set it up so everyone is “mute on entry.” This will help if there is anything inappropriate being said in the background.

· Have students use headphones or headsets. The children didn’t use them and there were a lot of background distractions. I should have enforced this.

· Take time, in the beginning, to go over a checklist of necessary materials (pen, pencil, crayons, blank paper, worksheets, manipulatives).

· Plan at least an hour for every subject. Make sure students have a break every 20 -25 minutes. It may be sooner depending on the age of the children.

· Incorporate as much movement as possible online.

If you have had to teach a class online, what other suggestions would you give? Please share.