“Online education and COVID-19:
When I first heard we were going into lockdown, I read about the panic that people were going through and how their children were going to be educated. Fortunately, for me, I was smiling inside. Our High School students were already setup to learn online and part of teaching the students technology here at ICSC was to teach them the host of Google Suite apps such as Google Docs and Google Slides. But the cherry on the top was teaching the students to use Google Classroom.
What happened next?
I was so ecstatic that my students from Grade 5 to Grade 7 had experience with Google Classroom and they would be able to work from home efficiently, the biggest challenge would be to get the staff on board. Fortunately for me, our school principal, Mrs. Antunes and our head of administration had already thought about Google Classroom.
Teaching the teachers:
Now I had to teach the teachers in a limited time. We pulled together as a team and even though they were dropped in “the deep end”, the teachers leant how simple (yet advanced) an online education system could be.
Actual lockdown:
The first week of lockdown was a little crazy! But after the 1st week, everything settled into an even pace. It was hard work and a lot of adapting and adjusting – But this great team of teachers and students kept pushing through!
What about the students?
Our students are the best. Almost all of them seemed to pull off Google Classroom, Google Hangouts and Google Meet without a hitch! Of course we had to still help some students with a few technical issues, but generally, its been smooth sailing.
Credit is to be given to all our students – They have done fantastically well!
Crazy moments:
We have had many funny times (mics not being switched off, etc), but the funniest for me was a mom and a baseball bat! It really looks like she meant business! All in good fun though. We need to be able to laugh when times get tough! Mr Brad
