With all classes moved online, teachers are now tasked with learning how to use Zoom and creating effective lesson plans for students in their new school environments. The struggle is especially difficult for Visual and Performing Arts teachers who must bring together bands or teach students how to sculpt, all over video calls.
For visual arts teacher Kathryn Katcher, demonstrations are a large portion of her class and are made possible with her new camera set up, which has been good at keeping students engaged.
“I think art classes will continue to be an important outlet for students, and it is needed now more than ever,” Katcher said. “Thinking creatively is a must. It still needs to be fulfilling and fun.”
Teacher to teacher collaboration has also been crucial for ceramics and digital photography teacher Brooke Nelson. For her, the fall semester has been better than the spring semester now that she has been able to discuss lesson plans with others and figure out technological features such as breakout rooms in Zoom, finding them particularly helpful as students collaborating and sharing their ideas is crucial.
“A big [aspect] with both photography and ceramics is sharing your work, and then getting feedback from your peers. Also just presenting your ideas to others. That’s the best way of learning for adults and for students,” Nelson said.
Working collaboratively has also benefited drama teacher Shane Smuin, who meets with other drama teachers in the district weekly to discuss teaching methods and lesson plans. He says that last semester ran smoothly as both his beginning and advanced drama classes had already wrapped up writing their projects, and the remainder was easily switched to online. However, starting fresh has been a struggle.
“There’s not a lot in the spring that I can repeat starting in August,” Smuin said. “So that’s probably the biggest challenge … just starting from scratch.”
“I think flexibility is key and we have to change our priorities and expectations”
Meeting with other teachers to create a new curriculum, however, has helped him adjust.
“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Smuin said.
Planning has also been difficult for band director Kevin Gallagher, who has had to completely change his methods with the sudden shift to virtual classrooms.
“Music directors plan a half a year to a year in advance so that we can start prepping … our classes for the next set of classes,” Gallagher said. “… I tried to plan even ahead of [quarantine]… I started creating some online assignments that I thought would be useful. I tried to adapt the assignments that I already had, so that they could still potentially fulfill those assignments as well. And then I knew that everybody was going to ask for some kind of performance or concert at the end. And so the choir orchestra director, Mr. Chen, and I, we kind of got together and tried to put something together with the students’ help.”
Katcher shifted her mindset in a similar way.
“I think flexibility is key and we have to change our priorities and expectations.”
For choir and orchestra director John Chen, the biggest struggle last semester was the uncertainty of when or if on-campus classes would resume, but as time passed, he and his students were able to adjust.
“We had a lot of student leadership. Students said, ‘Oh, I know how to edit music. I know how to edit videos.’ So … we adapted in that way,” Chen said. “All that stuff we figured out just as we normally would in … a classroom.”
In fact, he and his students were even able to hold a department awards ceremony and prerecord music for the 2020 graduation ceremony despite distancing limitations.
So far, funding for VAPA classes has been a mixed bag. For music classes, the limited festival opportunities have saved thousands of dollars each.
“We do have a music boosters organization that fundraises a lot of money, and if we needed to purchase something – one instrument or even rent an instrument for a year – that’d probably be no problem,” Gallagher said.
However, funding has been more of a struggle for ceramics and visual arts, which has had to rely on the Parent Teacher Student Organization’s funding for students’ individual kits after facing a 25% budget cut.
“[Without the PTSO] I basically would be able to give them one little chunk of clay and maybe some colored pencils and then my budget would be gone,” Nelson said.
Despite all the challenges, teachers are able to accommodate this shift to online schooling.
“Online learning is a different experience but very doable,” Katcher said.
However, uncertainty remains about how classes will be taught after campus opens and going back to in-person schooling brings forth a new set of challenges.
“So much of what we learn from others is through our expressions, … so my main worry is I will lose that part of interacting, understanding others,” Nelson said. “I think we’ll actually all be very thankful that we’re even there, [with] masks on.”
Returning to campus will require teachers to adjust once again, but they are hoping for the best. Until then, teachers will continue their teaching online.
Additional reporting by Elizabeth van Blommestein
