【Online Teaching Support】Report from a teacher in New Zealand
2020.05.25
Report from a teacher in Christchurch, NZ
I think the most challenging thing about online lessons is teaching without monitoring the students' reaction. I used the following method to overcome this. I made videos of explanations and sent them to the students in advance. In the live lessons, we reviewed the explanation briefly, then students would play games or work on interactive activities in small groups. I also used that time to answer student's individual questions.
There was a wide variety in students' responses. A half of the class attended every live lesson and completed all the tasks, one third of the class didn't do much, and 2 or 3 students in the class of 25 had little response. I think this is in a way unavoidable because every student has a different environment and circumstance at home.
Examples of successful activities were bingo and kanji practice using Jamboard. I tried not to make the lessons too serious, because I wanted my students to feel that the live lesson was a place for them to see friends and to play together.
