Volunteer Teaching - Part I

This pandemic year has seen many twists and turns in most of our lives. On the positive side, I am volunteering as an assistant teacher at the local language school. I just completed my first trimester, and reflecting on the last three months is satisfying as well as enriching. 

I am always passionate about education. Teaching goes back a few generations in my family history. Several of my friends & relatives are in the teaching profession. My very first job was also as a teacher at a prominent Technology Training School. Another forced reason being, my kids are enrolled in the same school, and the principal requested additional help due to all-out remote learning. I got an opportunity to teach the Tamil language to 3-graders. 

First of all, I have to admit, remote learning for kids is an uphill task. The school teachers are, especially in lower grades, are doing an excellent job. Managing and coaching with so many limitations in an ever-changing environment is not only commendable but also needs innovation, resilience, and courage.  

Kids are way advanced in adapting the technology, the culture, and the nuances of remote learning. Teaching has become truly two-way, and teachers also learn every day. I am surprised to see that kids have a great understanding of current affairs, politics, climate, and sports. 

We have a Saturday class of 90 minutes. Setting up the mood of the classroom with cheering after a week-long engagement has been an extreme ordeal. Nevertheless, closing the classroom is bliss for everyone. 

Remote learning requires teachers to prepare more in advance, have razor-sharp focus during the class, and above all, maintain balanced, composed patience all along. For a naive teacher like me, teaching 20 students is like teaching a student 20 times. Even though the curriculum is simple, I have to run through it a couple of times to make sure I can explain all ancillary questions that may arise.  

 

We used Google Meet for better integration with Google Classroom. However, it felt way inferior to Zoom in terms of stability, performance, and clarity. 

Distractions are contagious. Bringing back the class attention from the side conversations, subject deviations, and the demotivated students has to be achieved as micro-goals with utmost care and patience. For example, allowing students to take a bathroom break on their own is far better than making students ask for permission. The moment one student breaks the attention, the entire class follows this suit. 

No matter, whatever you teach, some students test out the teacher's patience by displaying indifference. That's where one has to step up and try a creative diversion so that the entire class is not discouraged. 

There are sometimes wifi issues, external noise, household interruptions, bathroom breaks, and snaking during the class. But they are in no way cause any critical damages. 

Evaluating the students on their participation has been another challenge. Some extrovert students continue to seek out attention, but many others wait for the time may miss out on the chance. A teacher has to keep track of individual personalities for an unbiased evaluation. 

Over-communication on digital channels (WhatsApp Group, Google classroom, email list, etc.) is another must to ensure everyone gets reminders on homework, projects, test schedules, and any other expectations.

I tried, explored, and tested a few techniques and continue to learn every week. 

Expressing the thoughts does not just go with only voice, but it will take so many clues from the body language (nonverbal communication). Albeit, Zoom and Google Meet are improving the experience day by day; the following limitations still need to be distilled out.

• Making sure participants are involved totally. Can you color code and categorize the image based on movement or retina focus? 
• The number of people displayed on the screen is limited. Most phones can display only 4 participants at a time, and tablets may show a maximum of ten people. Tough?.  
• It is not easy to guess who will talk next - Can easily invent something like instant messages now "typing" clue. 
• How to respect fruitful side-conversations? Develop something better than a breakout room. 
• Convey the body language. Nonverbal learning. A long way to go. 

We are certainly going to innovate and move towards better solutions. Instead of migrating towards better schools, the affluent will certainly prefer full-time online schools with part-time tutors. We might see the big corporates think out globalizing K-12 education. 

Probably a full VR approach might work out well too.  

Note: I will follow up with another extensive reflection on this journey at the end of the school year.