I dropped by Angela Schipani’s Honors Spanish 5 class last week. If things were normal, Angela would be greeting students as they walk through the door. In the new normal with Angela teaching from home, as students arrive, the Zoom doorbell rings and faces appear on the screen. Angela greets them with “Hola, cómo estás?” I hear a chorus of, “¿Estoy bien y tú?”
Angela starts her lesson. Screen sharing is old hat now. Angela shares colorful slides and asks a series of questions en español.
In this first photo, students are furiously typing their responses in the Zoom Chat.
Angela gives verbal feedback on things like spelling and verb tense – students correct their sentences and resubmit via Chat. To ask questions, students use Zoom's built-in hand-raise feature
Angela and all our teachers (remote or in the classroom) are juggling a lot of technology …
...so sometimes the best way to get a teacher’s attention is to raise your hand the old fashioned way!
Later in the lesson, Angela uses Zoom’s polling feature to allow students to express their opinions and then the class discusses the top choices.
Polling can allow be used to assess students' understanding. Students can quickly and anonymously determine if their answer falls in line with most other students. If it doesn’t, this is the time to ask questions!
Angela has always considered herself a novice when it comes to technology - there just aren't enough hours in the day to learn it all. Yet, in spite of the steep learning curve, Angela and her students are working through any tech challenges together and fast becoming Zoom and tech experts!